There’s about a dozen states that currently have “no excuse” requirements for absentee ballots, meaning you have to jump through hoops to be able to mail-in instead of vote in person. I’ll let you guess which side of the civil war most of these states were on.

One of my concerns about mail-in ballots, under this administration specifically, is the recent demand for state voter rolls. I’ve lost so much faith in election integrity that I no longer trust that the postal service isn’t an intercept for opposition ballots to get “misplaced”. Ballot tracking exists, but there’s enough bureaucracy that they could do anything from deliberately postmark it too late to acknowledge they received it but create some other excuse as to why it was invalid. Then it’s on you to fight to make it count but the system is stacked against you.

As for what I actually think poll harassment will look like? Less armed militia and more like thugs camped in front of a Planned Parenthood or the flag-waving goons who roll coal up and down the side streets when a protest is happening. They’ll make their presence known while tip-toeing interference but even if they cross the line your local PD knows which side they’re on and allows it but would swoop if leftists showed up to put themselves in-between the bullies and the people voting.

I think we should be planning how we can support our most vulnerable community members when it’s time to vote. It’s understandable if not everyone has the courage to potentially run a gauntlet of intimidation alone, and they shouldn’t have to to exercise their right. But this is currently the state of the US, and if people would feel safer with a group we should find ways to support and be there for them. Plus we should be watching for attempts to hide polling places, last minute relocations, and deliberate bureaucratic delay at the polls designed to turn what should be an in and out into a half day marathon people abandon because their lunch break is ending.