| Hi all, it's Priya. Silicon Valley's proverbial water coolers may go quiet for at least a few hours on Tuesday. Technology giants including Twitter Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Apple Inc. have given their employees time off to go to the polls on Election Day. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc. is among a group of about 60 U.S. companies that joined an initiative called Just Vote, giving workers at least two paid hours off to cast their ballots in what it calls "the most important election of our lifetime." The tech industry has historically tried to stay removed from partisan politics. But in recent weeks, as the U.S. careens toward a hotly contested general election, a spectrum has emerged for how much—if at all—companies are willing to engage. On one side, there's Coinbase. In a now-famous memo, Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of the cryptocurrency marketplace, told employees they were barred from advocating for any causes or candidates at work, and said those who disagreed with the new policy could take a buyout and find work elsewhere. Last month, 60 people, about 5% of Coinbase's workforce, took the money and left. At the other extreme is Expensify, whose CEO last month emailed 10 million customers and urged them to vote for Joe Biden. It was one of the most forceful moves yet by a tech player to thrust itself into politics. David Barrett, the CEO, reasoned that his plea was all business. Another term of "Trump leadership will damage our democracy to such an extent," he wrote, "I'm obligated on behalf of shareholders to take any action I can to avoid it." Other tech heavyweights' political activities have fallen somewhere in the middle. For example, days after the Expensify newsletter went out, venture capitalist Fred Wilson wrote a blog post comparing Trump to a CEO that should be removed. Some CEOs, like Netflix Inc.'s Reed Hastings, have simply donated money to challenger Joe Biden's campaign. And Rob Rhinehart, co-founder of food-replacement Soylent, said he was "so sick of politics" he was voting for Kanye West. Political talk may well die down in the U.S. after this week. If Biden wins, it's possible tech's largely liberal workforces may not feel the need to ask their companies to become more politically involved. But whichever candidate prevails, politics could remain a fixture of life in the industry for a long time to come. With looming antitrust scrutiny from both parties, a newly powerful employee base and the country at new heights of polarization, things aren't likely to go back to the way they were any time soon. —Priya Anand | 
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