ELECTION SEASON 2018
In the last midterm election, in 2014, the U.S. had the lowest voter turnout in 70 years.In fact, look at this graph on voting rates since 1990.These peaks are turnout rates during presidential elections.And these valleys are midterms.It’s basically a doomsday graph in the shape of Bart Simpson’s haircut.Coincidentally, Bart Simpson ...probably doesn’t vote in the midterms, either.The people that DO vote tend to be older, whiter and Republican-er.And when it comes to 2018, a recent survey found that only 28% of young people said they would certainly vote.You guys ...When voter turnout is low, it just means that people who don't have our same interests,who don't have our same agenda and who don't have our same vision for our communities are making decisions on your behalf.Oh, and don’t forget, everyone’s ballot out there is going to be a little bit different depending on where you live, so consider this video a primer for future elections, too.OK, let’s start with your national offices: First, the U.S. House of Representatives.These are the people that represent your congressional district on Capitol Hill.In November, no matter where you live, you will be voting on a U.S. rep.Every single one of the 435 districts are up for a vote.For Democrats to win control of the House, only about two dozen need to flip– and these districts, some say, are on track to do so.So why should you care?Well, the U.S. House of Representatives is the chamber that begins
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But more importantly, the House passes federal laws.And for the last two years, Trump has had his way with a majority Republican House.So with a different party in control than the president,his policy wish list, like tax reform and military spending,wouldn’t necessarily be an automatic pass.And also, whichever party is in control sets the agenda.Well, there are so many laws, so many easy laws that our representatives in Congress can pass and can put forth to be discussed and debated.The people that you decide to put in Congress right now, they’re going to decide our lives for the next however many years they’re in office.Then we have senators.Thirty-three states will be holding U.S. Senate elections in November.And experts think Tennessee and Texas could elect their first Democratic senators in decades,and that seats in Missouri and Florida could flip to Republicans.Why does that matter?Because senators also pass laws,and they also are the ones that confirm nominees to the cabinet and the Supreme Court.[siren]They also deal with possible
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Cool. So those are the federal races, and those are ones that are covered a lot in the mainstream media.But the reality is, these lawmakers’ day-to-day actions don’t usually affect your day-to-day lives.That’s where state officials come in.First, you got your governors.Thirty-six states will hold election for governors on November 6th.And whether it’s union-busting in Wisconsin or slashing healthcare in Iowa,every state’s election is happening on the backdrop of some pretty important issues.“Here in the state of California, currently you have two candidates, one Democrat, one Republican,who have opposing views on immigration.And if you look at what happened in California over the last couple of years,we were the state that provided driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants,we were also the state that provided in-state tuition for undocumented residents and now, as of this past year, we are now officially a sanctuary state.I'm super excited about Stacey Abrams in Georgia,who will be the first black woman to ever serve as governor in the entire U.S.Stacey Abrams wants to make sure that we dismantle the ways in which black people are being over criminalized in Georgia's criminal justice system.The race that I'm most excited for right now is the governor race in Florida, definitely.Andrew Gillum has been with us from the start, Parkland.
Then there’s the state legislatures. 2018 is a big year for these races,because 82% of those seats are up for a vote,and state lawmakers are the people that set your state’s agenda on things like marijuana, abortion, the budget or whether or not it’s illegal to throw poop out of a moving car which is a real law in the state of Oregon, for some reason.Illinois, where Chicago is,there are really strict gun laws.But in the states around Illinois, there are not strict gun laws.So a lot of the guns that come into Chicago and cause the gun violence there come from the states around them with lax gun laws.So if you can influence your state legislature to put gun reform laws in place in your state,then you make your state a safer place, and therefore states around you a safer place.Before we go to more local races, let’s do one more state-level office you probably haven’t thought a lot about: state attorney general.Thirty of them will be voted on this November.Attorneys general are the top legal officer in every state,often called the people’s lawyer.They work on everything from environmental laws, labor protection, consumer rights and, perhaps most notably,they deal with criminal justice.They get to decide where money goes in relationship to policing and police,but they also get to determine what is criminal,what is not criminal, what the sentencing guidelines are.While we’re on the topic of police reform, let’s go more local and go to county sheriffs.The sheriff oversees what's happening with police and law enforcement in your county.That's, like, really the community you live in.And how your sheriff chooses to work with ICE says a lot about whether your community is resisting or carrying out deportations.
The sanctuary state bill that was recently passed in California essentially said that the state was not going to use any of its state or local resources to cooperate with ICE.Certain sheriffs across the state have complained that this new bill has made their jobs difficult.You have to ask yourself as a voter, do I want this person representing me?And do I want this person leading the charge in making sure that my community is safe?District attorneys and prosecutors are next.They are the attorneys that represent the government,and you probably have heard of them in the context of police brutality,specifically when they choose not to file charges against officers that shoot people.Listen to how Alicia Garza says that she realized the importance of DAs when she was protesting police violence.We were arrested and we were charged with issues related to civil disobedience.Even though a district attorney may have been obscure to us before,it became very clear to us when we were at the mercy of the district attorney.Finally, let’s talk about an office you probably didn’t know existed,the Water Board.You look at those Water Board seats – people whose job is essentially to bring water into the community,and how to manage it –a large number of those seats go uncontested.If you're a voter looking to make the biggest difference possible,vote for your local Water Board person, because water is essentially a human right.There are so many more races like this we don’t have time to go into,like School Board and mayor and judge.And remember, you won’t be voting on all of these positions in November,because it depends on where you live.So check your local ballot, read up on the candidates and the issues, and remember:Don't be a Bart Simpson.So when people say that your vote doesn't matter,what I would tell them is, go talk to Dolores Huerta.Go tell John Lewis. These are two civil rights legends in our community who have shed their blood, sweat and tears just so they can go into the voting booth one day and vote for a couple of candidates,whether it’s governor, Water Board seat or School Board.Hey guys, thank you so much for watching Because Facts,don’t forget to like, share and subscribe for more videos like this.And while you’re here, let us know what issues or candidates have you excited for the midterm election and what you’ll be voting on. So let us know in the comments, and we’ll see you next week.
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