Are you registered to vote?
Register online at https://vote.gov. To vote by mail, apply for a ballot here. This makes it easy to vote ahead of time and avoid the hassle of getting to a polling place on voting day. In California, the voter registration deadline is October 22, 2018.
[Photo: Sarah Lee]
What's at stake
The Trump administration is pursuing a relentlessly anti-environment agenda. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency, subsidizing coal, repealing protections for marine sanctuaries and national parks, and a dangerous offshore drilling expansion plan are just some of the destructive policies the executive branch has set in motion.
The good news is that these policies are reversible if we take action this November to elect people who stand for clean energy and protecting our finite natural resources.The midterm elections are a critical opportunity for us to vote OUT politicians who do not prioritize the environment and who cannot stand up to a backwards administration.
Why your vote matters
Census data shows that just over half of eligible voters turned out in the 2016 general election, with even lower percentages among millennials and youth voters. Many swing states and districts turned red to elect a far right president and Congress. In 2018, progressive voters have a chance to take back the majority in the House of Representatives, balance the Senate, and elect pro-ocean candidates in key state and local races.
Representative democracy requires participation. Voting is a civic duty that is mandatory or incentivized in many democracies, but in the United States, voter suppression is still an issue. That’s why it’s essential that communities take action to register more voters. Widespread political apathy will sink our democracy; voting will restore it.
#VoteTheOcean guide
The best way to determine who to vote for is researching who’s running in your district and where the candidates stand on the issues that matter most to you. Ballotpedia.com is a great resource for finding out who’s running; ontheissues.org will give you the voting records of incumbents.
Here are some additional resources for identifying pro-environment, progressive candidates:
Key districts for offshore drilling resistance