Stay patient, stay calm.
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Hi Friend,

 

Surprise, surprise: here we are on Thursday, and across the country, election
officials are still counting ballots. 


Who could have predicted this? Turns out, the local election officials, who
every election, administer the election in accordance with the law. These are
the local experts and practitioners who have been advising for months now that
it will take time to count every vote. 


And indeed, local election officials will continue to count every vote and
uphold the integrity of the election process until the voters’ voices are
heard. No politician can decide election results; only the voters can do that. 


It’s time for all of us to step up, wait patiently, and put country over party
. 


Here are three takeaways from the election (so far!).

BIG win in Virginia.
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Virginia voters have made their voices loud and clear: voters should choose
their politicians, not the other way around. The Commonwealth passed MAJOR
redistricting reform on Tuesday by a whopping 65 to 34 margin. A bipartisan
citizen-led commission will draw legislative maps in Virginia in 2021, a major
victory for voters across the Commonwealth.


FairMaps Virginia <[link removed]> and OneVirginia2021
<[link removed]> deserve an enormous round of applause for
their tireless efforts to bring fair maps to the people. Virginia is
spearheading a new path as a bipartisan powerhouse. In fact, ahead of the
election, members of the bipartisan Commonwealth Caucus reaffirmed their
commitment to bipartisanship and to the people of Virginia,releasing a statement
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telling Virginians that what matters first and foremost aren’t our allegiances
to our parties, but to each other as Virginians and Americans. No matter what
happens, we have to respect the outcome of the election. 


They even released a video message too! Check it out here.
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The Alaska count continues.
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Meanwhile, it’s still too early to call Alaska’s Better Elections initiative;
the state’s mail-in ballots won’t even begin being counted until November 10th.
So in the meantime, we’re sitting back and waiting patiently for results. We
know that the Alasakan election administrators are doing their jobs to ensure
that Alaskan voters’ voices are heard, and that their ballots are counted. 


We’re standing up for our fellow Americans, and for our election integrity.
Results will come, like they always do.And like every election before, we trust
the results, and know that that’s our democracy in action. Either way, win or
lose, we will accept the results of the election. 


(Sound familiar?)



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Reform is hard work.
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Meanwhile, Massachusetts’ Measure 2 fell just short, missing the mark to pass
ranked choice voting statewide. A heart-breaking loss, to be sure, but the
strides that the campaign made in thestate were enormous
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, and the efforts they made are no less significant. Reform is hard; educating
and informing voters is hard; making lasting change is hard. 


It wasn’t all bad news for ranked choice voting, though. In every city where
RCV was on the ballot — it passed.Bloomington, Minnesota; Minnetonka, Minnesota;
Albany, California; Eureka, California; and Boulder, Colorado will now all use
ranked choice voting at the city level. 


Progress is incremental; it happens slowly, then all at once. We’re just in
the opening stages of a nationwide groundswell. Don’t be discouraged.We fight
on!



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Remember, it’s not over till it’s over. We believe in putting country over
party — and we know you do too.

 

Brett
__
Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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