Iraq and Region Update for October 31, 2008
*Special Election Edition*
This update is unusual in that we have but one message for you: VOTE!
With all the headlines focusing on polls for presidential, congressional, senatorial, and local elections, it is easy to forget that there is but one poll that really matters—the final poll that is taken at the voting booths on November 4th. The incoming administration and the 111th Congress will have tremendous influence in determining U.S. policy in Iraq, Iran, and the broader Middle East at this historic and tumultuous time in the region.
FCNL does not endorse candidates. We do, however, strongly endorse voting, and we urge every eligible person in the United States to fulfill his or her civic responsibility and get out to vote.
Turnout, Turnout!
Not sure if you’re registered? Don’t know where your local polling place is? Want to find out if you can vote early?
You can find answers to these questions and more at www.canivote.org. This website is maintained by the National Association of Secretaries of State, the nation’s oldest nonpartisan professional association for public officials. Find maps to your polling station by typing in your zip code here.
Don’t Know Whom to Vote For?
Find out the official stances of the candidates for president, Senate, and House of Representatives, as well as which races are being contested in your district and state, by exploring FCNL’s Election Guide.
You can look up a partial record of the incumbent’s voting record by searching here by their name or your zip code. You can also find out about their staff, political action committee contributions, contact information, and the committees on which they’ve sat in the 110th Congress.
Trouble at the Polls?
Before you take off for the polls, save this voter hotline in your cell phone: 866-OURVOTE. If you are told that your registration has been “caged,” “purged,” or challenged, or if a poll worker insists on offering you a provisional ballot (which is less likely to count) rather than a regular ballot, call for help. If you witness voter intimidation, voter fraud, distribution of partisan material at the polls, or broken voting machines, report it and Election Protection, the nation’s largest voter protection coalition, will register it in a national database and notify the appropriate election officials.
The hotline is administered by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law. The hotline 888-VE-Y-VOTA provides the same service in Spanish. Election Protection promises to “provide Americans from coast to coast with comprehensive voter information and advice on how they can make sure their vote is counted.”
Friends Don’t Let Friends Forget to Vote
As former Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon said, “Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.” We at FCNL are counting on you to spread the word far and wide that getting up early or staying late at the polls on November 4 matters. Pass on this voting information to at least four of your friends and family members.
And finally . . . Happy Halloween!