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Beating My Voting Drum

Beating My Voting Drum

Last updated on: October 19, 2026 at 7:02 am by Laura Tempest Zakroff

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Beating My Voting Drum 2026-10-19T07:02:06-08:00 Laura Tempest Zakroff

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Here comes a rant (and TLDR: if you’re a US citizen eligible to vote in the upcoming midterms, I hope you f**king do so, because it’s important.)

Are you a voter?

Yesterday was a lovely fall day here in New England, so I took a long walk around our neighborhood. I greeted and passed two older women walking their dogs. At the corner was a house with a lot of signs for candidates and I heard one ask the other, “Are you a voter?” Much in the way that one might ask someone if they like eating a certain kind of food or playing a sport. I didn’t hear the response clearly, but it didn’t sound affirmative for either woman.

Which is so ridiculous that it set me off into quite the mood. I’m sick and tired of eligible voters shrugging off their responsibility – often with the excuse that it doesn’t matter. I know many of us are extremely frustrated on the national level and that’s a whole other discussion, but voting is most important at the root level. It decides who is running your town or city: council people, mayors, sometimes law enforcement and judicial staff.

They also decide the state-level officials who are making decisions about your healthcare, safety, environment, and rights in general. These are the folks that end up at the top – and many of them start in your own backyard.

Your Vote Matters!

Here in little old Rhode Island, many of these races come down to SINGLE digit numbers. Often with LESS THAN 20% of the ELIGIBLE, REGISTERED POPULATION VOTING, crucial races are decided by a handful of people. So when I hear my neighbors complain about the cost of living and other concerns, but in the next breath say that they don’t exercise their right vote at all, it’s maddening!

I also know that having lived in Washington state and experienced how well organized and informative they are when it comes to the voting process, that Rhode Island does a crap job about providing information about who’s running. And I’m cynical enough to believe that it’s BY DESIGN. I’m also sure we’re not the only state where they don’t make it easy to vote or inform people about their choices.

Which activates my spite response. If someone doesn’t want me or you to do something because it makes it easier for THEM to manipulate the system – well then I’m going to make sure I do that thing. So if exercising your civic duty or participating in the process to make sure your values are reflected in your local government isn’t enough to motivate you, may I offer the gift of SPITE?

But seriously, voting is important. So important that in my workshops, we’ve crafted no less than 4 sigils specifically focused on voting. (Info on those below…)

Working Magic

For the last decade, any time I’ve talked about magical resistance, I’ve emphasized the need to work at the root level and to combine metaphysical effort with action. Simply look at where we are now, and you’ll see the road paved by inaction that got us here. You can be disgusted (and curse) at the pus at the top of the pimple, but if you’re not squeezing from the bottom and changing how things are done, it’s going to keep happening. Magic begins with thought, and thought leads to action – but it has to start within your sphere of influence. Which includes voting.

The Sigils

Here are 4 of the sigils I’ve co-crafted with folks to help with the voting process. Motivate yourself and others, protect polling places, protect the voting process and make sure your vote is counted. So make sure that if you’re eligible to vote, check your registration, and making a voting plan. Early voting is available in many places (also not advertised as well as it should be), so you don’t have to wait for election day or take time off to vote.

The Get Out & Vote Sigil was created in 2018.

Included in this sigil:

– Gets folks registered in time

– Maximum effort/intent to vote

– Transportation/accessibility

– Safety

– Planning/make a plan

– Freedom to vote

A Sigil for Protecting Voting Rights was also created in 2018.

Included in this sigil:

– Focus on community mental health/sanity

– Accessibility/end to voter repression/suppression

– Peaceful transition of power at all levels

– Fair & honest results quickly/truth empowered

– Freedom for all, benefiting the greater good, positive outcome

– Clarity and transparency

– Justice

– Protection from outside influences/tampering/obstruction

– Laying the groundwork leading to future progress/reunification/healing

The Election Protection Sigil was created in 2020.

Included in this sigil:

– focus on community mental health/sanity

– accessibility/end to voter repression/suppression

– peaceful transition of power at all levels

– fair & honest results quickly/truth empowered

– freedom for all, benefiting the greater good, positive outcome

– clarity and transparency

– justice

– protection from outside influences/tampering/obstruction

– laying the groundwork leading to future progress/reunification/healing

The Bullseye Ballot Sigil was created in 2020.

Included in this sigil:

– directly hitting the target (vote is received and counted)

– making sure your vote/your voice is seen and included

– ballot is protected from tampering or delays

– encourages good health/trust/truth in the system

– wards off negativity/bad intentions/reduces the power of those seeking to cause harm

For more information on using these sigils, visit my earlier post on the topic.

About Laura Tempest Zakroff

Laura Tempest Zakroff is a professional artist, author, performer, and Modern Traditional Witch based in New England. She holds a BFA from RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design), and her artwork has received awards and honors worldwide. Her work embodies myth and the esoteric through her drawings and paintings, jewelry, talismans, and other designs. Laura is the author of the bestselling Llewellyn books Weave the Liminal, Sigil Witchery, and Anatomy of a Witch, as well as the Liminal Spirits Oracle (artist/author), The Witch’s Cauldron, and co-author of The Witch’s Altar with Jason Mankey. Laura edited The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance (Revelore Press). She is the creative force behind several community events and teaches workshops online and worldwide. You can read more about the author here.

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