Hot Voter Summer! Let's Do This!

“When I liberate others, I liberate myself."
- Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil and Voting Rights Activist

Hi all!

Summer is officially here (with a vengeance, last week!), and we have just over four months to do everything we can to elect Democrats around the country. From now until Election Day, Indivisible-RISE is focused on Getting. Things. DONE!

And we need your help. The To Do section below suggests additional ways you can get (more!) involved and bring others along with you. It is critical that we each find our niche and take whatever actions inspire us and feel comfortable AND try things that are a bit out of our comfort zones.

Because the time is now.

This month marks two years since the Dobbs anti-choice SCOTUS ruling and sixty years since the racist segregationist murders of Civil Rights workers Andrew Goodwin, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney. These 3 dedicated young activists were murdered for trying to make America live up to the ideals on which it was founded, and President Johnson harnessed the outrage and sorrow of a nation to pressure Congress into passing both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Once again, voting rights have been at risk. Voter fraud is vanishingly rare, but voter suppression is all too common. It is the last desperate attempt of an out-of-touch party to push forward with their unpopular and dangerous agenda.

The stakes have never been higher, and every one of us has a role to play.

So again, we urge you to join us in taking action. Whatever you can do, let's join forces and do it together. Donate, write postcards, make phone calls to register voters or recruit volunteers or help get out the vote, canvass, and talk to your neighbors, friends, and family about jumping in too!

We are many, and together we can do this.

Onward!

Postcard Writing is Ongoing

Our count is now up to 22,000 postcards written so far this year, and the total will be even hgher by the time you're reading this! As a reminder, our ongoing postcard writing options are:
-- In person at Action Hour on Wednesdays 5:30-6:30 at NU Kitchen on Pleasant Street in Newburyport.
-- Remotely, by getting postcards at one of our pickup locations, buying postage and emailing in divisible.rise.newburyport@gmail .com for the script and addresses.

Friends and Family Action Gatherings
Many thanks to those of you who have introduced friends and family to Action Hour and remote postcard writing; these new writers have helped grow our ranks and write more. Let's take that one step further by hosting friends and family gatherings to bring in even more new writers and facilitate even more postcard writing.

Maybe your neighbors, book club or college friends want to get together to register Democrats, get out the vote and help save democracy? Let us know if you are interested in hosting a small get together to write postcards. We'll supply the addresses, postcards and postage, and will help you plan the gathering.

Likewise, if you're interested in hosting a small group to text voters, phone bank, or work on voter protection efforts, we'll be happy to help facilitate that. Email us at i ndivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com if you are interested or have questions.

July 23 Monthly Meeting: Beyond Postcard Writing
Our team of postcard writers is productive and prolific; they are making quite a difference. If you are not a postcard writer or you write postcards and are ready to try something more or different, we'll be discussing options at our next meeting on Tuesday, July 23rd at 7:00-8:15. We'll meet by Zoom with speakers from out of town.

Our speaker list is still in the works, but we defintely will hear from Dena Belinkoff, who is one of the leaders of Voter Protection Professionals (VoPro Pros). Dena will explain their critical work in swing states ensuring that people have access to voting and that their votes count. She'll describe the numerous and varied ways that we can help, both with direct voter contact and behind the scenes work like researching and administrative projects.

We also are arranging for speakers to talk about opportunities and effectiveness of canvassing in NH and texting. Stay tuned for more details, and register here.

Before and During This Week's Presidential Debate
We're all anxious about this week's debate. How many outrageous and nonsensical lies will Trump spread? Will he run roughshod over the hosts? Will Biden be at the top of his game? Will misleading excerpts spread like wildfire on social media? What can we do other than watch on the edge of our seats? Here are two ideas:

Right now... Email CNN to implore upon them to correct lies and misrepresentations in real time during the debate. Thanks to Indivisible Northampton and Swing Left of Westerm MA, here's a draft email to edit as you wish and send to CNN ASAP.

While you are watching ... Join a text chat among I-RISE members to express your concerns and observations during the debate. It's a great way to burn of steam, seek clarification if you missed a statement, and celebrate / commiserate with like-minded debate watchers. If you are interested in participating in the Debate Chat, email your cell phone number to indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com and we'll add you to the conversation when we set up the text chain at the start of the debate.

Access notes of our June 18th meeting, including insights from our Force Multiplier speaker and details about the key elections in our target states here.

With concerns about the economy such a key issue for so many voters, this article on the White House's website sets out the Biden-Harris plan, actions and accomplishments working to lower costs.
(and a particularly critical issue for infrequent voters who are not regularly tuned in to politics)

The 6/15/24 episode of the Ezra Klein Show entitled The Biggest Political Divide is Not Left vs. Right is particularly interesting. Klein and his guest speaker discuss the significant chasm between people who follow politics closely and those who pay almost no attention to politics. The latter group is crucial to determining who wins the presidency. This is the group to whom we we primarily address our voter registration and get out the vote efforts. For thoughtful and thought-provoking insights, listen on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Penzeys sells delicious spices, and this business is unabashedly pro-democracy and anti-Republican party. It is refreshing to see a business so outwardly supportive of the same causes and candidates for which we fight. If you are in need of spices, consider ordering from them and even getting on their mailing list. While their mailings are mostly marketing offers, they also include a healthy (and clever) dose of political chat.

Easy Access to Resources: Access all of our 2024 recommendations of newsletters, articles, podcasts and organizations here.

Elections News

Presidential Campaign
The DNC and Biden's campaign are coming out swinging in their advertising. The Biden campaign issued its first ad referring to Trump as a "convicted felon". And the DNC rented billboards in 10 locations in Milwaukee quoting his recent quip about that “horrible city.” Great timing for the Republican National Convention kick off in Milwaukee on July 15th!

Recent polls show Biden leading by growing numbers with Independents (While we cannot rely on polls, good news results like this help motivate us and give us hope):

A recent star-studded fundraiser in Hollywood raised over $30 million for Biden's campaign.

The Biden campaign recently hired its 1000th battleground state staffer. That's a lot of boots on the ground in the states where it matters most!

State Elections
In both FL and WI, Dem candidates will run in every state legislative race this year, including seats that previously were uncontested. In FL, this is the first time since 1980 that a Democrat is running for every seat!

In a special Congressional election in a very red disrict of Ohio, the Dem candidate performed much better than expected. While the Republican won by 10%, the margin was a full 20% lower than previous GOP performances in the District, including Trump’s 2020 margin of victory. This closer than expected race offers hope for Democrats looking to be competitive in November in Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania.

Positive Voter Protection Updates

CO - The Governor signed a bill expanding the availability of drop boxes on college campuses.

GA - Fulton County established new processes to protect voters from baseless mass challenges.

MI - A state judge largely rejected the RNC’s bid to tighten MI’s instructions for verifying signatures on absentee ballot applications and return envelopes ahead of the 2024 election. In addition, the state supreme court ruled that two activists who are charged with attempting to discourage Black voters from voting in 2020 can be prosecuted.

NV - A federal court dismissed the RNC's lawsuit that tried to purge voters from Nevada's rolls.

SD - Inspired by false conspiracies about irregularities in the 2020 elections, conservatives organized referendums in three South Dakota counties to ban the use of voting machines. Voters rejected all three ballot measures.

WI - Lots of good news from this swing state:

Democrat Ann Jacobs, who led the Wisconsin Elections Commission during the 2020 election, was unanimously reelected chair of the panel and will lead the bipartisan commission in the key battleground state this fall.
The State Supreme Court temporarily suspended Trump attorney James Troupis from his position on a judicial ethics committee after he was indicted for his role in a fake electors scheme during the 2020 election.
The WI Supreme Court also f roze a lower court’s decision that stood to significantly limit the number of early voting locations for the 2024 elections. Municipalities can assign early voting sites without these restrictions. (Another benefit to the work we did to help elect Janet Protasiewicz!)

As always this section primarily fouses on good news related to elections and voter rights. We rely heavily on three sources for this information: Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter, the Democracy Docket and The Markup. Email indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com to request resource links and additional information about any of these updates.

Special thanks to all of you who are so dedicated that you are taking your activism on the road by writing postcards on vacation, traveling to rallies, or considering canvassing in other states. Kudos to your much needed commitment!

We're low on additional member updates this week, so we'll share another cute animal photo because the photos of puppy Brody were so popular. Here's a beauty of a puffin. Take a break to see puffins in Maime this summer if you can!

(Photo Credit: Alex Klein)

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!