Nervous about Tuesday? So am I… but we can’t let up!
As Gloria Steinem has said many times – “Power can be taken, but not given”. – The entire world is counting on us to finish the job in these final days and restore our democracy. The good news is we are mobilized and people have been voting at huge proportions.. The bad news is.. There are tons of requested vote-by-mail ballots that have still not been returned yet (see below example for the most recent numbers from Michigan)
Here are a few things you can still do to make an impact on this election to make sure we finally, #VoteThemOut –
3 Things You Can Still Do
- Remind Everyone to Turn in Their Absentee Ballot
There are millions of requested early absentee vote-by-mail ballots still out there. Many of these absentee ballots will vote Democrat if they are returned. Voting on one day during limited hours has always disenfranchised the working-class. Vote-by-mail makes it easier for folks to take the time to fill it out and turn it back in. It’s been over a month since many of these ballots were mailed out by the different Secretary of State’s offices. We gotta tell our friends to spend the time and hunt them down, turn them in or vote in person! How many of us have forgotten to pay a parking ticket, or lost a piece of mail? it happens!
- Make Sure Everyone Knows – You Can Still Vote In-Person On Tuesday
In some states, voters may have to bring in their ballot or surrender it or vote a provisional ballot… It may take extra time – but it’s sooooo worth it! Let’s encourage folks who lost their mail-in-ballot to still participate. Make sure to remind everyone to either find their legal ballot and drop it off at a dropbox, or vote early in-person on Monday. IF they cant due either of these things… Let’s make sure they know they can still show up and vote in-person on Tuesday!
- Advertise 866-OUR-VOTE – The Election Protection Hotline.
This service is staffed by the Lawyers Committee for an Effective Congress. It is the backbone of almost every non-profit voter protection organization. This is the Emergency Hotline number if someone sees voter disenfranchisement happening at a polling location. This is how we get immediate legal action and a documented accounting of what the issues occurred in a specific precinct. Their website is simply 866ourvote.org
Example – MICHIGAN -Thousands of Mail-in-Ballots Are Still Outstanding!
As of Friday, Michigan still has almost 400,000 unreturned vote-by-mail ballots
- As of Friday – 3.3 million ballots requested. and only 2.6m have turned them in! Voters: Today’s total number of returns has reached 48% of America Votes’ projected turnout with 80% of all ballot requests (3.3m).
- 237k outstanding Democratic ballots: 86% of Progressive Base voters have returned their ballots with a recent uptick in conservative returns, though they continue to be outnumbered by progressive/democratic voters overall. Lower return rates of infrequent progressives are largely driven by voters voting in-precinct or that did not vote in 2016.
- 500k Voters that Did Not Vote in 2016: Voters who have returned their ballot that did not vote in the 2016 election (723k total ballots have been requested). This audience continues to be more diverse than overall ballot requests.
- 395k outstanding ballots that are more than 30 days since mailed: Over the past six days, Michigan’s America Votes partners have seen voters who were mailed their ballot more than 30 days ago finally returning their ballots
- We need to keep pushing and reminding people to find their ballot #RememberWhatTheyDid, #TurnItin & #VoteThemOut
-Data from Patrick and team at America Votes Michigan –
How does this happen? Why are there millions of unreturned ballots around the country?
A short story about Vote-By-Mail –
I had the honor of working on the first-ever vote-by-mail campaign, Ron Wyden’s 1995’s US Senate Special Election. We quickly learned that every day was another Election Day! Every day for an entire month, we worked to find folks that were interested in voting but hadn’t gotten around to it yet! As each day passed, It became harder and harder to even find these voters, or locate where they placed their ballot. But we never gave up and Ron Wyden is still in the US Senate today because of that critical effort to get lower-turnout voters engaged. I learned that organizing is not about who voted first, but how do you make an appeal to those that are like-minded and have not found the time to “get it done” yet!
Well-meaning, people are busy with life!
They put their ballot in a stack of mail and it got moved,
They planned on voting when they pay their bills at the end of the week, but a family emergency came up.
They started to vote and then got a phone call, distracted, etc..
I hope this email is a simple reminder of how many millions of critical ballots are still available to be turned in by voters that were motivated enough to request an absentee ballot and have simply not found the time to fill it out.
Without being able to knock on these voters’ doors… we are limited to texting them, calling them, or reminding them about their obligation through social media!
Thanks for all you have done! Let’s keep up the pressure these last few days!
Please post creative messages urging your friends and followers to help locate these critical voters and get them to turn in their ballot —- or budget the time necessary to vote on Tuesday!
These additional votes could sway the election and #VoteThemOut