Dear MoveOn member,
In recent primary elections, mail-in ballots have been getting rejected at
shockingly high rates.^1 In one New York election, nearly one in five mail
ballots may be thrown out.^2
This is setting off alarm bells for November.
Election experts predict that up to 70% of all ballots cast in November's
election could be cast by mail.^3 But here's the catch: The majority of
voters who plan to vote by mail in this election are Democrats, with only
one in five Republicans planning to do the same.^4
This is a train wreck waiting to happen. If enough Democratic mail-in
ballots in battleground states are tossed out, that could be enough to tip
the election and hand Trump a second term.
That's why we're creating ads that will provide voters the information
they need to properly and safely vote this year. We have big plans to
target these ads to young voters, voters of color, and first-time voters
in 10 critical battleground states, but we need your help to get them up
and running.
Will you chip in $3 a week to help fund these ads and ensure voters have
the information they need to vote safely and securely this
November? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once
a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the election to
see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
[ [link removed] ]Count me in.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
Making things worse is a brand-new poll showing that 50% of young voters—a
crucial Democratic constituency—say they don't have the resources or
knowledge they need to vote by mail in November.^5
John, we MUST do everything in our power to ensure every single
voter has what they need to vote safely and securely this November.
Mail-in ballots can be rejected for various reasons. The most common
reason they're tossed out is because ballots are returned after the
deadline. But tens of thousands of ballots are discarded for other
reasons: Sometimes, voters forget to sign their ballots, and other times a
voter's signature doesn't exactly match the voter's signature on file.
Election data shows that the ballots of young people and people of
color—both of whom are pivotal Democratic constituencies—are being
rejected at disproportionately high rates.^6
To make things worse, the Trump administration is purposely sabotaging the
U.S. Postal Service in an effort to interfere with the election.
Trump has installed a lackey, Louis DeJoy, as the new postmaster general,
and he is working to destroy the post office from within. A leaked memo
shows that at a time when the Postal Service is already strapped because
of the coronavirus, DeJoy is cancelling overtime in ways that will slow
down mail delivery.^7 DeJoy claims these are efforts to improve the post
office, but they could cause millions of votes to be invalidated—and we
can't let that happen.
Given these attempts to suppress Democratic votes, it is crucial that
every single voter has the information and resources they need to properly
and safely vote this November. Which is why we have big plans to create
videos explaining the voting process and to target these video ads to
young voters, voters of color, and first-time voters in 10 critical
battleground states.
We need your help. With less than 90 days left until Election Day, will
you chip in $3 a week to get these critical ads up and keep them running
as long as it takes? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit
card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the
election to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
[ [link removed] ]Count me in.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
This election will be like no other. And with millions of Americans voting
by mail for the first time in their lives, we need to ensure everyone has
the information and resources they need to vote safely—whether they are
voting by mail or in person. Mail-in ballots have been in wide use in many
states for over a decade, including in some states that automatically send
mail-in ballots to every registered voter, so we've got years of
experience to build this voter education program with precise messaging to
reach voters.
But getting this critical information out to voters in battleground states
costs money. And we can't afford to pull a dime away from our budget to
defeat Trump and take back the Senate.
So, will you chip in $3 a week to help fund these critical ads and ensure
every voter has the information they need to safely vote this
November? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once
a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the election to
see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
[ [link removed] ]Count me in.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
Thanks for all you do.
–Emma, Kate, Erik, Kenia, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "States reject tens of thousands of mail ballots in this year's
primaries, setting off alarm bells for November," NBC News, July 18, 2020
[link removed]
2. "New York could throw out 1 in 5 mail-in ballots in one district,
disproportionately hitting Brooklyn," The Intercept, June 30, 2020
[link removed]
3. "Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here's What You Need
To Know," NPR, June 4, 2020
[link removed]
4. "A Trump trap? He's the one who could get a boost from mail voting
glitches," NBC News, July 30, 2020
[link removed]
5. "Poll: More Than Half Of Young People Lack Resources To Vote By Mail,"
NPR, July 30, 2020
[link removed]
6. "Signed, Sealed, Undelivered: Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Rejected For
Tardiness," NPR, July 13, 2020
[link removed]
7. "Trump-backed postmaster general plans to slow mail delivery," Fortune,
July 24, 2020
[link removed]
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