Less than 6 Months Until Elections!

“Time is relative; its only worth depends upon
what we do as it is passing.”

- Albert Einstein

Hi all!

All of us are committed to protecting democracy and electing Democrats. That’s why we are involved with I-RISE. We're involved as leaders, postcard writers, donors, newsletter subscribers, meeting attendees, social media followers, and more. All of us, though, are volunteers with families, friends and other commitments. Sometimes, even for those of us who lead this group and write this newsletter, other parts of our lives need more attention. That’s why, with apologies, this edition of the newsletter is a bit later and lighter on information than usual.

It seems fitting to have this little breather at the six month mark before the November elections. It also seems fitting at this time to get together and energize one another for the final months of this election season. That's what our May monthly meeting is all about. We'll gather to write postcards, socialize and eat with like-minded I-RISE and Newburyport Democratic City Committee members.

To show our appreciation for our postcard writers and donors, the May meeting is on us. That includes food, postcards and postage. I-RISE’s active postcard writers now number 120, and the group has written nearly 16,000 postcards in 2024. Please join us at the May meeting to help surpass 20,000 postcards by the end of May, and start a productive and successful second part of the year leading up to the elections. Meeting details and a registration link are in the To Do section.

Special thanks to recent donors who helped us reach our $500 goal to earn the full match from Indivisible National. This money will go a long way to ensure that we can cover expenses through the upcoming election. If you had been thinking about donating but did not have a chance, please hold that thought and donate when we announce the next matching opportunity from Indivisible National. Let's double our donation dollars when we can!

See you at Action Hour and our May meeting, and watch for notices of texting and phone banking opportunities when we start promoting those actons.

May Meeting: An Evening of Food, Fun and Postcard Writing!
Our next monthly meeting is on May 21st at 7:00-8:30 at Central Congregtional Church, 14 Titcomb Street in Newburyport. We'll gather for an evening of socializing, sharing ideas for the upcoming months, eating a light dinner, and writing postcards, in partnership with the Newburyport Democratic City Committee.

We're thrilled to be able to offer this evening at no charge (with donations welcome to help continue to defray costs for postcard writers). We'll also have postcard packets at no charge and discounted postage to offer to anyone who wants supplies to write remotely after the meeting.

These are stressful times and the clock is ticking. Spending time with like minded people and taking action are the best antidotes for the concerns about the November elections.

Register here so we know how many to plan for!

Keep Writing Postcards!
Nearly 16,000 postcards written so far this year adds up to a lot of votes for Democrats in swing states and districts. We're writing to voters in areas where elections are decided by the smallest of margins; where every single vote for Democrats truly makes a difference and can be the one that decides an election. Join us to help increase our impact!

As always, there are two ways to write with us:
-- In person at Action Hour on Wednesdays 5:30-6:30 at Nu Kitchen on Pleasant Street in Newburyport.
-- Remotely, with writers getting postcards at one of our pickup locations, buying postage and emailing in divisible.rise.newburyport@gmail .com for the script and addresses. Email us with questions, to join this program, or (if you're already writing with us) to sign up for a regular weekly supply of addresses.

Save the Date for Our June Meeting
Our June meeting will be held Tuesday, June 18th ay 7:00-8:30. An expert guest speaker will guide us on Making the Most of Political Donation Dollars. Stay tuned for details.

Political Strategist, Simon Rosenberg, publishes a newsletter called Hopium Chronicles which we previously recommended. He recently conducted a meeting explaining why he is optimistic about the November elections and responding to participants' questions. The live meeting was only for paid subscribers, but the recorded version is publicly available. It is filled with useful information and great talking points to use when speaking with undecided and persuadable voters. Listen to the one hour recording here.

Future Hindsight is an award-winning weekly podcast that takes big ideas about civic life and democracy and turns them into action items for its listeners. Each episode includes in-depth conversations with citizen changemakers that inspire civic action and hope. Citizen participation is fundamental to a thriving democracy, and our engagement is more critical now than ever. Listen to episodes here.

The news reported below is without links to sources. Email indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com to request resources and additional information about any of these updates.

In a special election in NY, State Senator Tim Kennedy won a House seat that already was held by a Democrat but is noteworthy because Kennedy won by 30% in a district that typically is D+6. That's a huge improvement!

Things are looking up in GA, where the state's voter rolls have gained 13,500 more Democrats than Republicans since 2020.

Campaigns:
We've previously reported about the Biden campaign's record-breaking fundraising. That's also happening for Senate and House races. Democratic donors raised $151 million for those races in the first quarter of 2024, which is an increase of 20% for Senate races and 29% for House races compared to 2020.

Positive Voter Protection Updates

AZ - A state judge rejected a right-wing group's attempt to ban ballot drop boxes and force the state to adopt stricter rules for signature verification. Then the Supreme Court rejected Kari Lake's appeal in a case trying to ban electronic voting machines in AZ. Finally, a grand jury indicted 7 attorneys or aides affiliated with Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign plus 11 others on felony charges related to their alleged efforts to subvert Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in AZ.

CO - The Governor signed a new state law to explicitly make it illegal to serve as a fake elector in future presidential elections.

KY - The state legislature passed a bill expaning access to in-person early voting and voting for eligible citizens who are in jail.

NC - A federal judge struck down an 1877 state law that imposes criminal penalties for voting while on parole, probation or post-release supervision for a felony conviction.

NE - The Governor signed a law to restore voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions upon completion of their sentence.

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.

One of our members manages a group of remote postcard writers. She observed, "This work can be long and draining and tedious at times, so I try to mix it up and find small ways to inspire the best that I can. My daughter got an English cream, golden retriever puppy last fall, and one of the things that I do with my emails is periodically include pictures of Brody as he grows up. He’s very cute and they seem to love the levity that the pictures bring."

Great idea! We'll close with a photo of 2 month old Brody to leave you with some lightness and smiles:

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!