[link removed] [[link removed]]We fund voter protection!
Dear John,
You may have seen this clip recently – Democratic super-lawyer Marc Elias went on MSNBC [[link removed]] to say: “We are not going to out-organize voter suppression.”
Marc and his team are fighting for voters in courtrooms all over the country, and we’re grateful for that important work.
So we say this with our deepest admiration and respect: we have to disagree with Marc on this one.
Out-organizing voter suppression is the whole reason we founded Power the Vote, and that’s because we’ve seen first-hand that it works.
We’re not just blowing smoke here. Take Arizona for example.
Last year, the Arizona voter protection team – and their army of volunteers – helped 3,400 Arizona voters have their rejected ballots counted. Those votes put Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes over the top – securing a race that she won by just 280 votes . And, critically, those votes bumped Governor Katie Hobbs past the margin for a recount – providing a buffer against efforts by Kari Lake to overturn the election results.
And it’s not just Arizona: voter protection organizing made the margin of victory for President Biden in Georgia (15,870 votes cured!) and Wisconsin (36,000 ballots cured!). It brought down the absentee ballot rejection rates in Texas from 40% statewide to just 2.7% statewide. And it helped flip the Pennsylvania House – securing Rep. Cerrato’s win by just 58 votes.
Voter protection organizing wins elections, but that’s not all – it also boosts the work of the champions fighting for democracy in court.
Back to Arizona again – on Election Day, Maricopa County experienced huge problems with their ballot printers and scanners, impacting voting in 70 polling locations across the county.
But the voter protection team was prepared: they had poll watching volunteers stationed in a whopping 89% of polling places in Maricopa County, including 69 out of the 70 locations impacted by the equipment problems. Those volunteers were there to witness everything that went down – and those first-hand accounts became a critical tool to fight back against misinformation spread by Kari Lake and election deniers.
So yeah, voter protection organizing works.
And there’s one thing we can all agree on: Marc Elias is right that we “need to treat” the threat to democracy “like the five-alarm fire that it is.”
That’s why it’s so critical that we use every tool we have to strike back against Republican efforts to suppress and subvert the vote.
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* Sold on the impact of voter protection organizing? Help us fund this work! *
Give TODAY to fund voter protection staff in Arizona!
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Power the Vote has been nominated for GAIN Power’s Powerful IDEA Award! The award recognizes high-impact progressive funding organizations. We feel deeply honored by this recognition of our work.
We’re also proud to say, two of the teams we’ve funded are also being recognized in the Voter Protection category: Arizona and Texas!
Voting is open! You can vote for Power the Vote’s nomination here [[link removed]] . And we encourage you to vote for Arizona [[link removed]] and Texas [[link removed]] , too! (You’ll need to register or log-in to vote, but we hope you do!)
In Other News…
Come hang with us! We have two fundraising events coming up: April 27 [[link removed]] , in Houston, with Mike Collier; and May 2 [[link removed]] , in Atlanta, with Rep. Lucy McBath! We’d love to see you there!
We’re launching Blue Texas [[link removed]] ! Blue Texas is a grassroots community of small-dollar monthly donors who are committed to empowering voters! Half of each monthly donation to Blue Texas will go to support Power the Vote’s work fighting voter suppression day-in and day-out all over Texas. The other half is distributed directly to Democratic state legislative nominees after the primary. Join here [[link removed]] !
Youth vote under attack: As students voted in waves in Wisconsin and other states, Republicans are plotting to make voting harder for young voters. Cleta Mitchell, one of the architects of Trump’s strategy to overturn the 2020 election, recently urged GOP leaders to limit voting on college campuses, same-day voter registration and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters. Protecting voter access for students is more important than ever! Read more here [[link removed]] .
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We’re not stopping here! There’s no shortage of work to do as we look ahead to critical elections this year and in 2024. Thanks for reading, and for your support.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter [[link removed]] , Facebook [[link removed]] , LinkedIn [[link removed]] , and Instagram [[link removed]] !
Jamil and Kim
We Fund Voter Protection
In 2020, we ran the Democratic Party’s Voter Protection Program in Georgia, when the state flipped blue for the first time in nearly 30 years.
We pioneered a new model of voter protection, built on sustained investments and long-lasting relationships.
Now, we’re building on that success and adapting the Georgia model to fight voter suppression in other states.
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Paid for by Power the Vote
Power The Vote
455 Moreland Ave, Unit 5293
Atlanta, GA 31107
United States
www.powerthevote.org
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