Tracee Ellis Ross and Ai-jen Poo are the Voting Therapy You Need To Calm Your Election Nerves

Twas the night before the election, and Tracee Ellis Ross and Ai-Jen Poo just had a voting party on BlogHer’s Instagram Live. No, seriously, we were there – and they dropped some inspiring facts about voting, the election, and how amazing women are in general!

Ai-jen is the co-founder of Supermajority, an organization dedicated to women’s power, and the co-founder and executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Tracee, who stars on Black-ish, revealed that she and Ai-Jen are old friends who sadly hadn’t seen each other in a while because of the pandemic. So first, they had what can only be described as a virtual hug for about 3 minutes straight. They both proudly donned their voting stickers. Tracee placed her sticker on her face. Because she’s Tracee Ellis Ross, and she can put her sticker wherever she wants! 

Rashida Jones, Elaine Welteroth, and Common all popped on to the virtual voting party to drop some voting encouragement. 

Vote! But Make it Fashion!

Wondering what to wear when you vote? Let’s face it, most of us have only been dressing waist up in this zoom world. But if you’re voting in person, you may need to re-hire your pants. Ai-jen revealed that Tracee is her fashion icon, so she asked what she’s wearing to vote? Tracee laughed and said, “I’m working, and my work attire is sweatpants, and something easy to get on and off!” Sounds perfect. 

Ai-jen was wearing a hot pink suit compliments of Supermajority and which she will be wearing again tomorrow to vote. Her outfit is called “Ambition Suits You” – a collaboration between Supermajority and Argent. And why is it so bright? Because women’s futures are so bright, we gotta wear shades. Okay, she didn’t say that, but that is essentially why they picked a bright color to represent women’s collective power. 

Is it Too Late to Volunteer?

Wondering what you can do if you want to keep busy and feel helpful to the world. You can volunteer! It’s not too late. Tracee revealed she’s doing some last-minute phone banking, and Ai-jen added if you have “in-it-to win-it-til-the-last-minute-endorphins,” there are two ways to volunteer. 

The first is Care in Action. And the other is Ai-jen’s own org, Supermajority. You can phone bank all day, every day! Actually, no. You can tonight and tomorrow. After the election, if you love a good phone bank, phone bank your friends. 

What You Need to Know If You’re Voting Tomorrow

Tracee and Ai-jen reminded everyone that if anything happens tomorrow and you have problems voting, here’s the easy to remember number for the Voter Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE. And don’t forget to wear a mask. Because, hello, there’s still a pandemic happening. And if your mask matches your hot pink suit or sweatpants, bonus! 

“Women are Voting Like Crazy” 

Ai-jen decided to drop some stone-cold voting facts that weirdly made us all feel better. Who knew statistics could be so sexy? 

As of Friday, October 30th, nearly 40 million women had voted early compared to 32 million men. “So women are killing it right now.” What did Tracee have to say to that, “As per ushze.” How is that word spelled?!  

• Early voters include 3 million Latinas, which is up from 1.6 million at this point in 2016.
• Early voters also include 3.8 million Black women, up from 2.4 million in 2016. 

“So women are basically on it – in such a big way. And I think we’re going to decide the outcome of this election,” Ai-jen proclaimed. Tracee quickly agreed and added, “We decide the outcomes of a lot of things.

If you’re feeling anxious about the election, just listen to Ai-jen and Tracee – they’re like voting therapists. Better than wine. (Or equal to, or perhaps the best wine pairing ever). One commenter excitedly wrote, “Legit watching girlfriends rn.” She wasn’t wrong. They were chicken soup for your anxious voting soul. So check out their chat, and don’t forget to vote!