Americans on Twitter, Reddit and 4Chan: ‘Apparently You Have to Register to Vote?’
On Election Day, many Americans expressed surprise that eligible voters needed to register in advance.

Photo Illustration
Americans, and likely some troll Americans, took to social networks and websites like 4chan and Twitter to express befuddlement that they are unable to vote today, not knowing that in many states, they had to register in advance.
“So apparently, you have to register to vote.Fuck em’,” wrote Twitter user @jackfelton69. “TRUMP, you would’ve had my vote.” (He did not respond to a tweet from The Daily Beast asking if this was a joke).

Yo I went to vote today and it turns out you gotta register wtf
— Ross (@rossmow100) November 8, 2016
4chan, where Trump is a referred to as a “God Emperor,” also had its boards littered with posts by anonymous users complaining that they were turned away from polling places for not having registered, followed by pleas from fellow users who were hopeful they were trolling the board.
“You have to register literally months in advance before you can vote,” wrote one user. “What the FUCK? I got up at 6 AM to MAGA in PA and I can’t FUCKING VOTE? Why is this legal?”
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Another user responded, hoping he wasn’t serious, as 4chan’s /pol/ board is regularly bombarded with posts telling 4chan users how to register to vote.
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“If you’re being truthful, you’re a fucking scumbag,” wrote that user. “We’ve had trump general for months, telling you exactly how to register. He will still win, but fuck you. Vote everyone!”
4chan is saturated in people finding out you have to register to vote in advance. pic.twitter.com/KhkBAJiP8L
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) November 8, 2016
Reddit’s r/The_Meltdown is collecting a series of posts by 4chan and Reddit users—or trolls—who are realizing too late that they can’t vote, or that their candidate may not win.
all the meme magic in the world can't vanquish bureaucracy pic.twitter.com/xB6gEBObP9
— gabagool casserole (@jimpjorps) November 8, 2016
One user of Reddit’s r/The_Donald, who has had a Reddit account for over two years, had a familiar plea: “So I got up early today to MAGA!! Turns out, after waiting in line to vote, I needed to register months ago?? How is this possible? Can I still vote?”
“Oh jesus h christ... no. Of course you had to be registered months ago... all you can do is try and help trump voters get to the polls,” wrote another user.
Other 4chan users seemed distressed at the possibility that the emperor could be shown to have no clothes on Tuesday night.
“Trump losing badly in every swing state based on exit poll,” one user wrote. “I’m literally shaking rn. What went wrong bros?”
Someone else quickly responded: “Maybe next time try getting an actual competent politician as a nominee instead of a meme.”
There are, in fact 11 states plus Washington D.C., where voters can register on Election Day. They include Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
It is unclear where any of these supposed voters are from, as 4chan anonymizes its users.
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