Actually, I haven’t yet, but I will. State primary elections are being held in Minnesota today. Luckily, polls are open until 8 PM, just in case you slept in, and were late to work, and have a lot to do so you’ll probably stay until 6 or so . . . Not that I know anyone like that. (Also, in Minnesota, your employer is legally required to allow you time off to vote.
Primaries this side of Connecticut aren’t usually very exciting, but if you live in District 5, like me (which is most of the western half of the Twin Cities), big things could be happening. It’s a heavily Democratic district; which means that whichever Democrat wins the primary will most likely take the District’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. If that ends up being Keith Ellison, then Minnesota will have elected the first Muslim to Congress in history.
The Washington Post did a story on Ellison yesterday; apparently local Republican bloggers have accused him of being anti-semitic because of a college tie to Lewis Farrakahn. Minnesota’s Jewish weekly, American Jewish World, has strongly endorsed Ellison, however. So has the DFL party. But the controversy has made the race close.
If you live in Minnesota, learn where to vote with this search on the Secretary of State’s Web site. And hurry.
5 Responses to Vote!
Do you have to be a registered Democrat (or Republican) to vote? Because I’m not registered as a party member.
(I’m asking this the day after the primaries, so it’s kind of a moot point. But that’s one reason I didn’t go yesterday.)
Oh, do you have to be a registered American to vote? ‘Cause I’m not but I voted.
Ha ha ha. The state did send me a voter registration card recently though, even though I didn’t register to vote and I CAN’T vote in this country. It was tempting, but I obeyed the law. Kris and Duodecad, did you know you vote for two? Some people get to eat for two…. You both get to vote for two. Thanks.
You totally should have registered to vote. Thats very honest of you! I well aware, though, that I’m voting for two. That why I voted TWICE.
Matt, I don’t think you had to be registered for one party or another. Although I was asked to only vote inside one column, i.e., for Democratic candidates, or Republican, or “Independence”. It shuold have read “Indepedent,” right? But I swear the ballot read “Independence.” Any Minnesotan-type people can shed some light? Or have I just lost my shit?
The ballot box had an LCD display that my vote was the 308th vote in my neighborhood. It seemed kind of low, though. According to the City of Minneapolis Web site, there are 5900 people in my neighborhood, Lowry Hill East. Around 5000 of those are over 18. Well, it was just the primaries. And the numbers don’t account for non-registered Americans, like Pulao and Dbay.
Keith Ellison won the primary election, though. Woo-hoo!
I don’t really know enough about Keith Ellison to know what I think of him, though I am vaguely pleased he won too. All I do know is that Kris likes him, which means he must be good, and that I heard him speak once and he was an EXCELLENT orator. And lordy do we need more of those right now. I think that’s one of the reasons I loved Jed Bartlett.
Also, just in case it wasn’t clear, when I say I got a voter registration card in the mail, I mean I am NOW REGISTERED to vote. I didn’t get an application or anything—I am a registered voter. The state screwed up! I blame the DMV, because, let’s face it, the DMV always sucks (all their computers and copy machines were down when I had the pleasure to visit recently). But my point is, you can imagine just HOW tempting the vote was for me. They dangled it in front of me! Maybe the U.S. government secretly WANTS immigrants to vote.
Oh, that’s so funny.
Whoa.
That\’s even cooler than I thought.
If you are a registered voter, then vote! The legal or moral dilemma would be in registering to vote. Can you vote? If you are registered, you can. Can you register to vote? If you are a citizen over 18, you can. The crime has already been commited, and you didn\’t even commit it!
Or something. I always get befuddled by these moral entanglements.