On Saturday, I put up a post called What We Can Do: 85 Days, 85 Things and asked you to help come up with a list of 85 things we can do for the 85 days that were left.
We are at 67 things you can do, and counting. Please help add some more to the list below!
In the meantime, we are highlighting SPLC Action Power Hours today. In the next post in this series, we will highlight Indivisible. If you are involved with an action organization you’d like to see highlighted, please let me know.
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Southern Poverty Law Center Action Power Hours
It’s not too late to sign up for tonight’s Voting Rights Power Hour
The Voting Rights Act turned 55 last week, and to commemorate this landmark legislation, SPLC Action is launching a new program for our supporters to help get out the vote.
SPLC Action Power Hours allow supporters like you to volunteer your time to help protect voting rights and expand equitable access to the ballot.
During SPLC Action Power Hours, supporters will use our simple-to-navigate virtual phone bank platform to call voters in key states, sharing critical updates regarding their voter registration status and access to mail-in ballots, or providing information on important ballot initiatives.
Using your own phone in your own home, the virtual phone bank will provide you with a complete script, names and phone numbers of voters, and easy-to-follow instructions to record the results of your conversation.
For our first Power Hour, SPLC Action will commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act by calling voters in Alabama to alert them to Alabama’s expanded absentee ballot access for anyone concerned about in-person voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are asking for ONE HOUR OF YOUR TIME TODAY.
Alabama Absentee Ballot Power Hour
TOMORROW, Thursday, Aug. 13
7-8 p.m. Eastern Time
It’s not too late to sign up for tonight’s Voting Rights Power Hour
Here’s the list of What We Can Do.
- When you read or read something or hear Trump has done that enrages you or makes you feel sick, find one thing on this list and do it.
- Do not panic.
- Request an absentee ballot (or similar) for yourself to keep open the option of voting by mail.
- Talk to everyone you know about voting in person vs. requesting an absentee ballot (or similar).
- Sign up to Adopt a State at Vote Save America.
- Donate directly to candidates and organizations that are organizing in targeted areas, such as Texas.
- Write postcards.
- Make calls to voters.
- Get involved in a texting campaign for your preferred candidate.
- Get involved in “literature drops” where you drop off literature, but don’t knock on doors.
- Donate to one of DougJ’s fundraisers – they are all listed in the sidebar under Political Fundraising.
- Update your voter registration signature.
- Contribute to a fund for helping Florida felons pay off their fines.
- Make calls to congress.
- Take action to help save the post office.
- Contact a media outlet about their bullshit coverage.
- Contribute resource information to these threads.
- Try to enlist one friend or family member to take up the fight for the next 85 days.
- If you feel hopeless or helpless, change something up. Making just one change can help.
- Share the things you have done in one of these threads. You can add inspiring other people to your list of contributions.
- Make sure your voter registration is current. Check every week or two.
- Sign up to be a poll watcher or election judge, if you feel that would be safe for you.
- Attorneys can offer their services for election day. (Not sure what the process is for that.)
- Hold Mike Bloomberg’s feet to the fire on donations he promised.
- Join efforts to help with voter education for filling out ballots by mail, so ballots don’t get invalidated.
- Research all 50 states re: voter education for filling out ballots by mail, and share the info with all of us.
- Figure out how to get more drop boxes for ballots or join efforts that are already in progress.
- Contact the campaign of your choice and ask them how you can help.
- Join your local Indivisible group.
- Write up something about an organization you are working with for spotlighting in a future What We Can Do post.
- Fill out the 2020 census! (if you haven’t already)
- Does your state have a Student Election Page program? (VA does) If so, get word out to high school civics departments/teachers.
- Research the Student Election Page program, find out which states have that, and share the info with all of us.
- Know someone who could write postcards to voters, but doesn’t have $ for stamps? Buy forever stamps for their postcards.
- Go to the Run For Something candidate directory (there are ~500 young progressive candidates running at all levels of gov’t) and find someone running nearby and see if there’s something you can do to help them out.
- Know any American citizens who live in other countries? Hook them up with votefromabroad.org to make sure they request their ballots.
- Investigate whether drop-off ballots are available in your area. Investigate for extended family, as well. Democrats only.
- Post Office: return all pre-paid envelopes, empty, so the Post Office gets the revenue.
- Post Office: reduce your mail through the post office in the run-up to the election to help reduce the need for overtime.
- Post Office: buy a batch of Forever stamps for someone on a fixed income.
- Post Office: complain to your senators and representatives about the intentionally imposed delays, which result in prescriptions not arriving in time & late fees and bad credit scores because your bill payments are not arriving within a reasonable amount of time.
- Post Office: complain to media outlets about their lack of coverage of the intentionally imposed delays, which cause prescriptions not arriving in time & late fees and bad credit scores because your bill payments are not arriving within a reasonable amount of time.
- Volunteer with SPLC Action Power Hours – the first one is August 13 from 7-8 Eastern Time.
- Donate or get involved with Democracy Docket to safeguard vote by mail.
- Donate or get involved with The Brennan Center.
- Donate or get involved with Fair Fight.
- Donate or get involved with Let America Vote.
- Donate or get involved with VoteRiders. They have state by state info on in-person and vote by mail, plus assists with voter ID if your state requires it for registration or voting.
- Donate or get involved with NDRC (Obama / Eric Holder National Democratic Redistricting).
- Donate or get involved with the ACLU.
- Donate or get involved with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Donate or get involved with Juanita Jean’s Help Flip Texas.
- Donate or get involved with No Democrat Left Behind (rural democrats).
- Election Day: Hand out chilled water or order pizza to be delivered for people in long lines.
- Election Day: Hand out individually packaged chips and snacks to people who are in long lines.
- Election Day: Hand out a list of the nearest bathroom and offer to hold place in line.
- Election Day: Bring portable music.
- Election Day: Bring masks and cotton gloves, hand sanitizer for folks who might not have them.
- Know this and share it: When Absentee/Mail Ballot Processing and Counting Can Begin in every state.
- Vote Save America has links to every state with voter information– registration deadlines, absentee vote requests. Check it out and share the information with every voter you know.
- Vote Save America voting information in spreadsheet summary form for all states.
- Know your state. If early voting is scanned into the machines and reported along with the election day results, when polls close on election day, consider early voting if you feel it is safe. Share that information with others.
- Know what your state handles it if a mail in or absentee ballot is rejected. A surprisingly high percentage of mail ballots rejected, so it’s important to know what happens in your state. (We can collect this for states if you share info here.)
- Tell us what you know about the organization Turnout 2020. Should they be recommended, or not?
- Get informed about the candidate’s record and virtues. Then broadcast them far and wide when an attack comes, whether it’s from a relative or on social media. Avoid referencing the attack if you can.
- Read this: How to Counter Trump’s Attempt to Manipulate the Election and the Census.
- Kamala Harris: ProgressivePunch.org rates Kamala as one of the top progressive legislators in the Senate
- Kamala Harris: 50 Criminal Justice Reforms & Accomplishments by Kamala Harris
- Read Margaret Sullivan’s very good column about how the media should respond to Kamala Harris. There are ideas there for all of us to think about in our communications.
- Watch Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for inspiration.
- Learn how to assist Native voters in registering to vote and in being able to register/get to the polls with the Native Vote Toolkit and this article For some Native voters no home address means no vote.
- League of Women Voters information by state.
- Make a voting plan, and help everyone you know make one, too.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
Learn how to assist Native voters in registering to vote and in being able to register/get to the polls:
Native Vote Toolkit
For some Native voters no home address means no vote
“But in states with strict voter identification laws, officials typically require a traditional address. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court just weeks before the midterm elections declined to block a North Dakota law requiring IDs with street addresses. P.O. boxes would not suffice, the court ruled, sending local tribes and activists into a frenzy trying to meet the new standard.”
WaterGirl
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Thank you so much! That has been added to the list.
O. Felix Culpa
Joe Biden has regular topical discussions. Coming up soon is one on US-India Relations and Indian Americans in Joe Biden’s America. Takes place this Saturday, Aug. 15, 3PM ET.
I thought s_cat and others might be interested
The event will feature Senior Advisors from the Biden Campaign Tony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and Seema Sadanandan, with Former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal, Former U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma and the Economic Policy Advisor for Biden Unity Task Force Sonal Shah. The event is being sponsored by Indian American Impact Fund, AAPI Victory Fund and South Asians for Biden.
PsiFighter37
I hope Democrats encourage people to vote in person soon. It is blatantly clear – and Trump admitted it on TV – that he is going to try and steal the election by slow-walking mail.
Nina
Post Office: complain to your local news stations about prescriptions not arriving in time & late fees and bad credit scores because your bill payments are not arriving within a reasonable amount of time. Particularly if you’re photogenic or if you are a good storyteller.
WaterGirl
@Nina: Complain to your legislators about the post office issues, too. (That is #40.)
I added the same thing, only for contacting the media, as #41.
WaterGirl
Is anyone thinking of doing the SPLC Power Hour tonight?
NotMax
OT.
Will there be a belated Medium Cool?
UncleEbeneezer
Here is a spreadsheet version of the VoteSaveAmerica info with active links to request ballots, links to State websites etc. I thought it might be helpful for anyone who wants to spread awareness to voters in multiple states, set reminders based on deadlines etc., without having to go through each state on the VSA site (though if you click on any State on my spreadsheet it will take you there). Feel free to share with others, or add to the VSA link above etc.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qo4SJlhgK9XyTHIiMrUwFDPEG_dEcRb8VNcqca35-Ks/edit?usp=sharing
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Yeah, both times I went to put it up last night, someone had just put up a post, so I finally said fuck it.
At this point, I think we’ll just wait until next week.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks for that. I added it to the list as a separate item, just below the Vote Save America link for that information.
JPL
@PsiFighter37: Luckovich today in the AJC and GA is a hot spot
link
Omnes Omnibus
I submitted this to the last one, and you may have thought I was snarking. I was serious. Don’t panic.
Another Scott
Thanks for this list, and for everyone’s efforts.
For our peeps in Virginia, note that lots of the election rules and requirements were
relaxedmade sensible in the summer 2019 legislative session. But there are still things to be aware of about absentee voting.https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/absentee-voting/
If you’re in Fairfax County – https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicaffairs/fairfax-county-election-officials-warn-voters-about-inaccurate-center-voter-information-mailing
Check your state/locality and know the timelines and the rules.
While we don’t need to panic, we need to be aware that the November election will be stressful for states and localities and voters. Voting early, and doing things online (for automatic tracing) will reduce some of the stress in the system and lessen chances for chicanery.
Voting is a local matter. If you have concerns about your local voting officials, or state constraints on them, then that’s another reason to vote early. If they have your ballot before election day, then concerns about results being delayed will be mitigated.
tl;dr – Vote early, and vote correctly, and vote blue!!
Cheers,
Scott.
jonas
Trump says the quiet part out loud: he’s fucking over the USPS so they can’t process mail-in ballots.
frosty
@WaterGirl: When you complain to your R legislators, don’t make the mistake I made yesterday by wrapping it up with “Fix the Post Office problems!” A half hour later I realized I just told Toomey to privatize it. F$%k!!!!
I’ll have to call again today.
Josie
@PsiFighter37:
I agree. I have changed my mind about a mail-in ballot and believe I will vote early in person. Texas Governor Abbott has added an extra week to early voting, so I will take advantage of that.
Another Scott
@jonas: Trouble is, it’s really hard to just mess up mail-in ballots.
We need to remember that Donnie is incompetent, so we’re not doomed to him succeeding.
Fairfax County, VA will send out ballots after September 18. That’s a long time to get ballots back even if the mail is slow. And people can still drop off ballots at board-of-election locations even if (in some locations) there’s only one in the county.
Eyes on the prizes. Don’t let them discourage you.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@Another Scott
Not that hard at all. Political mail traditionally designated as first class mail regardless of permitting, now (unless stamped as such) ordered to be treated as bulk mail.
NotMax
@NotMax</a. – @Another Scott
And each postmaster keeping a log of political mail removed as a requirement (already implemented).
JPL
@Another Scott: Ask Stacey Abrams about absentee ballots in GA. A lot go uncounted. I think it depends on whether or not you have a functioning state government. I’ll vote early and arrive before they open. I’ll bring my nook.
Another Scott
@NotMax: Ok, but we’re still not doomed. It doesn’t take a month for bulk mail to be delivered.
https://about.usps.com/gov-services/election-mail/prepaid-reply-mail-info.htm
Yes, Donnie and his minions are trying to mess up by-mail voting. But their main method of attack is to throw a bunch of stuff out there in the press and try to get sensible people discouraged. Don’t give in. Understand the rules and do what’s necessary to vote early (by whatever method).
Cheers,
Scott.
Reboot
@Another Scott: Very happy that in Virginia you can vote early 45 days out from Election day at your local registrar’s!
Another Scott
I got a letter from the League of Women voters yesterday. Non-profit postage.
It says in big letters on the left:
“Obstruction of U.S. Mail is punishable by fines of up to $2,000 or 5 years in prison or both.”
It would be interesting if Donnie’s minions got sued by a few 10s of millions of people who are having their mail delayed…
Cheers,
Scott.
opiejeanne
Washington state votes by mail and has for years. This year the ballots will be mailed out on October 16 and they are counted as soon as they are returned. The results are not released until the end of voting on Election Day, November 3.
I’ve been reminding family and friends to vote as soon as they get that ballot, and to return it to a drop box, to take some pressure off of the post office.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus:
I didn’t think you were snarking, but i didn’t realize you were intending for that to be added to the list.
It’s a good one. It is now on the list as #2.
NotMax
@Another Scott
Personal view is that effing up mail-in voting is the dragee on the cake. The underlying aim is to enfeeble a division of the government that works.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: There was something about that on Maddow last night, that they aren’t keeping a log.
WaterGirl
@frosty: I updated the wording to your suggestion – see what you think and let me know. They are now #41 and #42.
opiejeanne
I need a little more detail about #38, return all pre-paid envelopes, empty. Do you mean we should mail them?
NotMax
@opiejeanne
Empty? When powdered durian is available?
//
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: This is currently #59 on the list
When Absentee/Mail Ballot Processing and Counting Can Begin in every state.
I had planned to vote by mail, but that document just showed me that Illinois doesn’t start counting until 7pm on election night. I want mine counted before that, so I will need to take precautions and do early voting.
Seems like this document should be widely shared.
piratedan
@Another Scott: the point that is trying to be made here is that while Vote By Mail is generally easier for those of us out in pandemic land, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be fucked with.
to whit:
there’s only one drop box in the county..
we’ve been told by our boss to leave those for later
we won’t postmark these until after the election
no one picks up the votes at the drop box
etc etc etc.. while the last two haven’t been said out loud yet, I think that they’re a natural progression from the first two…
the idea that we expanded vote by mail to combat a health crisis and we’re now being told that if you do so, your federal government is going to do what is in the incumbents best interest versus what your governmental mandate actually is, forces many to face the fact that if they want a greater assurance that their vote will be counted, you have to possibly brave the lines to ensure your ballot gets counted by doing so on election day.
i’m living with the acceptance that my outrage meter is completely pegged in the incandescent rage level virtually all of the time these days.
Uncle Cosmo
@JPL: That Twitter thread inspired me to create a new nickname for The Abomination In The White House:
NotMax
@piratedan
All it takes is one zealot with a container of paraffin and a match. Wouldn’t want the poor dears to lug that all over the county, now would’ja?
//
opiejeanne
@NotMax: That will work exactly once, and then cops will be posted at every drop box. And I’ve seen cops already parked at or near ours pretty often.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: What state are you in?
Another Scott
@piratedan: Thanks for your reply.
“Information is power”
If people need/want to vote by mail, then dropping the ballot off at the Board of Elections is always (AFAIK) possible and bypasses the USPS.
If one has sensible state and local election officials, then Donnie’s room for maneuver is severely limited.
There are ways around obstacles that Donnie and his minions are putting up. We need to be aware of them and use our heads and be determined to vote – and have our votes counted – no matter what they do.
Someone upthread mentioned Stacy and absentee ballots not being counted in Georgia. That was in the Before Times. People are not going to tolerate 50+% of the ballots not being counted now. (In the Before Times, it was common for absentee ballots not to be counted because most often they wouldn’t affect the outcome and were labor intensive. Now most places are using paper ballots and machine scanners and the labor is no different than voting on election day.)
Yes, it’s infuriating what they’re doing. But we have to work around the obstacles.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
Yet another state-by-state voter information page – https://www.vote411.org/ – which was set up by the LWV.org.
Lots of good information for checking registration, first-time voters, personalized ballots, what to do if there are problems voting, overseas voting, etc., etc., and COVID-19 information.
Another thing to remember – provisional ballots are always available if there is any problem. In Virginia those are counted 7 days after election day. In Texas, they’re counted 7-13 days after election day.
(It may be a while before we have “official” results in November. That doesn’t mean that the election is going to be stolen.)
Cheers,
Scott.
piratedan
@WaterGirl: Arizona and while I think that our locale in Pima County may be safe from all of this chicanery, I wish I could say the same about places like Kentucky, Georgia, Kansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida… That’s what worries me the most, is that while there is a polling that indicates, suggests a blue tsunami; our respected political opposition is busy erecting breakwaters, 15 to 20 miles out , mining the beaches and appear to be perfectly willing to try and even “nuke the storm”.
so while I am hopeful, I am not complacent…
piratedan
@Another Scott: completely agree, and while I have fewer concerns with a voting process in a Democratically controlled state environment (who have basically played it straight, just like they’re supposed to.. I can accept defeat at the ballot box, but not cheating), I gotta say that these asshats we’re fighting for control of our government with are exhausting with their ability to find new ways to tilt the playing field.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: I totally get it. The level of lying, cheating and stealing that they are willing to do in plain sight, and even brag about, is not only shocking but downright mind-boggling to anyone with a moral compass.
We all know their goal is to wear us down, wear us out, and make us give up. We all know we have to keep up the fight. Sometimes it gets us down, and then we need to catch our breath and get back up and get back in the fight.
That’s one nice thing about Balloon Juice – we aren’t all in the same mental state at the same time, so there’s usually someone who can help pull us back up when we start to feel beaten down.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I think what a lot of people are concerned about, myself included, is that the Supreme Court stopped the count in 2000, and there’s nothing to stop them from doing that again.
Except perhaps a conscience, but Republicans on the court seem to lose their collective conscience when they need it the most.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Thanks for that! Added.
WaterGirl
@opiejeanne: This was a suggestion from someone. I am personally not sure it’s a good idea during election time, but I am putting up pretty much all the suggestions I receive.
The idea is that if you get a pre-paid envelope – for anything, even if you’re not interested, seal the envelope and send it back. Apparently the post office only gets $ for pre-paid envelopes that are actually mailed, so the idea is that mailing the empty envelope puts money in the pocket of the post office.
Since overtime has been cut, etc, I worry that sending useless mail will just slow things down even more. But that’s for each person to decide.
Marcopolo
Only have a minute but I’m thinking the single most important thing we can all do now is to make our plan to vote. That includes all the details: how (absentee, early, absentee in-person, election day, etc..); when (date/time), where (including transportation), and who we want to check on us to make sure we’ve followed through with our plan. I am a super voter (I vote in every damned election) and I know this may sound like being anal to the nines, but as everyone here has noted we live in times where our vote is under threat more than ever. After you’ve done yours, help your family, relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors, everyone you know to do a plan for themselves. Volunteer to be the person checking in on them following their plan. Make a game out of it. Set up a reward for following through. Obviously, this is most important for folks who are not super voters. The folks who have studied this says it increases the likelihood that a person will vote by up to 10%:
For this election I am working to convince all my friends to vote in-person absentee several weeks prior to Nov. 3rd (here in StL County the BoE will allow that starting Sept. 22). This includes working out transportation for those without vehicles. In the past I’ve been fine with absentee voting but with the USPS issues, with the necessity of filling out the ballots properly, with the need for signatures on the ballot to match the signature in the voting file, I just think voting in person (early) is safer & more secure.
Finally, for folks who need a script for figuring out voting plans, here is a helpful guide from 2016 from the AFL-CIO. It has a list of key questions to ask when making a voting plan.
And in case anyone wants to know, I will be driving my household to the StL County BoE the morning of Sept. 29 to cast our in-person absentee votes.
Everyone have a nice day.
EL
You can add write letters to voters with Vote Forward https://votefwd.org
This involves downloading the letters, mostly preprinted with space for one or two sentences about why voting is important to you.
I’m writing letters (goal 1000) but also emailing PDFs or printing letters for those who don’t want to register. For anyone who writes 300 or more, they have postage reimbursement if the cost is an issue.