Let's Increase Our Reach!

"The next time there is an opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you want to say."

Hi all!

A big thank you to everyone who came out for our February meeting! Folks were eager to learn about the potential power of writing letters to the editor and reaching thousands of voters through this action. We broke into small groups to brainstorm next steps, and we have a follow up meeting of letter writers scheduled next week. We've even already had a letter published in a Nevada newspaper! If you missed the monthly meeting and want to know how to get involved, email us and we will fill you in.

Next month we will be switching gears from one of the oldest forms of activism to reaching the newest voters: getting out the youth vote. Our March 19th meeting will include a film at The Screening Room followed by remarks by one of the youth activists featured in the film. The event is free but seating is limited so you must register in advance to attend this meeting! Details are below in the To Do section.

There are many ways to take action to protect democracy and influence this critical election year. The most effective method is whatever you are willing to do. For our army of postcard writers, postcards remain a way to plug in and directly appeal to individual voters. For those who write letters to the editor, it might take a dozen letters rejected before one gets accepted, but that letter will be read by thousands. For those who are busy and overwhelmed with work and family, monthly donations might be the best way to stay involved.

This election cycle, we urge all of you to do what feels comfortable, plus maybe a little bit more! Maybe you always write postcards...will you bring a friend next time, or encourage others to write with us remotely? Maybe you donate regularly... will you email a small group of friends and family to tell them where you donate and why you think it matters?

As we get closer to the election there will be increased needs for help on phone banks and text banks, and we will encourage those actions as well. Whatever you are willing to do, let's get out there and do it. And bring a friend!

Onward!

Register for our March 19th Monthly Meeting
On March 19th at 7:00-8:30 at The Screening Room at 82 State Street in Newburyport, we will show a one hour film called "The Young Vote", after which one of the young activists featured in the film will offer additional remarks and address our questions.
There is no charge for this event, but pre-registration is required due to limited seating. Email us her e to register, and please let us know if you will bring a younger voter with you (which would be great!). Learn more about the movie here.

Join our LTE Working Group
Our letter writers are fired up and ready to go! The first meeting is on March 6th at 2:00-3:30 pm to plan strategy, discuss ideas, review newspaper options, and get to work. If you are interested in participating but were not at our monthly meeting and did not receive the follow up emails planning next steps, please email us and we will add you to the LTE Working Group list and invite you to the 3/6 meeting.

Write Postcards
Join us to write:

-- In person at Action Hour on Wednesdays 5:30-6:30 at Nu Kitchen on Pleasant Street in Newburyport. We are writing PA mail-in voters to notify them that they need to sign up for VBM again if they wish to vote by mail this year.

-- Remotely, we are still writing to register Democrats in the most critical swing district in PA. We plan to start offering choices if you'd like to focus on another state. Stay tuned for an announcement of options. As always, writers should get postcards at one of our pickup locations, buy postage and email in divisible.rise.newburyport@gmail .com for the script and addresses. Email us with questions or to join this program.

The Youth Vote
There are some great resources to understand why many young people don't vote, how to reach them, and what messages resonate with this audience. If you want to know more on the subject before our next meeting, consider the following:

Persuading Voters
Talking to (and persuading) undecided, uninformed voters and individuals who are not regular voters can be tough, but also quite impactful. Here are some useful resources to help with these types of conversations:

Presidential Primaries:

-- While Trump won the South Carolina and Michigan primaries, he once again underperformed and shows signs of weakness for the general election.

-- Biden won the Michigan primary, which is good news. However, over 100K "uncommitted" votes were cast to send a message from voters who disapprove of Biden's handling of the sitation in Israel and Gaza. Regardless our individual views about what is happening in the Middle East, we'll end up with another Trump term if Democrats don't vote or cast protest votes in November. . That's how he was elected in 2016, and we need to work to make sure it does not happen again. Part of our work between now and November will be to send the message to Democrats that any choice other than voting for Biden (as long as he is at the top of the ticket) is a vote for Trump.

Presidential Campaigns - Democrats are raising much more money:

Positive Voter Protection Updates

National - Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley, are pressing for the urgent implementation of President Biden’s 2021 executive order that seeks to modernize and promote voting access.

AZ - A right-wing legal group voluntarily dismissed its own lawsuit challenging a host of voting rules, merely 16 days after filing the case.

WI - Gov. Evers signed new, fairer legislative maps into law, ending more than a decade of partisan gerrymandering in the state. This is a direct result of electing Janet Protasiewicz. Our work matters!

As always this section primarily fouses on good news related to elections and voter rights. Also as always, we rely heavily on two sources for this information: Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter and Democracy Docket.

Motivated by discussions at the monthly meeting last week and plans for a letter writing working group,one of our own wrote a letter that was published by the Las Vegas Sun, a newspaper with circulation of around 200,000. She explained:

"Disturbed about the Alabama [IVF] decision, I decided to write a letter and give this idea of submitting to swing state newspapers a try. I chose Nevada based on research about their current abortion laws, the stance of the lead GOP challenger to Senator Jacky Rosen, and polls showing that abortion is the number one issue for NV voters. I hope this initial experience is an indication that we'll be able to accomplish the goal of expressing our views in swing states where we might help persuade undecided voters."

If you are motivated by recent developments, have some good news to share, or would like to get more involved, please let us know. Indivisble-RISE is completely volunteer run, and we can always use more help organizing and leading our actions, events, programs, and more. Email indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com with ideas, news, suggestions, and anything you would like to tell or ask us. We'd love to hear from you!

-- Taylor Swift