#925nvrd

Below is a report from Jianna Lieberman, a #VoteEverywhere Ambassador at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA):

Jianna Lieberman and Aviva Paley on National Voter Registration Day

Aviva (Paley) and I have been able to register 511 people on our campus; over 25% of the population at MICA. For the most part, registration seemed like something most students had been meaning to do, but hadn't gotten around to yet, or they just weren't sure if they had registered before. Only a small percentage of students were hesitant to register, for various reasons. Some felt too uninformed, some hated politics, and some just didn't want to serve jury duty.

Here in Maryland, we used Question 6 to convince quite a few people to register - most people don't realize that there are other questions on the ballot besides president, and same-sex marriage is a hot topic, especially at an art college. One thing we definitely learned is not to overestimate how much people know; we had multiple people ask us which party Obama was in! We also discovered just how complicated the registration process can be.

We had some fabulous moments though, including our 500th registrant, who waited 15 minutes for someone to come along to be 499 so she could be number 500. - Jianna Lieberman

El Día Nacional de Registro de Votantes es hoy y es importantísimo que se informe sobre el proceso de la registración si es que todavía no está registrado/a para votar. Aunque no es un día festivo oficial, es patrocinado por varios grupos sin ánimo de lucro al igual que por las uniones y grupos privados que promueven aumentar la participación política de nuestro país.

So you don't want to vote. That's totally cool. Years ago, I might have gotten my knickers in a twist and read you the riot act—or thought about reading you the riot act, then found something better to do with my time. I still believe voting is extremely important, but now I'm a little older and can see the merits of the dark side; not voting is as much a right as voting. Despite the popular maxim about not voting, you still have the right to complain as loudly as you want. In fact, I encourage it. This post is not for you. This post is directed at the person looking forward to casting a ballot this year, because even if the presidential elections have got you shaking your head, you know that there are plenty of other important things happening in this election besides the Mitt Romney Comedy Tour 2012.* (Ba-zing.) There are congressional races, referenda, and tons of other important things at stake beyond deciding who gets to wear the funny hat. To wit: DO. NOT. FORGET. TO. REGISTER. TO. VOTE. There are deadlines to register, and some states are less forgiving about this than others. If this is something you still need to do, consider this a gentle kick in the ass. This is particularly critical at a time when there are concerted, insidious efforts to hinder and discourage whole swaths of people from exercising their right to vote. It's very important that you—the concerned voter—stay on top of your shit. In fact, my friend Beca has alerted me to a site called TurboVote that, beyond helping to get you registered, will actually send you text messages and emails to let you know about upcoming elections. And once you've gone through the fairly easy process of registering your ass to vote, make sure your friends have done the same. Plenty of good resources to make it all happen over at www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org. Cheers, Henry

* Unlike the majority of the country, I've already had the pleasure of four years of Mittens, so it's totally okay as long as I laugh. Those are the rules that I just made up.

Are you entitled to vote but haven't registered to vote? YOU ARE WASTING AN ENTITLEMENT, YOU ENTITLEMENT-WASTER!

Click on the pic! Register!