John Oliver Blames Himself

John Oliver shared some word with voters on Last Week Tonight Sunday about the election. Now, Oliver, as you may know, is not a huge Donald Trump fan: This episode he called him "the human equivalent of a clear plastic bag filled with cheeseburgers and Confederate flag belt buckles," and apologized for urging Trump to run back when he was a correspondent on The Daily Show because among other things, "he has really stupid hair." But pushing voters away from voting for the GOP nominee was not the only takeaway. Oliver also encouraged voters to study up on the other races on the ballot.

Maybe he didn't focus on the pros and cons of Hillary Clinton and Trump because it is that obvious. "If you're still undecided, I honestly don't know if I can help you," Oliver explained, before explaining that he does empathize with the no-fun campaign season. "For a treat later, our main story won't have anything to do do with this election," he quipped. "But you do have to vote — even if you live in a state where it won't matter because there are some important things to vote for down ballot," Oliver said. Down ballot?

You know, the races you don't think about until you're in the voting booth and find yourself thinking, "Oh, comptroller, shit. I did not study for that. Well I hope this person's not a Nazi."

Oliver went on to feign pushing the voting machine button as if he were playing the slots. But in all seriousness, Oliver is right. He went on to explain just how serious some of the ballot measures are, with initiatives around the country that would affect things you might care about. As Oliver put it, they range from "from raising the minimum wage to legalizing marijuana, to which I say, 'dank,' to the death penalty."

But even understanding what you think about the issues is not enough because there can be confusing language, he explained. "For example, Nebraska is voting on whether to repeal an earlier repeal of the death penalty. So voting to repeal will actually reinstate it, which I would say is 'undank.' So you should prepare before you vote."

He suggested that you Google "view my ballot," and then enter your address. Google will show you all the national, state, and local elections that will show up on your ballot. You can click through to see the candidates' names and a Google search on them to find out where they stand on issues that matter to you. Another good place to learn about the candidates in lesser-known races is Ballotpedia. You can use their tool to see a sample ballot and read in depth about what is known on the candidates.

After that, Oliver said, "You can type dog dressed as a walrus into Goole as a treat for yourself because now you actually deserve it." But there's even better news:

The point is that there is a lot to consider on Tuesday and then, barring recounts, this nightmare of a campaign will be over—which is good, because this election hasn’t so much appealed to our better angels as it has groped our better angels, mocked their weight, and called them ‘sixes at best.'

So do as Oliver says, make sure you know what and who you're voting for, and then go vote.