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Talked to one on the train. She told me she wants to remove the current government and I agreed. But she wants to replace it with a godly & holy goverment while I tried to explain my views on anarchism to her.

Graph via Data is Beautiful on Reddit

PHOENIX — For the first time in as long as anyone can remember, Arizona’s largest public school district isn’t opening its schools to voters as polling sites.

The reasons have been building for years, but the final straw for Mesa Public Schools officials came last November with a small, low-turnout election that became mired in misinformation and menace.

“It was very chaotic,” Assistant Superintendent Scott Thompson recalled. “It was overwhelming.”

Although voting was supposed to be done mostly by mail, mistrust led many voters to drive to the schools to fill out their ballots in person, causing traffic jams and confrontations. Voters confused school staff for election workers and harangued them. Some accused school staff of “disenfranchising voters” for hosting secure ballot drop boxes.

“I couldn’t imagine it in 2024,” Thompson said. “We just don’t know how to make it work.”

[...]

In the eight years since Donald Trump was first on the ballot, hundreds of schools throughout this fiercely contested battleground county are no longer willing to assume the risks associated with holding elections. In 2016, 37 percent of county polling locations were schools, according to a Washington Post analysis of data obtained through a public records request. So far this year, it’s 14 percent.

(Read the whole thing.)

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11792759

Apparently Wisconsin is the most important swing state this election cycle. So, any reasons why people would not vote in Wisconsin? Does Wisconsin do anything to discourage voting or abuse the privacy of voters?

(update) Yikes.. looks like the voter reg site for Wisconsin and https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/ are both Cloudflared, and the voter info site assumes I’m non-human and ejaculates a broken page while the steps for voting page simply drops my packets. Voting in WI is apparently exclusive and privacy deprecating.

What a shit show. That would be a show-stopper for me if I resided in Wisconsin.

(update 2) this page is openly accessible:

https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/03/wisconsin-voting-elections-primary-ballot-republican-democrat-how-to-vote-guide/

The one upside is that you can register as late as the day of voting. That’s more relaxed than I’ve seen anywhere. But that page does not state what they do with your address. Most states seem to publish it. Alaska is at least smart enough to let voters supply a PO Box address for publication. Not sure if Alaska is the only state with that degree of wisdom and privacy respect. In any case, with Wisconsin Cloudflare would be unavoidably in the loop for your residential address.

(update 3) Found an openly accessible voter reg form here:

https://www.manitowoc.org/DocumentCenter/View/12858/EL-131-Voter-Registration-Application?bidId=

The form has a mailing address, which I think is quite standard (e.g. in case you need an absentee ballot sent to a different address). The form makes no mention of which address is published.

Felons serving a sentence are blocked from voting. So funnily enough, if Trump were to try to “move” to Wisconsin to vote for himself, it would be voter fraud because I guess he would likely be serving a probation sentence for his felonies.

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i do think its funny when biden evangelists say "not voting is how we got trump". amiguito hillary clinton won the popular vote by a margin in the millions. its not the fault of the dsa or jillnie stienders or whatever that the usa is a joke country with a political system that was set up to cater to the interests of 18th century farmers and slaveowners

realistically what actually matters to the actual biden campaign is undecided voters in like six states but if youve like emotionally seriously invested yourself in usamerican electoral politics you cant just say "if you're in arizona, wisconsin, pennsylvania, florida, nevada, or michigan VOTE otherwise do whatever who cares lol" because you have to pretend that the usa is a real democracy. very funny predicament to be in

Y'all should dread voting for Biden. You should be weeping as you cast your vote. Don't you see the tragedy in all of this? You have no choice but to vote for genocide, for some of you, it's your own genocide you're voting for.

In fiction, when no choice is given but the tragic choice, heroes choose the tragic choice and face all the grief and regret that comes with it. Reality is stranger than fiction. When y'all are faced with no choice but tragedy, you beat your drums in happy anticipation of your own belated doom. This is what sickens me about you sick Yanks. You have no sense of the tragedy you face before you. It is said a vote is not a wedding vow; they are correct: it is worse, for it means inevitable murder down the line. Biden will kill Palestinians, Filipinos, Black folk, immigrants, and Congolese, and you cheer on their genocide.

Vote, for sure, go ahead, vote the lesser evil. But you have to be cognizant of the tragedy of it all. You must feel our grief.

But you won't. You'll probably cheer my death as well.

Translated from Swedish:

Experience so far has shown that in the ruling Shia Islamic state of Iran, although the right to "choose" (read: appoint) all high-ranking government officials rests with the "President", it is subject to the approval of the Islamic Parliament. But in reality, the “Welayat-e-Faqih” (Supreme Leader) must give the final approval for these appointments, and no president has been empowered to oppose the Welayat-e-Faqih's opinion. This dynamic is not expected to change in the future.

After the overthrow of the shah's dictatorship in 1979 and the establishment of the Shia Muslim state under Ayatollah Khomeini, most presidential elections have been heavily rigged. The candidates who emerge victorious are those who have been approved in advance by the religious leadership, first by Ruhollah Khomeini and then by Ali Khamenei.

After President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash (known as the "Ayatollah execution") in northwestern Iran, which led to his death on May 19, 2024, a completely engineered election with predetermined candidates has been scheduled for July 28, 2024. Any individual who emerges from this electoral process, whether from the fundamentalist or reformist front, will lack the will and ability to address Iran's deep economic, political, social and cultural crises. The hardworking people will continue to struggle against skyrocketing inflation, increasing poverty and misery, unemployment, homelessness and other issues.

Anarchist forces, who do not believe in the state, its associated bourgeois parliaments or any political parties, will not participate in such electoral systems. Instead, they focus on promoting horizontal self-organization, which operates without a party or leader. In the current situation, anarchists strive to establish a self-governing council system and promote common solidarity among the people. They strive to achieve their goals without giving up.

Welayat-e-Faqih

Can a political state and electoral system controlled by the “Welayat-e-Faqih” of the ruling Shia Islamic state of Iran be called a “republic”? Absolutely not. Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion that holds the Koran as the word of Allah and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (who lived in the Arabian Peninsula in the 6th century) as the last prophet for mankind until the resurrection.

“Welayat-e-Faqih” is a type of caliphate system in the ruling Islamic state of Iran. This doctrine is based on socio-political governance derived from the Qur'an and Islamic Sharia law. The concept of community leadership in Islam was introduced shortly after its inception and was later formulated by Sheikh Mufid (949-1022 AD), a prominent Shia Islamic theologian. Ayatollah Khomeini, a follower of Mufid, published a book called "Islamic Governance" in the 1970s during his exile in Iraq by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

Islam claims to be the absolute and final world religion. Therefore, its followers aim to establish an Islamic state (Islamic caliphate) globally. “Califa” means successor of God's power on earth.

After Muhammad's death in 632 AD. a conflict over succession arose between his closest allies, leading to the division of the caliphate regime between Abu Bakr (the first caliph) and Ali (the fourth caliph). Abu Bakr's followers became known as Sunni Muslims, while Ali's followers became Shia Muslims. Sunni Muslims claimed that Abu Bakr was the rightful caliph, but Shia Muslims insisted that Ali was the true successor, as he was both Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law.

Ali and his deputies were called imams (leaders). Leadership in Shia Islam is hereditary, passed down to men in Mohammad's family. After Ali's death, the Shia faith further divided into different branches based on which of his sons or brothers deserved to become imams. According to one group of Shia Muslims, there are twelve Imams, the last being al-Mahdi, who mysteriously disappeared at the age of five in Samarra, Iraq, in 870 AD. Believers believe that he still lives in secret and will one day appear to save the world from injustice and establish an equal society.

Ruhollah Khomeini (1909-1999) and his successor, Ali Khamenei (born 1939), belong to the group "Twelve Imami Shiites". They claim to represent the 12th Imam, al-Mahdi. Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers have expressed a desire to export this caliphate system globally through the "Islamic Revolution".

After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini (Welayat-e-Faqih No. 1), Ali Khamenei was chosen as his successor (Welayat-e-Faqih No. 2) by the “Islamic Parliament” and approved by the “Assembly of Leadership Experts”.

The Assembly of Leadership Experts, one of the most powerful political bodies in Iran, consists of sixty-eight members, whose competence is determined by the "Guardian Council". The Guardian Council, which consists of twelve members (six mullahs and six lawyers), plays a decisive role in the formulation of economic and social policies and confirms the suitability of candidates for the Islamic parliament and the presidency. The Supreme Leader (Ali Khamenei) appoints all six mullahs and the head of the judiciary to the Guardian Council, and recommends the six lawyers, who must be approved by the Islamic parliament.

Given this complex system, can Iran's socio-political structure be called a "republic" or its elections considered democratic? The logical and unequivocal answer is undoubtedly no. "Welayat-e-Faqih" is an absolute authoritarian system, comparable to regimes such as ISIS and the Taliban. It is also worth noting that no woman has ever been allowed to hold the position of religious leader or imam in the Islamic caliphate system.

-- Av Hasse-Nima Golkar

Image: a photograph of a poster on a telephone pole. The poster has an image of Kermit the Frog and the text "Vote Muppet: You Will Get One Anyway."

Belgian elections are today. Mailbox flyers for political candidates often show profiles in exclusive walled gardens (Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram). And they often have email addresses at hotmail, gmail, or outlook. They are betting on #digitalExclusion. I am cancelling all of them regardless of party.

I am also cancelling five whole parties for undermining democracy via digital exclusion by using Cloudflare for the party’s own website. Digital rights are important in 2024, particularly for democracy, as we are increasingly being disempowered by power abuses through forced use of oppressive technology. Direct Tor blocking? Also cancelled.

I am also cancelling all extreme right parties on general principle. And even slightly right if “immigratie stoppen” is something they are misfocused on.

Who’s left? I think I’ll be voting none of the above on a lot of positions because they don’t clear my basic bare minimum bar of digital decency.

Young voters overwhelmingly believe that almost all politicians are corrupt and that the country will end up worse off than when they were born, according to new polling from Democratic firm Blueprint obtained exclusively by Semafor.

The sour mood points to potential trouble for Joe Biden, who is struggling with Gen Z and younger Millennials in polls compared with 2020, and needs to convince them he can be relied on to improve their lives.

As part of the online poll of 943 18-30-year-old registered voters, Blueprint asked participants to respond to a series of questions about the American political system: 49% agreed to some extent that elections in the country don’t represent people like them; 51% agreed to some extent that the political system in the US “doesn’t work for people like me;” and 64% backed the statement that “America is in decline.” A whopping 65% agreed either strongly or somewhat that “nearly all politicians are corrupt, and make money from their political power” — only 7% disagreed.

Via @[email protected]