Dear MoveOn member,
Americans could face unprecedented obstacles to voting in November.
With the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
warning that the coronavirus outbreak this fall may be "even more
difficult" than what we've already experienced, voting in November could
be a matter of life and death—unless we take immediate action to fortify
our election system.^1
And with Donald Trump on the ballot, more could not be at stake.
At the same time, the GOP has launched a multimillion-dollar voter
suppression effort aimed at people of color and young voters—after a judge
lifted a ruling that had been in place for 35 years barring the Republican
National Committee from intimidating voters at the polls.^2,3
John, voters cannot be forced to choose between their health
and participation in our democracy. We cannot stand by and allow the GOP
to intimidate voters, keep their votes from counting, and steal the
election. Because our country cannot sustain four more years of Trump.
That's why MoveOn is announcing a massive new campaign to enable every
eligible American to vote and have their vote counted. Our plans are big
and bold, because that's what this moment demands. But we have to start
right now and keep our campaign going through Election Day.
On average, MoveOn's monthly donors chip in about $10 a
month. Can you chip in $10 a month to make sure every
eligible voter has access to a ballot this fall?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Until there's a vaccine for the coronavirus that's widely available,
voting by mail needs to be the default option for most Americans.
Expanding voting by mail will help enable those who need or want to vote
in person to safely social distance rather than risk their health voting
in person at crowded polling places. But not everyone can or should vote
by mail, such as people who are disabled, displaced by COVID-19, homeless,
or those who need language support, so we also need to ensure in-person
polling places are fully staffed and accessible to all.
We saw the consequences of failing to act last month, when the Supreme
Court forced Wisconsin to hold in-person elections during the pandemic. At
least 52 people who worked at the polls or came to vote got sick with
COVID-19.^4
And Wisconsin was actually better positioned than most states to hold an
election during the pandemic. It already had critical policies in
place—including allowing anyone to vote absentee, early voting, and
same-day and online registration. But its infrastructure was "woefully
unprepared"—and thousands of mail-in ballots went uncounted in addition to
the hours-long lines at polling places.^5
A new analysis from the Center for American Progress shows that just nine
states have all or most of the necessary policies and infrastructure in
place to conduct elections during the pandemic, meaning that they can
support a mass reliance on vote-by-mail.^6
We need to be ready for November, and there's no time to waste: Action is
needed at the federal and state levels, and it will be an
all-hands-on-deck effort through Election Day to make the election safe
and fair.
That's why the core components of our plans include a massive push for the
federal funding needed to ready state election systems, organizing in
states to ramp up vote-by-mail and early voting, and recruiting and
training MoveOn members across the country to become evangelists of voting
rights in their own communities.
Our democracy is on the line. Can you chip in $10 a month to
help power our campaign to protect the right to vote? (The average gift from a MoveOn monthly donor is about $10
a month, but whatever you can afford will go a long
way.)
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
–Chris, Mark, Amy, Isbah, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "CDC Director Redfield warns second coronavirus wave could be 'more
difficult,' hit same time as flu," USA Today, April 22, 2020
[link removed]
2. Justin Clark, senior political adviser to Donald Trump, at Republican
National Lawyers Association Wisconsin Reception, November 21, 2019
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3. "The Republican Party Emerges From Decades of Court Supervision," The
Atlantic, January 9, 2020
[link removed]
4. "52 who worked or voted in Wisconsin election have COVID-19," ABC News,
April 29, 2020
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5. "Wisconsin Primary Shows Why States Must Prepare Their Elections for
the Coronavirus," Center for American Progress, April 27, 2020
[link removed]
6. Ibid.
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day
by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage,
defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's
pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must
never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than
ever. Will you stand with us?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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