A few weeks back, I posted an easy three-step process to become a vote-by-mail voter in the November 4 election, written especially for all you college kids. Have you done it yet? No? Well, you have only seven more days before the October 20th deadline passes and it’s too late.  So get on that.

Here’s the process again in case you’re a lazy dog:

  1. Fill out a short application to receive vote-by-mail status for this election.
  2. Mail the application to your county elections office.
  3. Start reading up on this year’s propositions.

Frequent Reasons For Not Voting Shot Down

pew pew pew

pew pew pew

Vote-by-mail ballots aren’t counted unless there’s a tie.

False.  Vote-by-mail ballots are, in fact, counted first.

I’m cynical and jaded about how my vote won’t affect the presidential election because the electoral college system means that all of California’s votes will go to Obama anyway.

I concede that this is probably true.  Rather than feed you some idealistic fodder about how it’s the principle of exercising your democratic rights that matters, I will give you a more pragmatic reason to vote: the most contentious ground in this election, and the one that your vote will certainly affect, is state propositions.

State propositions are abstruse and don’t affect me because I’m not really a taxpayer.

Do you care about a high speed rail system spanning across the state?  Do you care about the ethics of the treatment of farm animals?  Do you care about abortion for minors?  Do you care about whether same-sex marriages will continue to be recognized?

Yeah, I know you do.  If you are capable of pressing Ctrl+P, you can spell your name, and you can stick a stamp on an envelope, you can vote.

GOOD is having a bumper sticker design contest themed around voting.  Check out some of my favorite submissions, both visually and content-wise, for inspiration:

by Dan Swoboda, for the 2006 election

by Dan Swoboda, for the 2006 election contest

by Steven Blumenthal, for the 2006 election contest

by Steven Blumenthal, for the 2006 election contest

by Amy Chen

by Amy Chen

by Ben Murphy

by Ben Murphy

by Jim Ward

by Jim Ward

To paraphrase the words of one presidential candidate who is not my BFF, “See you at the election, bitches.”