This is fun and spiritually satisfying work.
The GOP is taking more steps to get back Congress and their state legislators by making it hard for people to vote. They are now purging the voter registration rolls of low income and middle income people of color so that when these people show up to vote they will discover they aren't registered, and it will be at that point too late them to vote.
They were doing this before the last election and we sent out handwritten postcards to help people get back on the voter rolls.
The GOP then set up other blocks to voting, like removing polling places, removing mail-in ballot boxes, confusing people with voting deadlines. So we wrote people postcards to help them with the deadlines, the new rules, and gave them a number to call to find out where and how to vote. It worked!
We can help disenfranchised people to vote by writing postcards to them to help them navigate the GOP voter roadblocks.
This is a critical period in US history. We need to hold onto the blue majority long enough to get laws passed to wholly shift the country to progressive politics, pass laws to stop voter suppression and so much more.
There are non profit organizations all over the country that help get out the vote by identifying who has been thrown off the rolls, and sending them postcards to alert them and tell them how to re-register to vote.
But people don't trust mass postcards they receive in the mail. They think they are junk mail and just throw them out.
That's where you come in.
You can help by joining a postcard-writing campaign aimed at people of color and others in neighborhoods that the GOP has targeted. In 2020 I wrote hundreds of these postcards while sitting around and relaxing in front of the tube.
Postcard writing is a great way to connect with progressive voters in neighborhoods you might never ever know.
To get people to trust a postcard from a stranger rather than just throw it into the trash as junk mail, studies show that they need to be handwritten from real people.
Progressive groups have designed a system. All you do it sign up and they will notify you, send you blank post cards, a script for you to follow exactly, and names and addresses of people to write to. If someone in your town is already doing this, you can just take a bunch of cards from them. If not, you can be the person in your town who is doing this. You can often find partcipants to help you out by contacting the local Town Democratic Committee or the local League of Women voters. Only do this if you are going to follow through.
We will try to find organizations here you can contact and others can help me out by posting information.
I'm currently writing postcards via Vote for Our Lives for Virginia voters who have a primary coming up.
I noticed Vhttps://votefwd.org/labs ?" target="true">ote Forward.org is organizing a Texas campaign.
Please help by adding reliable information here on how people can join postcard-writing campaigns.
Please correct me if I've written anything unhelpful or misleading. I'm writing postcards under someone else's leadership so I'm not well versed in how to organize these campaigns.
Here is what the postcards look like. When I write them, I feel connected to the recipients. It is a nice experience. @bluebelle I am tagging you because you've been doing it too. I usually write the card in multiple colors, as they suggest.
Greetings! I live in central Virginia (25m S. of Charlottesville) and retired so I'm in on helping with the postcard voting effort should someone provide some guidance on how to participate.
As I live in a somewhat progressive area I believe most folks are registered and vote frequently (as do I) but there may be some who need a bit of awareness and prodding to make sure all are heard and we keep moving forward.
MickieMac
@mickiemac. Here is one organization that is involved in Virginia: https://postcards4va.com/#postcards, however I just noticed that when you click on it, I got a warning about security.
@jeanne-mayell - Thanks so much for the link. I clicked on it and didn't have an issue w/security as I have a rather robust security program on my PC. I did save the link and will reference it to gain more knowledge on how to help. Each step we take to help even one person makes it easier for all of us. The Light will win!
Thanks, Jeanne. When I finish my jury duty next week, I will look into this. I found the postcard writing campaign for Georgia voters to be very rewarding. Just like you said, I felt a connection to the person I was writing and I believe that good energy was received in Georgia. Until you mentioned these new postcard campaigns, I had no idea we could still participate like this. Thank you! It's an easy project and we can each make a difference.
During the last election, we received two such postcards that were handwritten and colored in on the front. That was the first time since voting overseas that we have received any. There were sayings on them with something like, “Every drop helps make a wave.” I was so touched to receive them from other overseas voters in the same country that I didn’t even know existed. It really was like having a connection with someone. What a great idea!