SPECIAL EVENT RECAP |
Proof: What We're Doing Makes a Difference |
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On Sunday evening, more than 120 activists gathered to hear what really happened on the ground over Election Week. The meeting brought to life the reality of voter suppression and the moving stories of Massachusetts volunteers who braved COVID to protect human rights and safety.
This introduction will make you want to read the whole article here. 
 Jessica Stokes and five other Massachusetts volunteers went to suburban Atlanta to help Carolyn Bourdeaux finally flip Georgia's 7th congressional seat and to proactively monitor the ballot counting process on behalf of the campaign. Days after the election, as the count dragged on, the Republican election observers became increasingly agitated when it looked like he might lose. Jessica and her fellow observers took careful notes of their complaints and evidence supporting them, as documentation for potential lawsuits.  By a twist of fate, the founder of Dean's Beans Coffee Company, Dean Cycon, was assigned to a town in rural Coffee County, where he was the first-ever Democratic poll observer in the town of Douglas. As a former lawyer, Dean kept his cool, even as election officials tried to keep him far away from the polls, where inexperienced teenage poll workers were mistakenly turning away voters lacking the correct ID, even though they were qualified to vote by provisional ballot.
After 40 years in Massachusetts, staunch Democrat tried Joanne Sunshower moved back to Kansas, where she got involved in the local county commissioners race to support Shirley Allenbrand, a moderate Republican candidate. Allenbrand's anti-masker opponent, Mike Brown, used his candidacy to fuel public sentiment against COVID safety mandates, turning it into the defining issue of the race. 
Kim Weeter and Brenda Davies drove to North Carolina where they went to the homes of voters whose absentee ballots were filled out improperly. The process for curing these ballots was so difficult that many voters had no choice but to vote in-person, despite their desire to vote safely from home. Rides to the polls were in short supply. At one point, and despite fears of COVID, Kim herself drove an elderly voter to a curbside voting site to ensure he could cast his ballot. 
Dan Luker and Bob Master faced violence head on. These Vietnam veterans served as peacekeepers in Detroit, Michigan. By standing between angry protesters trying to stop or protect the counting of ballots, Dan and Bob defused conflicts before they grew and defended the election process. As Bob explained, “We just want to see no one arrested, no violence, no one hurt.” |
| (Read the whole article here.) |
Turn Out Voters in GeorgiaVoter turnout in the Georgia run-off election on January 5 will determine the next two U.S. Senators for Georgia ... and the makeup of the U.S. Senate itself. The more people you can reach, the more likely the Dems are to win.
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LETTER WRITING
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| Through the Mail
Swing Left Greater Boston is carrying out an expansive letter campaign to build critical turn-out. We’re sending pre-stamped VBM (vote-by-mail) ballot applications through December 14; after that, we'll focus on GOTV (get out the vote). SLGB is applying everything we learned from our successful campaigns during the Presidential election, when we reached out to Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and Florida. Our research shows that sending pre-stamped absentee ballot applications to registered Democrats leads to an immediate bump in voting and is one of the most cost effective ways to impact elections. We are working directly with county Democratic committees so our mailings include their trusted branding. In the second week of November, we began to send absentee ballot applications into Forsyth, Gwinnett, and Cobb counties. We're truly inspired that hosts and volunteers have organized to mail 507,000 absentee ballot applications to 362,000 households. No other volunteer group (that we know of) is doing this, so this is a huge opportunity. We're down to the wire with two counties to go! The Fulton County Dems are counting on us to reach 52,000 voters. Clayton County Dems hopes we can reach 120,000. (On Sunday you can train to be a letter writing host. Click here to RSVP.)
This is our last week to reach key new voters. |
PHONE BANKINGOver the Phone Lines
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| There are already 18 phone banks hosting volunteers every day of the week, with more to come. We’re partnering with the Forsyth County Democratic Committee to increase the number of absentee ballot requests. Many Georgians don’t know they need to reapply for an absentee ballot specifically for the January election! We're following up with people who received a VBM letter from us to ensure that they request their ballot. Make calls to reinforce our letter campaign. We’re also collaborating with Flip the West to GOTV in Georgia. The phone bank sessions are small and personalized. Improve our success by joining one of these phone banks! Pick any phone bank led by an SLGB volunteer and be part of the Georgia effort! Call Voters
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GEORGIA FUNDRAISINGMeet the Candidates
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Meet Georgia's Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in conversation with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. This Force Multiplier event offers a great way to contribute to a Dem win in Georgia.
Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock is a longtime advocate for the rights and lives of Georgia’s working people (watch the Warnock video). Jon Ossoff, CEO of Insight TWI, is an investigative journalist, media executive, and an experienced National Security Aide (watch the Ossoff video). They will be great Senators because of who they are and because of their belief in dignity, equality, and justice. Our country can’t repair the damage of the last four years until we’re free from Mitch McConnell’s obstruction. This is your chance to hear from – and contribute to the campaigns of – the candidates who have the potential to affect the direction of the country.
Electing Warnock and Ossoff to the US Senate will allow
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