From Sarah Dohl, Indivisible <[email protected]>
Subject A bipartisan group of experts gamed out a contested Trump-Biden election
Date August 14, 2020 6:11 PM
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Indivisibles,

My name is Sarah and I’m a co-founder and Chief Communications Officer
here at Indivisible. I’m also the person who has been leading our work on
preparing for a post-election crisis scenario where Trump loses the
election but refuses to concede (read: the stuff nightmares are made of).

If you’ve been watching the news over the past few days, you know that
while this scenario sounds like something out of a movie, it’s not at all
far-fetched.

Not convinced? Here’s a sample of news stories from JUST YESTERDAY:

* On [ [link removed] ]CNN, Chris Cillizza published an article headlined, “Donald
Trump just straight-up admitted he is working to meddle in the
election.”
* The [ [link removed] ]Washington Post broke a report that Trump and the RNC are
already preparing a legal strategy to get election results overturned.
* At a summit honoring the 19th Amendment, [ [link removed] ]Hillary Clinton said, “I
don't want to scare people, but I want you to be prepared. I have
every reason to believe that Trump is not going to go, you know,
silently into the night if he loses. He's going to try to confuse us,
he's going to try to bring all kinds of lawsuits.”
* And just today, [ [link removed] ]President Obama said, “the thing I’m most worried
about is … how do we protect the integrity of the election process?
How do we make sure that people’s votes are counted?”

We won’t go silently into the night and let him win by default. So here at
Indivisible we’re developing a plan to fight back, and you’re a big part
of it.

Today, I want to give you a super transparent (and admittedly long) update
on that work. But if you already know all this and want to skip the
explanations, please do two things: 1) [ [link removed] ]click here to sign up as a
Protect the Results activist so you’re the first to know as news develops,
and then 2) [ [link removed] ]click here to donate $10 to fund our election work, the
Protect the Results campaign, and more. Otherwise keep reading.

Building a coalition

Several weeks ago, with our partners at Stand Up America, we launched
[ [link removed] ]Protect the Results, a disaster-planning effort to prepare the people
power we’ll need to mobilize in the event of a Trump-manufactured
constitutional crisis in November. Since we launched, we’ve been working
hard to build the coalition of grassroots organizations we’re going to
need to respond.

Today, we’re up to [ [link removed] ]40 organizations that are ready to do this work with
us -- folks like MoveOn, United We Dream, Community Change Action, Color
of Change, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Public
Citizen, Women’s March, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Working Families
Party, Let America Vote, Supermajority, SEIU, Communication Workers of
America, faith-based groups, and more. (And counting! Just this morning I
was talking to another potential partner!)

Now, the real work begins. And it’s critical.

Recommendations from experts

In June, through the Transition Integrity Project, a bipartisan group of
political operatives, former government officials, and academics quietly
met to game out what would happen if Trump refused to concede. [ [link removed] ]You can
read their full report here.

They found three things:

 1. The concept of election night is no longer accurate and indeed is
dangerous
 2. A determined campaign has the opportunity to contest the election into
January 2021
 3. The administrative transition process itself may be highly disrupted

But here’s what’s most important for you to know from the report: these
risks can be mitigated, and the worst outcomes of the exercises are far
from a certainty. Specifically, the exercise found that “a show of numbers
in the streets -- and actions in the streets -- may be decisive factors in
determining what the public perceives as a just and legitimate outcome.”

Put another way: what happens in a post-election crisis scenario is
largely dependent on the grassroots’ ability to mobilize. (That’s you!)

Protect the Results’ work ahead

Together with the Protect the Results coalition, and informed by folks
like the Transition Integrity Project, National Task Force on Election
Crises, and Protect Democracy, we’re working on three things:

Developing mobilization strategies. We’re taking the election crisis
scenarios developed by experts and planning for the most likely outcomes
and what the grassroots mobilization will need to look like nationwide in
order to effectively respond.

Building awareness and recruiting for grassroots turnout. Through earned
and paid media and massive digital organizing work, informed by messaging
from our partners, we’re working hard to get the word out there,
encouraging folks to [ [link removed] ]sign up at ProtectTheResults.com, and eventually
asking grassroots leaders to commit to hosting an event on our (coming
soon!) map so that we’re ready the moment that disaster strikes.

Preparing for mobilizations across the country. Finally, through
coordination with election security experts, legal scholars, and our
coalition, we’ll work to make sure you have the information you need to
show up and take informed mass action in the event of a break-glass
moment. [ [link removed] ]Click here to sign up to be on the list of activists preparing
mobilizations.

This is the part where I ask you for your help.

The truth is that all of this work costs money. We’re running digital ads,
we’re creating digital assets for groups and activists, we’re briefing
reporters, and we’re building out the digital infrastructure and trainings
that we’re going to need the moment the polls close on November 3rd. All
told, if we need to do this work, we’re budgeting over $1.2 million
between the ad buys, digital and data tools, staff time and expertise,
event costs, and more that we’ll need for our response. And we need your
help to make it possible. Please make a donation of $10 below to help us
raise $1.2 million to fund this campaign and all our work:

If you’ve saved your information with ActBlue Express Lane, your donation
to Indivisible Action will go through immediately:

[ [link removed] ]Donate $10 >>

[ [link removed] ]Donate $25 >>

[ [link removed] ]Donate $50 >>

[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount >>

And whether or not you can give a few dollars to support this work today,
[ [link removed] ]please make sure that you go to ProtectTheResults.com and sign up to
get involved. If you’re interested in anchoring one of the (many) events
we’ll need after the election, check the box about hosting an event and
we’ll follow-up with you with more guidance.

I know that this is a lot on top of the work that we’re all doing to take
back the Senate and win the White House this November. I hope you know
that I mean it when I say that I am really proud to be in this fight with
you.

In solidarity,
Sarah

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