I’m Trying to Convince Friends and Family to Vote in the Midterms, But They Have Questions
The big lie about noncitizen voting is ruining elections for us all.
The 2026 midterm elections will be a turning point in the American experiment. Will we continue facing military occupation of cities, Klan-level racism in the White House, pillaging of federal agencies, foreign wars, and an unsustainable affordability crisis? Or can we return to the normal problems we used to worry about, like climate change, run-of-the-mill police violence, school shootings, foreign wars, and an unsustainable affordability crisis?
Like you, I’m concerned. I’m asking my friends, neighbors, and family members to commit to voting in November, but they keep bringing up questions. I’m compiling the ones I’m hearing, with an eye toward a FAQ on the subject at some point. Here’s what I have so far. I’m guessing there will be more the closer we get to the midterms.
An ICE agent took a picture of my license plate when I stopped behind him at the Circle K. He said I was following him so I would be added to the database of domestic terrorists. Will I still be able to vote?
My boyfriend spends too much time with his loser friends on Discord and says women shouldn’t vote. He says even Pete Hegseth agrees. What should I do?
My Congressman spends too much time with his loser Republican colleagues and wants to pass the SAVE Act. Then my voter registration would have to match my birth certificate or passport. I don’t have a birth certificate/I don’t have a passport/I changed my name last year when I got married. How am I supposed to track down all the paperwork?
My last name is Díaz. Will I be removed from the voter rolls?
My last name is Díaz. Will ICE agents go to my home and abduct my family while I’m out voting?
I look Latina. Will ICE agents pull me out of the voter line and send me to a detention camp in Texas?
My last name is O’Connell. I plan to accompany my neighbor Maya Díaz to the polls to help keep her safe. Will ICE agents pull us both out of the voter line
and send us to a detention camp in Texas?
If ICE agents surround the polls, wouldn’t that be illegal? Who would I call to make them go away?
My grandpa says when he went to register to vote in Alabama in 1949, he was asked questions like “How many windows in the White House?” If they ask me that, I feel like it would be a trick question—before or after the East Wing demolition?
My grandpa also says it would be nothing new for armed thugs to surround the polls to stop certain people from voting. But didn’t the Voting Rights Act of 1965 take care of that?
What do you mean, the Supreme Court is about to put the final nail in the coffin of the Voting Rights Act? What’s next, attacks on voting rights of naturalized citizens?
If Republicans lose in the midterms, or in 2028, will the shit hit the fan? Is there some way we can be prepared?
Jennifer Thomas is an environmentalist, speculative fiction writer, and occasional New Liberator contributor. You can read some of her stories at jenniferthomas.net.