11-7-2022 Newsletter

 

"Government is as good or as bad as we vote. We are the government." -- Jim Heffernan, Tillamook

BALLOTS DUE TOMORROW BE A VOTER Your ballot must be postmarked on or before Tuesday, November 8, or delivered to the elections office or an official drop box by 8 p.m. on November 8. No postage stamp required. 24-Hour Drop Box Locations Astoria - inside at the Clatsop County Elections Office, 820 Exchange, Suite 200; drop box outside the building near 9th Cannon Beach - City Hall, 163 East Gower Avenue Gearhart - City Hall, 698 Pacific Way Jewell - Jewell School, 83874 Hwy 103 Knappa - Knappa High School, 41535 Old Hwy 30 Seaside - City Hall, 989 Broadway Warrenton - City Hall, 225 South Main Avenue Contact the Clatsop County Elections Office immediately at 503-325-8605 if you have problems with your ballot. The office is at 820 Exchange, Ste. 200, in Astoria. You can check that your ballot was received at the state's OreStar site here. The October hipfish monthly has valuable election and voting info, including INCO's endorsements and other election comments. Here's INCO's letter about elections in the Daily Astorian. ELECTION RESULTS: It's likely to be a week or more before all Oregon ballots are received and counted and official results are released. This is normal. As nonpartisan elections expert David Becker says, "we have never, in the history of our nation, come close to counting all the votes on election night. Every state takes weeks to count all the ballots (incl military) and officially certify the results. Every state. Always.”

INCO ENDORSEMENTS Democracy is on the ballot at every level of government. INCO endorses these candidates because they defend democracy and oppose authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. INCO does not endorse candidates for city office.    Governor:  Tina Kotek* State Senate: Melissa Busch State Representative: Logan Laity US Senate: Ron Wyden* US Representative: Suzanne Bonamici* Check out COIN's side-by-side comparisons of Kotek and Betsy Johnson regarding their actions and statements about climate, guns, reproductive health, housing, families, democracy, and ethics. COIN is the Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network. BALLOT MEASURES: COIN endorsed all four state ballot measures. Check your voter information booklet to learn about them. *Also endorsed by COIN (Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network). As a statewide alliance of 40+ groups, COIN endorses only federal and statewide candidates. DEFEND DEMOCRACY ONE VOTE AT A TIME BE A VOTER

WHAT AMERICA WILL LOOK LIKE It took grit and perseverance for women to get the vote in 1920, but "the Supreme Court continued to use its guidelines for other restrictions until the 1960s, upholding literacy tests, poll taxes, and other rules designed to keep Black people from voting.... "... those of us who have not been cut out of the right to vote by one or another of the measures states are now imposing on their voters can exercise that right, and determine what our nation will look like, once again." -Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, November 5, 2022   BE A VOTER

HAPPENINGS  Thursday, November  10- INCO South County Community Group, 6:30-7:30 pm, via Zoom. Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.

INSIGHTS "I grew up with the idea that democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.”       -- Abbie Hoffman

Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter       November 7, 2022