Today is not a deadline of any kind, just a reminder to check on your existing registration, and, if you are not already registered, get it done. In the past, the existence of the Electoral College* has resulted in Rhode Island being utterly ignored during presidential campaigns, while other states get bombarded with noxious television ads, mail, etc. This year, the system also seems to be shielding us from Republican efforts aimed at purging legitimate voters from the rolls. Swing states are definitely in the crosshairs of these despicable anti-democratic efforts:
. . . in some GOP-led states, aggressive moves to purge voter rolls have led to eligible voters suddenly discovering they can’t vote and scrambling to get their statuses restored, in some cases large numbers of eligible voters. Since the 2020 election, 13 states have passed laws to expand voter purges, including Georgia, where a new law allowing anyone to challenge anyone else’s registration has resulted in hundreds of thousands of challenges by only a few conservative activists.
But getting more of our friends and relatives registered here in Rhode Island is always a good idea. Many of our local elections can be really close. And you should check to make sure your registration is in order every election year, just in case.
Our good friends at Common Cause Rhode Island shared this helpful link to be used by anyone who will be 18 years old on election day:
Share our free voter registration tools with your friends and family. Our online tools let voters in any state check their registration status, register to vote, and request an absentee ballot.
*But the Electoral College has got to go. Fortunately the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact initiative could get us out of this. (We are good here: RI Governor Lincoln Chafee signed it into law in 2013. Minnesota Governor Walz signed it into law last year.)
It has been enacted into law by 17 states and DC with 209 electoral votes. It needs an additional 61 electoral votes to go into effect.
This would be an end run around the Electoral College and it is beautiful in its simplicity. Let Robert Reich explain it to you.
And just for the record: I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT!