Every Time You Cast a Vote, The Flames of Torment Are Turned Up on An Authoritarian in Hell

Tomorrow is Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. It is the spring election in the state of Wisconsin. Liberals have the opportunity to establish a resounding majority on the state supreme court.The candidate we’re looking to elect is Chris Taylor, but anybody who wants to cast a vote should go to what’s on my ballot to see what other offices are currently in play. Wisconsin is a state that offers absentee in-person voting. That’s been the process my wife and I have taken advantage of over the last few years. Last week I’d finished another round of interviews with congressional candidates when my wife said, “Hey, should we go vote?” I had 20 minutes before I had to pick up the kids, but I thought it was worth a shot. In this day and age you should take advantage of any opportunity to vote that you can.My wife is a naturalized U.S. citizen. As I headed to the courthouse, I was reminded of the immigration obligations I used to have to go through when I lived in Peru. It’s odd how so many of the most important things in our lives happen in kind of shabby looking, unremarkable offices.Outside the courthouse there was a cheap plastic sign with the words “vote here” on the front. It reminded me of a “caution, wet floor” sign. There was nothing special. There were no fireworks or flashing lights or dancing inflatables.The lack of fanfare made me feel the event was being camouflaged rather than celebrated. Imagine if we demanded the same reverence for voting that we do for reciting the pledge of allegiance or standing for the national anthem.Voting is the most fundamental act of patriotism available to us, and often voting day passes without anyone uttering a word.There was no line as we went inside. We met only one person who was on her way out.Another sign directed us down a corridor. We made our way, glancing at all the seemingly empty, unmarked offices. At the end of a long hallway, we turned to the right. A door opened into a room with a large window and a pleasant light that shone down upon a gray chest-high desk. There was a woman standing beside it who asked us to provide our identification and then state our name and addresses.She signed and filled out our ballots before handing them over. We went back into the hall where two empty voting booths awaited. Then we filled out the ballots, placed them in an envelope, and took them back to the woman.She had a glue stick on her desk which she used to seal the envelopes. “When I was was in preschool I never knew my grow-up job would involve arts and crafts.”I liked that she said “grown-up job.”Voting done, we headed out. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. As I left, I realized that this convenience was not an accident. In fact, the ease with which I was able to vote was thanks to the diligent effort of many liberal-minded people.Sometimes we’re the beneficiaries of hard-won battles we didn’t even know people were fighting.Many states don’t offer an absentee in-person voting option. The shameful, anti-democratic right-wing of our political mechanism always does everything it can to erode the convenience of voting. They oppose every action of the progressive minded people who feel we have a right to participate in the decision making of our government.But even though voting happened to be easy for me on this day, I have to remind myself not to become complacent. Every one of us needs to adopt the mindset that our freedoms are constantly under attack. Sometimes those attacks come from our fellow Americans.Voting shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes for anyone. None of us should rest until that’s the reality for everyone.A feature of our existence is that there will always be nefarious forces that attempt to deprive you of your rights along with your personal and political power. Vote erosion is one of their favorite tactics whether they do it through legislation like the SAVE act, redistricting, or illegal strategies like voting roll purges, ballot spoiling, and other forms of cheating.We need to make vote integrity a more prominent point of activism. We have to ensure that every ballot is cast, and that every ballot is counted, and that all counts are correct.If we fail to do this, we are irresponsible. That lack of diligence makes us complicit in the theft of our collective will.I know that my right to cast an in-person absentee ballot at my convenience was a hard-won victory that came after endless hours of thankless debate. Ultimately, in this case the progressives won. I was not deprived of my sacred right. Even as a busy father, I was able to cast my ballot and get to school in time for my kids.Everybody should have thar right.But just because we have that right now doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed forever. We must always fight against the encroachments. The right wing will try to shorten the voting period, or discard the option entirely. In Wisconsin, it was open from March 24th to April 2nd. Why wasn’t it open through voting day? The right wing will do everything it can to take a day away and be content in the victory. They’ll scream and yell and throw a fit if we try to extend the period.“No matter how much we give you always want more,” they’ll say. Even though time and time again we’ve seen there’s no limit to how much they’re willing to take away.Having gone through the process, it was clear that absentee in-person voting offers no additional strain on the system. There weren’t many people using the option. The woman at the office wasn’t overly burdened. As we left, there was nobody else walking in.My conclusion on the day is that we can’t allow a single convenient experience deceive us into forgetting we are constantly navigating a battlefield. All around us is the evidence of an invisible war being waged between opposing forces.If you don’t have access to absentee in-person voting, you’re living in a place where the battle has been lost. But take heart. The war rages on. You have it in your power to win that battle back. Your weapon is your ballot. Voting is not celebrated in our country. There are ongoing efforts to erode your ability to vote. The messaging is ineffective. The social pressure is largely absent.You don’t see businesses willing to give their employees time off to go in and cast a ballot. Instead, voting is done almost in silence and in secrecy. It’s as if we’re more ashamed about voting than the actual crimes our nation has committed.The truth is that voting is one of the best things about this country. It should be celebrated.Today, we find ourselves exploited by the cruelty of incompetent leaders. There are men in our government who only retain power through the apathy, indifference, and suppression of the masses. If you are fortunate enough to be able to go out and vote at your convenience, please take a moment to give thanks. Then, take another moment to commit yourself to a path of activism so that all your fellow Americans can experience the same privileges as you.Also pause and recognize the uncelebrated battles that are fought on our behalf which are waged to ensure we retain the right to have our voices heard.We can’t allow ourselves to be complacent. We have to understand that the act of living means we are engaged in an eternal fight for our very survival. It will always be the case that malicious forces will conspire to silence, oppress, and enslave us. Cruel forces will always labor to consolidate their power at the expense of providing assistance to decent and compassionate people. Despite the fact that we live in an advertising culture that goes to absurd lengths to capture our attention, it’s critically important to hit the pause button and recognize the vast consequence of quiet moments that happen in unremarkable offices.Mark your ballots.The pen is mightier than the sword.Tomorrow is the spring election in the state of Wisconsin. The American public has largely been indoctrinated not to participate in smaller elections. People think it’s inconvenient. People think their votes don’t matter.These are lies. Voting is far less inconvenient than enduring the rule of tyrants. If your vote didn’t matter, the forces of evil wouldn’t try to suppress it.Get out and vote. Defy the authoritarians. Do it for the sake of defiance alone if that’s what it takes. If you lose, persist, and come back to defy them again and again and again. Bring others.Then, one day, you’ll win.The United States is based on the division of power and in times such as these when authoritarians are doing everything they can to strip of us our rights, it is our responsibility to take every opportunity we can to elevate individuals of integrity who are the true champions of the people. No office is too small.No individual vote is insignificant.Learn who the candidates are. Vote.Freedom requires diligence. Defend your rights because if you don’t, those rights will be taken away.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. 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