October 22nd
Dear ones,
The news continues to be head-spinning. Election interference and voter suppression efforts appear to be domestic and foreign; the bad actors are both government entities and independent citizens. Common Cause reports that Trump supporters have been going to polling places in communities of color in Albuquerque to intimidate voters. And Iran and Russia seem to have gotten their hands on American voter registration data. According to the Director of National Intelligence, the Iranians are responsible for messages that appear to be from the Proud Boys, warning voters in four swing states to vote for the president or else “we will come after you.”
The office of Laurel Lee, Florida’s secretary of state, wrote to election officials last week to say that if voters owed money for fines or fees related to a felony conviction, the state would begin the process of removing them from voter rolls. The fear is that voters will be notified that they are ineligible to vote, even though Florida law “gives local election officials seven days to notify a voter and then gives the voter 30 days to respond.” Lee’s office sent a second letter to provide “an extremely restrictive view on how localities needed to operate ballot drop boxes,” causing confusion about where voters can deposit ballots if they prefer not to rely on the US mail. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld a law, backed by Republicans, that prohibits auditors from correcting minor errors on applications for absentee ballots. And RBG could not have saved us from the Supreme Court 5-3 ruling late yesterday blocking a lower court ruling that would have allowed curbside voting in Alabama.
Good grief.
It would be amazing if we could avert a power grab by so thoroughly crushing Republicans at the polls that the president turns his attention to finding another country to live in (until he is extradited to stand trial). Mare Berger, a practitioner of improv and a seasoned campaign canvasser, is leading a phone-banking training this Sunday at 2 PM. I hate the phone a lot, but I signed up anyway. Here’s Mare’s description:
Phone-banking can be fun and joyful!
I've been loving making calls these past 7 months because I get to talk to people from all around the country, most of whom have very different experiences and perspectives. This is an amazing opportunity to foster connection with a stranger and to possibly even persuade them to vote for Biden. It can be scary at first, there can be lots of frustrating moments, but if you come away with even just 2 conversations of connection, that's something to celebrate.
In this brief training, I'll empower you with some improv comedy tools to be able to phone-bank with a depth and lightness, both of which help create connection. It'll be fun! The training will last about a half hour and then we'll all make calls together! I'll be joined by some amazing improvisers from the Magnet Theater.
Sign up here for the training and come phone-bank on Sunday. Please don’t make me do this all by myself!
And, once again, the BIG ASK, because we have to be ready for anything: mobilize friends in swing states: Arizona, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. We’ve got a print run of 1000 bumper stickers, designed by Emily: EVERY VOTE COUNTS. COUNT EVERY VOTE. and we need your help to find folks willing to distribute 50-100 bumper stickers. Folks can distribute anyway and anywhere they want. Two of you have sent me addresses. All I need is the name and mailing address of someone who will get this done. Please email me by tomorrow at esalynn@gmail.com with the subject line: count every vote.
with love,
L