John,

With just 115 days until the election, we’re laser-focused on ensuring that every American can vote safely and that statewide anti-corruption campaigns win at the ballot box.

Here’s the latest with the movement and how you can get involved:

2020 Statewide Anti-Corruption Campaigns

November ballots across the country are solidifying, and this week three major statewide initiatives submitted signatures to get placed on the ballot.

Here’s a full map of 2020 democracy reform campaigns underway right now:

Submitted Signatures for Ballot Placement

• Arkansas Voters First - Anti-gerrymandering
• Open Primaries Arkansas - Open Primaries + Ranked Choice Voting
• North Dakota Voters First - Anti-gerrymandering + Open Primaries + Ranked Choice Voting
• Voter Choice for Massachusetts - Ranked Choice Voting

On the Ballot

• Alaskans for Better Elections - Open Primaries + Ranked Choice Voting
• Cleaner Missouri - Anti-gerrymandering defense: In 2018, Clean Missouri won a ballot measure to end gerrymandering. This year, the legislature put a disingenuous measure on the ballot that, at first glance, looks like a positive reform proposal, but it actually reverses the anti-gerrymandering law passed by voters in 2018. We're fighting to win a NO vote.

If you live in these states, join the campaigns today to get involved – and if you don’t, join our online volunteer community to help bring them to victory.

Spotlight: Overcoming Hurdles in Arkansas

People-powered ballot measures faced a huge hurdle with signature collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But voting districts are about to be redrawn for the next 10 years – which means anti-gerrymandering campaigns can't wait for the next cycle.

So the Arkansas Voters First campaign pioneered a new innovative tactic to gather signatures at a social distance: Drive & Sign events. RepresentUs volunteers joined the campaign to call and text Arkansas voters promoting these events, and caravans of voters drove through to sign the anti-gerrymandering ballot petition. Volunteers at the events wore masks, socially distanced, and had an abundance of hand sanitizer to keep the collection safe.

In the end, the tactic was a huge success! This week the campaign delivered 100k signatures to make it to the ballot – we’ll find out soon if the amendment will be certified to go to voters in the fall.

The Right to Vote Safely this November

The COVID-19 pandemic could threaten our right to vote safely in an important election year. Americans should be able to choose how they vote, with states providing both safe in-person and vote by mail options during the pandemic. RepresentUs is continuing the push to protect the 2020 elections.

This spring, we successfully pressured six states to offer no-excuse absentee ballots to all voters for their state primaries – a huge victory for millions of voters.

Now we're gearing up to protect November elections:

We're demanding funding from Congress so states have the resources needed to provide safe in-person polling and secure absentee voting options. 

And we’ll continue to promote Vote by Mail nationally through VoteSafe, a bipartisan coalition we launched in April.

Allowing all Americans to vote by mail is the most secure, most effective, and safest way to conduct an election during the pandemic. VoteSafe has been endorsed by dozens of organizations, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, and covered by major news outlets from Fox to CNN to MSNBC.

Here are just a few of the articles covering VoteSafe:

• Fox News: Ex-Homeland Security chief Ridge says coronavirus is 'permanent risk,' US must 'learn how to manage it'
• The Atlantic: Trump Hates Vote-by-Mail. These Republicans Love It.
• The Hill: Turnout surges after states expand mail-in voting

Unbreaking America: Justice For Sale

In June, we launched Unbreaking America: Justice For Sale to reveal the connection between corruption and our broken criminal justice system – a system that disproportionately impacts Black and Latino communities.

The powerful short film, starring Omar Epps and Desmond Meade, already has nearly 2 million views and was shared by Madonna, Kim Kardashian West, Jennifer Lawrence, and thousands of others. If you haven't seen it already, watch Unbreaking America: Justice For Sale. You’ll never think of our criminal justice system the same again.

And when you’re done watching, share it with your friends to get them fired up about the movement.

How You Can Help

We're facing many challenges in the months ahead: The COVID-19 pandemic threatens our election safety and ability to organize in person, and campaigns to unrig the system may face fierce opposition. We are doing all that we can to galvanize the movement to win in spite of these challenges, and we'll only succeed if all of us pitch in.

You can help these campaigns win by joining The Common Wealth with a monthly donation of any amount, or joining our network of online volunteers to support campaigns all over the country.

Thank you for all that you do to keep the fire alive.

Jen Johnson Movement Director RepresentUs