Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The new temporary speaker of the house is a spiteful little shit.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

So many bastards, so little time.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

You are here: Home / Politics / Political Action / We Have Agency, Pilot Program, More Details for Volunteers

We Have Agency, Pilot Program, More Details for Volunteers

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This has been a hard couple of days, with some discouraging news, hasn’t it?

The road is steeper, so we have to take action to fight even harder for our democracy.  It’s clear the highest court of the land WILL NOT, so it’s up to all of us.

I am happy to report that 58 people have already volunteered to participate (!) and 25 or so have signed on to work on the 7 pilot states as we work out the best ways to collect and share the information.  We have a tentative name for this group, which will be shared in the zooms next week.  (Sorry, but it does not include skull fuck a kitten, as was previously suggested.)

  • Arizona
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Michigan
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Texas

Description of the Problem

This spring, Republicans began to use their control over legislatures and governorships in a number of states to rewrite state election laws.

They seek to:

  • Allow state legislatures to appoint electoral college electors; disregarding the will of the voters;
  • Expose state election administrators to harassment and intimidation for doing their jobs;
  • Make it even more difficult to vote, especially for poor voters and voters of color.

Not satisfied with using gerrymandering to undermine democracy and all but guarantee election wins for themselves in many locations, Republican states across the nation are now using the fruits of their gerrymandering to change the entire game and further subvert democracy.

Statement of Purpose for This Project

The Republican strategy is being carried out through a multitude of different initiatives in many, many states –  that are underway in at least 22 states so far.

Our goal:

  1. Collect data, state by state and updated over time, on these election nullification initiatives;
  2. Provide this data as a resource for individuals and organizations seeking to mount opposition to them;
  3. Mobilize further resources as necessary in support of efforts directed at resistance

Action

Our first step is to collect the data, state by state, on these voting restrictions and election nullification initiatives, and keep it updated as time goes on.

Identify First Steps in the action plan:

  • Organize volunteers into state groups for the 7 pilot states.
  • Research bills and and other pending actions in each state as noted in the description of the problem above.
  • Identify elected officials and others in the Democratic Party who are active in the state.
  • Research and identify political and civic-minded organizations that are active in the state.
  • Share your state information so it can be collected in an electronic system.
  • Contact elected officials and democratic party activists that have been identified.
  • Contact political and civic-minded organizations that have been identified.
  • Share your state information again so the results of this phase can be collected in an electronic system.

Initial Meeting with the 24 state volunteers:

We think a zoom meeting (video or audio, as each person prefers) might be the best place to start.  The zooms will be recorded, so volunteers who might not be able to attend, or who hate zooms, will be able to listen to a recording.

We want to hold two zooms to accommodate individual schedules.  Zooms can be held on Tuesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 7.  Can everyone do evenings?  Or should one of them be in the daytime?

After the Zoom, the work begins:

If you volunteered for a state, I sent an email to everyone who volunteered for a particular state.  If you volunteered for one of the pilot states but have not received an email, please contact me to let me know.

We’ll have a phone or zoom meeting with each group, and we’ll start out with at least one of one of us (me, Capricorn, Benw) being available for each state group, and then we can bow out at whatever point our participation seems extraneous.  Beyond that, Sure Lurkalot will take point on pulling your research and information, however you supply it,  into a consistent format on our end.

Timeframe for the first steps:

We are thinking maybe 10-14 days for research into Republican actions and identification of state officials and other key groups with a state.  Then another 2-3 weeks for contacting all the potential players that were identified through your research.

More Volunteers will be needed:

This may be the first time you are seeing anything about this project.  Its not too late to volunteer for one of the 7 states!

Not everyone in a state group will be interested in research, and not everyone in a state group will be interested in contacting elected officials, activists, and organizations.

So at some point, within a month or so, we will be looking for folks to help fill in the holes for each particular state.  So even if you don’t step up for the initial phase, we are hoping that other folks can sign on as the project gets going – as new needs and action steps are identified.

For now, big thanks to everyone who has signed up, and it’s not too late to get involved if you are interested. A few of the pilot states could definitely use some more people.

In the comments, please let us know whether you could do a zoom on Tuesday or on Wednesday, say at 7:30 ET, or whether daytime would be better for some of you.  Beyond that, please jump in with ideas and suggestions, and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Any questions?

Reader Interactions

88Comments

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I can do a Zoom pretty much any evening. I have classes during the day Wednesdays and Thursdays, but other days are fine if that’s better for folks.

  5. 5.

    featheredsprite

    Hi, Everybody. I can do evenings for you, which will be afternoon for me. Since I’m as old as the hills, I’m home all day.

    Do you remember ELI5? I’m going to need some of that.

    I’m looking forward to being part of a team.

  7. 7.

    Capricorn

    @columbusqueen, @Siubhan, @featheredsprite —

    Welcome to all of you! Please be sure we have a current email at which we can reach out to you; we’ll get a zoom link to you.

  9. 9.

    The Dangerman

    Dude in my neighborhood had to have the Sheriff come out and ask him not to mow his lawn in the nude.

    The Blog Boss vacationing in CA?

  10. 10.

    Avalie

    I can do Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Evenings are better for me–I’m on the West Coast

  11. 11.

    ian

    We should do one in the evening, and one in the day.  This would allow for more flexibility for people who need to work Tuesday and Wednesday.

  12. 12.

    FelonyGovt

    I’m here! Could do a Zoom at 7:30 (4:30 for me) either Tuesday or Wednesday. I could do earlier in the day on Wednesday only, if that’s what people prefer.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @ian:  If multiple people can’t do evening, we will definitely hold one in the daytime, it just depends on how it shakes out.

    What about you?  Can you do evening?  Or only daytime?

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    There are no questions?  Did we really do that good a job with this writeup?  Or was it so long that no one read it?  :-)

  20. 20.

    Kathleen

    I can do either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Evenings are best for me as I work during the day. Thank you again, Water Girl.

  21. 21.

    Adam Lang

    I can volunteer to help figure out how to store all the data, and potentially to set up a site to put it on (I have my own hosted server if necessary). I can’t show up Tuesday, can show up Wednesday. Probably can’t show up at 7:30 Eastern, but MAYBE. More likely at 8 Eastern, although technically I think I have a meeting at 8:30 EST I can probably skip it next week.

  22. 22.

    ian

    @WaterGirl:   My schedule is poor, I work noon-830, (2-10:30 if we are doing eastern times), however another alternative would be to record it, so perhaps the latecomers like myself could catch up on things that we miss.

    Thank you for the consideration.

  26. 26.

    Avalie

    FWIW, I have been doing some similar research over the past year on COVID and other restrictions.  If you are ready to dive into your state, I recommend starting with https://www.voteriders.org/

    Click on your state and it will explain the existing voter ID requirements for in-person and vote by mail.  Or click on News at the top and it tracks current legislation or litigation in various states.

    For a deeper look, go to https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_Policy . That site tracks voting laws, legislation, and litigation by state and you can sign up for their newsletters to get regular updates.

  28. 28.

    Almost Retired

    @WaterGirl:  I was joking, possibly misfired.  You could both be crazy and km could be inconsistent about the space.  Sorry if that was lost in the translation.  Thanks for doing this.  This will be fun and super impactful.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Capricorn:

    Thanks. I confirmed my email earlier to WaterGirl, but to keep things easy for you, it’s my nym (at) gmail (dot) com.

  30. 30.

    brantl

    I can do either night, next week, work during the day. Found some legisature searchable references. Interested, and willing, but untaught in election research. Does anybody know, does Stacy Abrams give a boot camp? email is brantlamb1 (at) gmail (dot) com.

  33. 33.

    Capricorn

    @brantl: We’ll talk about the research and what needs to be done during the Zoom calls, and we can do 1-on-1 conversations with people too.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    It looks like all 3 Arizona peeps have RSVP’d.  If all 3 of you are flexible about Tuesday vs. Wednesday, you might think about participating in the same one?

    edit: 3 of the 5 Ohio peeps have also RSVP’d, so you could think about the same thing.  Not necessary at all, but if everyone can do the same night, there might be some benefit.

  38. 38.

    O. Felix Culpa

    I haven’t claimed a state yet, but am happy to help with behind-the-scenes work where needed. I’m in a blue state and have Dem family in AZ and GOP in-laws in OH. The spouse is a renegade (in their eyes).

    ETA: I enjoy research and have some facility with Excel. Databases not so much.

  41. 41.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @brantl: I’ve vacationed in Michigan and dated someone who lives there. Would be happy to help with background work if needed. :)

  42. 42.

    km

    @WaterGirl: I think there might be a space in who my email says it is from? So no, I don’t think you’re crazy :)

    Maybe Tues for AZ volunteers? Either is fine, just making a suggestion

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    This coming week 6th/7th at 5:30 mountain time is likely not good for me to Zoom. I’ll see what I can do, but we’re on vacay following the holiday weekend – seeing my brother for a few days, and that’s kinda prime hanging out time.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @O. Felix Culpa: We have 5 volunteers for Ohio, and only 3 for Arizona.  4 in Michigan.

    So if you’re neutral on which state, AZ might be where you could be of the most help.  Or if you have the energy and interest, you could always help with research for more than one.  :-)

  49. 49.

    FelonyGovt

    As one of the 3  AZ people, Tuesday at 7:30 eastern is fine for me (although Wednesday would be fine as well)

  53. 53.

    Capricorn

    Folks, I have to sign off now.  Looking forward to further conversations next week.

  56. 56.

    Benw

    Thanks WG and Cap!

    (I’d watch the hell out of a buddy superhero movie called WG and Cap.)

    I’ve been lurking but can answer any questions for awhile.

  57. 57.

    Argiope

    Team OH here—next week I can do Weds but not Tues evening.  Course orientation for my shiny new batch of students Tues night.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    Florida could use some love, if anyone would like to volunteer.  We have 2 people for Florida so far, and the other 6 states have 3-5 people.

    Texas and Georgia each have 3 people.  Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania have 4.

    WG, over and out.

  66. 66.

    Adam Lang

    @WaterGirl Didn’t see a response so I will assume you don’t need me, but if y’all find yourself needing help with the data parts, feel free to ask.

  67. 67.

    Benw

    @Adam Lang: hey Adam, on the data side we have some plans that we’ll show at the Zoom meetings next week. Would be great if you can tune in and help out

  68. 68.

    Paul W.

    I’m utterly exhausted at the moment, but want to help my home state TX win even one additional Dem seat so if I can be a silent helper or just ramp up by attending and finding my niche I’m ready to slowly get back into this after a long NYC city council fight.

  70. 70.

    AM in NC

    I can do either the 6th or the 7th, but the 6th would be preferable for me if everyone else in my group can do that day.  Thanks again for organizing this!

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam Lang:

    I can volunteer to help figure out how to store all the data, and potentially to set up a site to put it on (I have my own hosted server if necessary). I can’t show up Tuesday, can show up Wednesday. Probably can’t show up at 7:30 Eastern, but MAYBE. More likely at 8 Eastern, although technically I think I have a meeting at 8:30 EST I can probably skip it next week.

    @Adam Lang:

    @WaterGirl Didn’t see a response so I will assume you don’t need me, but if y’all find yourself needing help with the data parts, feel free to ask.

    Yikes!  I totally did not see your comment at #21!  I somehow skipped right from Kathleen at #20 to ian at #22.

    Yes, we would love to have a conversation with you about this!  So sorry that I didn’t see your comment in real time.

  76. 76.

    BruceFromOhio

    Was in transit when this went up, late to the thread – good writeup, and either date for a Zoom call is good.

    @Avalie: @Kathleen: Voteriders, Ballotpedia and OhioDems are all good resources, thank you for sharing! Ballotpedia provides valuable data on individual district voting history. While I wouldn’t dare to go all 538 on anything, it does help set expectations on election turnout and results.

  78. 78.

    Nelson

    Allow state legislatures to appoint electoral college electors; disregarding the will of the voters

    This sounds dire. How exactly does this affect elections? I confess I really don’t understand how my ballot vote translates into electoral college output.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    @Nelson:  In a democracy, voters determine who their state electors go too.  With these new measures, the voters could majority go to Candidate A, but the legislature could appoint electors for the other guy.

    In 2020, more voters chose Biden, so the 16 GA votes in the electoral college went to Biden.  That’s how it works in a democracy.

    With new measures like this, the voters could choose Biden, but if the legislature didn’t like how the vote came out, they could appoint the 16 electors for GA to the other candidate.

    That’s just one state.  Multiple states are trying to do this.  It pretty much makes the will of the voters irrelevant.

  81. 81.

    Revrick

    @WaterGirl: I suspect even our right wing Supreme Court would balk at any law that grants the power to a legislature to chuck overboard a vote result it doesn’t like. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution forbids ex post facto law. Now, a legislature could decide it won’t bother with an election and just appoint the electors themselves, but then the President may just decide to send in the troops and arrest the lot of them, because Article 4, Section 4 guarantees each state a republican form of government.

  82. 82.

    Nelson

    @WaterGirl: OK, thanks (sigh).

    I went ahead and read some more about this online. Apparently the Constitution doesn’t specify how electors are to be appointed and leaves it up to the states. So, constitutionally, it would legal to do this. I have zero doubt that the current, anti-democracy Republican party is chomping at the bit to abuse this loophole and appoint electors who will vote for the Republican candidate regardless of the state’s popular vote. (And the present makeup of SCOTUS is not going to provide any relief should “faithless electors” overturn the will of the people.) 

    Dropbox constraints and water bottle restrictions are petty and annoying, but this electors nonsense is the most dangerous thing on the Republican agenda. This aspect of potential election tampering needs to be front and center in efforts to inform the public and in pressuring recalcitrant Dems to overturn the filibuster and enact (small “d”) democratic election reforms.

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    @Revrick: I am not going to count on this Supreme Court for any protection of the democratic process.  Look at their record, and especially look at what they did with their decisions earlier this week

    Anything good that they do will be a happy surprise.

  87. 87.

    Nancy

    I’m late to the party and still interested in being part of this. Will also send Watergirl an email. I’m interested in looking into Pennsylvania. Haven’t lived there in over 40 years but still, it’s home.

    What is needed? I know some things have already happened while I’ve been otherwise occupied. I can join a zoom on either evening.

  88. 88.

    Capricorn

    @Nancy: We’re having a hard time reaching back to you.  Could you send email to WaterGirl, and we’ll get you hooked up?

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