Ten 10 days ago, 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 seem to be stalled at 78 things on that list; the full list is included below. Still, 78 is a lot. We have 75 days to go.
You can find the list under Featuring in the sidebar.
Is anyone even looking at that list for ideas?
Today we are featuring the action group PostCard Patriots.
Welcome To Your Broken Glass Moment (information supplied by MazeDancer)
and send them back immediately…
And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.”
– Michelle Obama
At the Democratic Convention
In 2018, PostCard Patriots sent out 12,462 PostCards in just 6 weeks. Thank you, Balloon Juice! We were, thanks to you, outrageously successful.
This year, we are sending out our biggest weapon ever – a website full of the Essential Information you need to make your smartest, safest Voting Plan. Immediately.
And then, like Michelle Obama says, help others to “do the same”.
Because, this year, possibly the most important “Volunteer Effort” you could make is helping other Dems make a Voting Plan.
After all, many Democrats have sworn that they would crawl barefoot over broken glass to vote against Trump.
Welcome to your Broken Glass Moment.
We are in a war.
Trump is on the march.
It could take a month or more for your Absentee Ballot to arrive. If it arrives. And a month or more to get it back, if you have to mail it.
That leaves about two weeks, at most, to make a plan. And some states aren’t ready.
And what if Absentee isn’t the best Voting Plan for you or someone you know after all?
You must decide now. We’re here to help.
Essential Planning Information
What you can get at PostCardPatriots
– 9 Points of Strategic Advice on Deciding How to Vote
https://www.postcardpatriots.com/expanding-postcard-power
– 10 Rules of Guerrilla Warfare Mail-In Voting to make sure your vote is counted.
https://www.postcardpatriots.com/mail-in-ballot-rules
– Tips on In-Person and Early Voting
– 20 things you can do now, just as powerful as PostCards
https://www.postcardpatriots.com/postcards-on-the-road
And much more.
So when people ask: What can I do to help beat Trump? Answer: Make a Voting Plan. And then help every Dem you know – or at least two or three – to make theirs.
Immediately.
Why Not PostCards?
Many reasons, Some based on solid Ad Biz Strategy about choosing the proper media vehicle to match the moment.
Some practical: Who knows when they’ll arrive. Plus, we can’t mail more stuff now, and add to the burden of the already beleaguered US Mail.
If you’re actually curious about why PostCard Patriots is voting for no PostCards, this year, here are our 7 reasons why: https://www.postcardpatriots.com/why-not-postcards
Post Your Voting Plans
Once you’ve made your plan, let us know – post it here in the comments or email to PostCardPatriots @ the Google mail place – and we’ll make a lovely illustrated post for Twitter. And tweet it out over and over. But it is yours to use however you choose.
Just make a plan.
Please, please, please, do not shrug and say, oh, I’ll get to it.
Now, get to it now.
Go to PostCardPatriots.com for some help. Or go somewhere else.
But do what Michelle Obama says: make a plan. Then help every Democrat you can make a plan
That could change the world.
laura
Our plan for Cali (we’ve been permanent vote by mail for years) review the voter guide as soon as it’s received. Yellow highlighter for each candidate, initiative, proposition, fill out ballot the day it arrives, bicycle up the street to the community center, walk in the ballot, watch poll worker feed it into the reader, get I voted sticker, head home. Pester any/everyone to do same. This year, no luxury of waiting until election day – the stakes are way too high.
Also, I expect to field questions from family and friends as usual bc I’m the nerdiest elections nerd.
The Moar You Know
My plan is voting in person even if people are dropping dead in line around me. My vote WILL be counted.
arrieve
I requested an absentee ballot for the primary in NY and it never arrived — and mail service hasn’t improved since then. So I’m voting in person. I’m going to vote early if feasible, but if necessary will vote on election day. (They haven’t posted locations for early voting yet.) Our Covid case counts continues to decline so I think it will be reasonably safe. I’ll do the usual precautions I use when shopping.
Benw
@arrieve: exactly the same here in NY as well. Our voting place is the MS gym so social distancing should be okay and with lots of big double doors that could be opened the air should circulate.
ETA: I did get my primary ballot but who knows if it was ever counted!
MattF
Just got the email notice that my MD absentee ballot application has been processed, ballots are mailed out in October. There’s a good chance that there will be a ballot drop-off box a few blocks away at a nearby high school. So, looks good for me.
Florida Frog
Long time voter by mail but not this year. Florida’s numbers are bad ( and possibly manipulated) and I’m worried but I will vote early and in person no matter what. I’ve been part of a postcards to voters group since 2017 and we’ve encouraged thousands of Florida voters to vote by mail. Yikes, we thought we were helping. Thanks for posting this. I have a stack of postcards for a Florida statehouse rep still to write but it looks like that may do more harm than good given the burden the USPS is dealing with. I’ll contact our group leader and pass this information on.
A Ghost to Most
I agree. I hope you don’t find yourself going to a gunfight armed with postcards.
Auntie Anne
Everyone here is getting absentee ballots. The day after we get them, I am getting in my car and driving them the 10 miles into the county Board of Elections. DE doesn’t prohibit the delivery of multiple ballots, and I am taking NO chances.
zhena gogolia
@A Ghost to Most:
This is getting really quite tiresome.
CaseyL
Washington State has had all VBM elections for about a decade or more, so we know the drill, and I know where my local drop box is located.
However, I may decide to drop my ballot off directly with the Elections Office.
In Washington, the counties run the ballot boxes and collections. I live in King County, and spoke to their office. They will accept handed in ballots at their office, which is down in Renton. No word yet on whether they’ll set up additional “office locations.” (in the past, people could hand their ballots in at CenturyLink Field.)
eclare
Voting early and in person when polls open, usually about two and a half weeks before election day.
Uncle3d
Colorado is a vote-by-mail state, and when I called them, they said they’d be mailing out ballots in early October.
When I get mine, I’ll fill it out.
And then hand carry it to the drop box at the Registrar of Voters.
There are advantages to living right downtown.??
TaMara (HFG)
I was wondering about postcards, but delivering them by hand? I’ve gotten a couple from neighbors, handwritten and left in my door this past year.
JPL
@eclare: Same. I purchased a face shield and a camper seat. I plan to arrive a hour early and enjoy some coffee and read a book.
Yutsano
@CaseyL: It wouldn’t shock me if they still allowed ballots at the Clink. I can’t imagine King County not continuing that. It’s right next to the train stop.
On the dry side, I always drop my ballot at the county drop box next to the juvenile justice centre. I get my ballot, look at the voters guide online, make my choices, then usually deposit it after work. Since right now I have no idea when I’ll see my office again, that’s my plan. The only risk is not getting it, which from what I understand we can just go to the auditor’s office like a week before and request one there. I have to research that.
JPL
@TaMara (HFG): A few days ago, I received one in the mail. It was kinda sweet and it informed me about the first day of early voting.
MazeDancer
@Florida Frog:
It was hard to give up PostCards, but, for sure, USPS does not need more mail clogging the works.
But your group can switch to emailing Dems you know. You can reach out to just one person or bcc your whole dang contact list.
Just quote Michelle Obama, link to PostCardPatriots.com, and, with luck, someone you know will have been helped. Or at least woken up to the need to make a plan.
Really, helping others make a Voting Plan could be the most important Armchair Activism you could undertake this year.
Another Scott
MazeDancer does great work. But I think giving up on postcards is misguided. The USPS processes a huge amount of mail every day. The increased volume for the election is only 1-2% of their normal volume. (The concern about ballots is whether the USPS is going to delver them expeditiously like they always used to, or whether they’re going to treat them like junk mail.) Yes, mail is getting delayed in too many places, but it’s not because the volume of letters and postcards is too high. Don’t give up on writing to voters. And the USPS can use the money.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Reboot
Watergirl’s list made #19 on Postcard Patriot’s list here: https://www.postcardpatriots.com/postcards-on-the-road!
On another note, just this morning I ordered 100 postcards and $35 worth of postcard stamps…. Wish I’d read this first.
JPL
@Reboot: Mail them soon before because it is still early for absentee. I don’t know when absentee balloting starts in Arizona, but getting rid of McSally is high on my list.
eclare
@JPL: Where I live now, I don’t think the lines will be that bad (Memphis). But you’re smart, longest I ever waited to vote was ATL, either 1992 or 1996!
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I tend to agree with you, except for the use of the word misguided.
People who feel that postcards are still valuable, and I am one of those people, can still do postcards through one of the other organizations that are doing postcards.
MazeDancer has looked at the situation this year and determined there’s more bang for the buck, as it were, in getting people organized, so MazeDancer is putting her energy into helping people make voting plans.
I don’t think MazeDancer is off base in thinking it’s really important for people to think it through well ahead of time – like today or tomorrow or next week – and Michelle Obama seems to agree.
But there are a ton of ways for us all to contribute. Yesterday we talked about Indivisible. Today we’re talking about Making a Voting Plan and using MazeDancer’s resources. Tomorrow we can talk about Vote Save America’s Adopt-A-State program.
With this series, I’m trying to feature various options – I like to believe that there is an option out there to spark some action in every single person on this blog.
Kent
My 14 year old daughter tells me that #Blue Lives Matter is trending all over TikTok. Kids are posing in front of blue USPS mailboxes and posting them to the hashtag blue lives matter.
Heh. Gotta love the kids.
JMG
I will early vote in the Mass. primary on Monday, and will early vote in October for the general. Early voting is Oct. 17-30, so even procrastinators can do it. Location is a town function hall in town center. Five minute drive.
Florida Frog
@MazeDancer: agreed. I’m on it.
Percysowner
I’m planning on voting in the morning on October 8. Ohio early voting starts October 6, but I get Thursdays off, so that’s when I vote. If the lines are short, I’ll call my kids and have them come down then to vote early and in person.
I always have done early voting, so it’s not a big change but this year, I’m taking no chances.
CCL
@eclare: @JPL: Maybe check with your Registrar of Voters to find out times of less traffic. It probably varies from location to location, but even in Presidential Election years, our busiest times are morning when the polls open, noon, and evenings from 5:30 on. Mid morning and mid afternoon are slower.
All disclaimers about past performance not being predictive of future behaviors – but it might be helpful for planning.
JPL
@eclare: During the midterms I voted early on a Sunday and arrived twenty minutes early and that worked out. Now that most of the cities are enacting mask mandates, the numbers of cases might go down. Kemp has followed the boss’ orders and is decreasing the numbers of tests, so who really know. I voted early for Joe during the primary and requested an absentee for the Senate race which never came.
JPL
@eclare: Because of the Supreme Court ruling, they closed an additional 80 polling sites in Fulton County, so it’s worse now.
JPL
@CCL: hahaha Yup that will work..
MazeDancer
@Another Scott:
Totally understand your POV. And I am, of course, one of your most charmed fans.
You might not have had a chance to read the 7 carefully-considered reasons “Why Not PostCards” explaining why PostCard Patriots is not voting for PostCards this year.
It was more than clogging the mails. It was mostly a Strategic Ad Biz decision. And a lot about “Time and Space”, and not having enough of either.
https://www.postcardpatriots.com/why-not-postcards
But, of course, we honor everyone’s opinion.
Mostly, want everyone to Make A Plan. Immediately. And then tell others, to quote Michelle, to “do the same”.
eclare
@CCL: I plan to go mid morning or mid afternoon, not after work like I usually do.
eclare
@JPL: Shit, Fulton County, of course. When I lived there I was in John Lewis’ district.
West of the Rockies
I can also offer a pep talk. In no particular order…
Biden is more popular than Hillary (no fault of HRC).
We know to expect Russian ratfarking.
Biden is more popular than Trump with the 65+ set than HRC was.
He is more popular in important swing states than Trump, with all women (including white women), with the educated, with POC…
Kamala is our first GenX VP nomination and should excite the younger cohort.
Trump is a failed and historically unpopular incumbent.
Nonetheless, GOTV!
VFX Lurker
PostcardsToVoters.org is still mailing postcards, so I’ll likely continue to write postcards intermittently between now and October.
I live in Los Angeles County. Plan A: fill out my vote-by-mail ballot as soon as it arrives, then drop it off in the closest secure ballot dropbox, preferably at a vote center. Plan B (if my VBM ballot does NOT arrive in my mail): vote EARLY at a vote center on Saturday, October 31st to alleviate crowds on Election Day.
I’ve been checking the postmarks on my mail, and my California correspondence typically arrives two days after it was sent. I don’t think anything will happen to my VBM ballot on its way to me, but it’s good to have a Plan B.
Reboot
@JPL: The script I got from Postcards to Voters focuses on vote by mail to Florida voters (“Vote by mail! It’s easy”), and their rules are ‘personalize but follow the script.’ The script doesn’t address the urgency of voting early this year, or talk about absentee voting, at least not the one they sent me.
I plan to donate to Mark Kelly when I get my next paycheck, so fingers crossed there.
H.E.Wolf
Good point! Check out their social media feeds for that info (links are on their website’s home page). They’ve posted lots of information there in the past few months, regarding those specific topics. As usual, they’re matter-of-fact and down-to-earth, which I appreciate.
[ETA: There was a fascinating discussion on the PTV social media a while back, reminding people that scary messages about the difficulty of voting were used for many years, particularly in the South, to discourage black citizens from voting – which is why PTV does not use them.]
H.E.Wolf
Also: a great image here, created by a woman in CA (and re-tweeted by HRC).
https://www.businessinsider.com/usps-poster-fascism-rain-snow-mail-2020-8
Sure Lurkalot
I plan on voting within a day or two of getting my ballot in VBM Colorado. I usually drop off at a drop box I can walk to. I’m signed up for Ballot Trace so I’m informed as to its receipt and processing. VBM started in 2013 under a Republican SOS. It has worked very well here…we have one of the better participation rates in the US. I get emails about voting from the current democratic SOS. Would that it be thus in every state.
Reboot
@H.E.Wolf: I haven’t looked there recently–just went by the email. I’ll check it out!
As for my plan, early voting in Virginia starts September 18. I’ll be voting ASAP and in person. I’ve been covid-cautious and would have liked to have had the option of curbside voting, but I’m under the age cut-off.
WaterGirl
I am going back and forth on whether to vote by mail. I am being super careful with COVID and only doing stuff I absolutely need to do. So I want to vote by mail.
But in Illinois they are not allowed to start counting mail ballots until 7pm on election night, and I really like the idea of having a strong showing for the Dems at the earliest possible moment, which means voting early in person.
So here’s me: back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth.
Michelle’s words were “vote in person if you can”, and those carry some weight for me.
So I’ll be over here, going back-and-forth for awhile.
WaterGirl
@Reboot: I have not heard of curbside voting. What states have that?
JPL
@eclare: My son and a friend was also, but they split that district. Friend is now is whacko district and son in McBath’s. The latest redistricting didn’t work as planned.
Reboot
@WaterGirl: I’m in Virginia. “If you are 65 or older, or have a physical disability, you may vote on Election Day without leaving your vehicle. This is called curbside voting.” Here’s the Virginia Department of Elections info on accessible voting: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/accessible-voting/
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl: I think about that too. But Illinois election day votes will almost certainly go Biden, so I don’t think it matters
MazeDancer
@WaterGirl:
Can you split the difference?
Order your absentee. If it arrives by Oct 19th, the day Early Voting starts, you could cruise the site for a few days, see if it feels safe. If so, vote, turn in your absentee when you do. If Illinois allows that.
If by Oct 23rd or so, if Early Voting has been chaos, no can do, then drop your absentee at the Board of Elections. Or send by UPS.
Here is the Illinois Board of Elections, https://www.elections.il.gov
Of course, they could change many things, including when they start counting,
Patricia Kayden
@MattF: I live in Maryland too. Good to hear.
The Pale Scot
@Kent:
Kids are posing in front of blue USPS mailboxes and posting them to the hashtag blue lives matter.
That’s like so with it man
satby
Early voting in Indiana starts Oct. 6th. Planning on asking my neighbor, who doesn’t drive, if she needs a ride to early vote too. If she does, I’ll go whatever day she needs a lift, otherwise sometime in that first week. Plan B is nagging my son’s to early vote in their states, that won’t take much effort because I think they’re more eager than I am to vote against the traitor.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
PA tells us to expect our ballots in September or October. I’m not mailing them back, they go straight to the drop box as soon as there is one open. I don’t know if PA has early voting.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s an interesting thought. Oh my god, though, if it doesn’t.
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: In theory, I am supposed to automatically get a vote by mail ballot because I have voted in previous elections.
I heard rumors that IL is thinking of changing when they can start counting. If they did that, I’m totally in with vote by mail.
I hope that 4 years from now, we are almost all vote by mail states.
zhena gogolia
@Kent:
That’s great.
zhena gogolia
@CCL:
I always try to go mid morning.
Madeleine
Next week my spouse and I will move from Manhattan, NY, where we got mail-in ballots but ended up voting early during the primary. We were the only voters there in mid-day. We’ll move to Riverdale in the Bronx and don’t know where the polling place is (though there’s a school nearby) or what people’s voting habits are. We might vote by mail, but would prefer to vote early again.
Meanwhile, I’ve been participating in Moral Monday with the Poor People’s Campaign, calling Mitch McConnell’s various offices. And I have postcards to write after I move, though I see that maybe I should change my plan.
zhena gogolia
@Reboot:
Oh, that’s a great idea. I wish we had that.
VFX Lurker
I’ve written so many Postcards to Voters in Florida I know the script by heart.
Never miss an election when you vote from home.
To sign up for vote by mail, call <phone number> or email <email address>
When <Florida County> Dems vote by mail, <Florida County> Dems win!
I still follow the script, because there’s a different phone number, email address and county name every time.
Gvg
I am in Florida. I normally do early voting which is really widespread in Florida, but at my mom’s urging I signed up for mail in voting for this primary. I got sick and didn’t take my ballot in to the drop boxes at early voting. I dropped it in the special box in front to the supervisor of elections last Sunday. Monday online it said received, Tuesday was the election and it didn’t say counted till the polls closed.
i think if I had dropped it early it would have shown counted sooner. I’m going to research that to be sure. I’ll probably do the ballot as soon as I get it for the general. I always have better luck researching choices for the general. More sources and papers publish more detail. Primaries can be so vague and this time I was checking with relatives for any info which delayed me so my seriously infected tooth was a factor.
we had county commissioners and board of education primaries and this time that may mean life and death since our state and federal leaders are anti science. So don’t forget life can give you problems beyond government and Covid.
Sab
@WaterGirl: Ohio has curbside voting if you show up to early vote without a mask and refuse to wear one. Basically it’s “here is your ballot so go take your maskless face outside to fill it out then bring it back.” You might get to wait for your ballot outside.
Our early voting process is we go to the Board of Elections, stand in line to fill out an application for an absentee ballot, wait around a while for them to process the application. Once processed they call our name, we go get our ballot, fill it out in one of the voting booth stalls, then hand it in sealed and signed envelope like any other absentee ballot. They check that we filled out the envelope like we were supposed to. So basically it is an on site absentee ballot.
I hope they make the maskless wait for their ballot outside. I would really like for them to allow all of us wait outside. “Can I curbside vote with a mask?”
H.E.Wolf
@WaterGirl:
Haven’t said it before: thank you for the “Playing To Win” tag!
counterfactual
@Sab: During the (aborted) primary in March, my Ohio Board of Elections was letting folks take the ballot to the car to fill out before dropping it in the slot.
SiubhanDuinne
I will vote early, in person, suitably masked and distanced. My county offers several locations, so I’ll wait to make my decision on where I’ll cast my ballot closer to the date.
One thing I like to do with downballot races — I don’t know of something similar is available elsewhere in the country — is to watch the debates hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. The APC puts these on every election cycle (including primaries, runoffs, and specials) for every contested federal and statewide race as well as a number of important local races. The debates air on GPTV (the state public broadcasting network) and are also available streaming. Particularly for races in which I’m not as familiar with the candidates as I should be, these are an excellent way to assess their merits, or lack thereof.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: You are most welcome!
Sab
@counterfactual: So everyone waited inside for the ballot? That is what I figured we would do.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: Thank you for being such a brave example of courageous bravery.
WaterGirl
It would be awesome if someone here would step up and volunteer to make a list of states where curbside voting is an option, and include the requirements.Any takers? If 2 or 3 people step up, you could split the list of states.WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s a good idea for slot # 79 on the list – learn about your local candidates and share what you learn.
AnotherBruce
Do the drop boxes have electronic security features?
WereBear
@WaterGirl:
Likewise, NY had troubles with the primary and we just aren’t sure enough about mail-in. There is early voting and we can take a drive to do that.
WaterGirl
@AnotherBruce: In which state? I image the answer differs by geographic location.
Eunicecycle
@Sab: I guess it’s different by county in Ohio. In my county (Stark) we vote early on regular voting machines. I would rather have the paper ballot since there is a better paper trail.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Not volunteering, but willing to add some context. I believe that most states allow some form of curbside voting, but only in very limited circumstances. In WI, it isn’t an option for most voters, but it is an accommodation that can be offered to comply with the laws requiring access to polling places by people with disabilities. If the polling place is inaccessible for someone (and there can be reasonable and unreasonable excuses), the polling place must at least offer curbside voting. This requires at least two and sometimes more poll workers. They must take the poll book out to the car, have the voter sign it after seeing an ID, then they issue a ballot. The voter fills out the ballot and seals it into an envelope. It is then taken inside and processed. It is labor intensive and time consuming. It should only be a voting method of last resort if the person is unable to come inside to vote. It is not simply filling out your ballot in your car.
MazeDancer
@Madeleine: If it is still NYC, here’s info https://vote.nyc/page/early-voting-information
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I used a drop box at our polling station for the PA primary. It was a literal box. I don’t even remember if it had a slot on top or was just open. It may have had a slot.
But otherwise, the “security features” consist of the poll workers.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s good to know. Doesn’t really sound like anything to pursue unless handicapped and voting inside would be an effort. You’re right to point out that it takes a lot of people resources, which would either require more poll workers or make lines longer because poll workers. Neither of which we want to have in a pandemic. thank you.
The Pale Scot
Thinking ahead, can you imagine what a shit show the creature’s funeral is going to be. And the unceasing strife between people wanting to shit on his grave and the cultists defending it. Something along the lines of Osama bin Laden is going to have to be arranged. Best I can think of is to run a con on a militia and get them to bomb a building he’s in leaving no remains.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I spent a couple of years working on polling place accessibility for the agency that oversees WI elections. Curbside voting was acceptable in situations where the only building in a rural location that was even close to being suitable for voting didn’t, for example, have a compliant ramp but only 200 people lived in the township and it wasn’t reasonable to expect the place to pay money it didn’t have to build one. Alternatively, if someplace wasn’t fully compliant, but they were building a new compliant location that wasn’t ready yet. Again, a lost resort rather than a fun option.
Kent
I don’t know about the ones in other states, but here in WA they are just big massive steel boxes about 4x the size of blue USPS boxes and they are located in front of public buildings like courthouses and post offices. There is also one near my house at a Park and Ride lot. I don’t see any obvious electronic security devices, but that’s not to say they don’t have cameras and alarms someplace that isn’t obvious. We have twelve locations for a county of about 500,000.
Ours look like this: https://www.clark.wa.gov/elections/ballot-deposit-locations
FlyingToaster
My plan, at the moment, is to vote in-person on Primary Day (Sept 1) after my dentist appointment. That’s 4 blocks up the hill.
For the General, I’m currently planning on voting early at Town Hall, because I anticipate that turnout is going to be quite a bit heavier for the General than the Primary. That’s 0.7 miles down the bike path.
Although we have 2 contested seats (State Rep and US Senate), most folks aren’t registered to a party and simply don’t give a fuck. Fortunately, they’re angry enough to vote in November.
frosty
@WaterGirl: We’re voting in person to try to generate a landslide. PA starts counting absentees the morning of Election Day, but I don’t know when they’ll finish. Our polling place is a former gym, seems COVID-safe to me.