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?
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.)
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
https://act.moveon.org/go/123100?t=6&akid=263424%2E40999114%2EoGRbV7
2. Justin Clark, senior political adviser to Donald Trump, at Republican National Lawyers Association Wisconsin Reception, November 21, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/123101?t=8&akid=263424%2E40999114%2EoGRbV7
3. "The Republican Party Emerges From Decades of Court Supervision," The Atlantic, January 9, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/123102?t=10&akid=263424%2E40999114%2EoGRbV7
4. "52 who worked or voted in Wisconsin election have COVID-19," ABC News, April 29, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/123103?t=12&akid=263424%2E40999114%2EoGRbV7
5. "Wisconsin Primary Shows Why States Must Prepare Their Elections for the Coronavirus," Center for American Progress, April 27, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/123104?t=14&akid=263424%2E40999114%2EoGRbV7
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?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
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