Friend, here is something I believe with all my heart -- and that I hope you do too.
In a democracy, every eligible voter deserves to vote. Period.
This shouldn’t be a controversial position, but sadly, as I write you, it’s one we are fighting to defend. And unfortunately, if we don’t act -- and act immediately -- we can’t discount the possibility that voter suppression could be the difference-maker in this year’s elections.
Common Cause is preparing for every single contingency to ensure that won’t happen.
Our Voter Protection Team is anticipating -- and ready to respond to -- legal maneuvers seeking to upend years of precedent and overrule local election officials in a bald-faced effort to throw out votes.
We’re actively watchdogging the voting disinformation machine that’s spun up in recent months -- and have teams at work blocking their attempts to degrade people’s trust in our democratic institutions and discourage them from participating. And we’ve trained our volunteer teams to be ready for anything on Election Day -- last minute rule changes, voting machine breakdowns, even in-person voter intimidation.
Friend, it is profoundly disturbing to me -- and I’m sure it is to you too -- that some candidates are trying to gain power not by winning voters over, but by shutting them out.
Using the courts, or disinformation, or old-fashioned political dirty tricks, they are trying to sow discord and breed mistrust in representative democracy itself. We won’t let it happen.
Because as Common Cause members, you and I already know that vote suppression has become a “new normal” -- but we can’t ever forget that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Unless you and I stand up and fight, we are now faced with the prospect of permanent imbalance in our democracy, codified by unrepresentative institutions and ideologues who seek absolute power either for personal gain, or to implement their extreme political agendas.
That’s why here at Common Cause we’re mobilizing literally millions of Americans from all walks of life to speak up and take action to reject the kinds of anti-democratic activities that we've seen throughout this election.
Voters getting blocked from polling places by "MAGA caravans." Racist robocalls targeting Black voters in Michigan and Ohio. The recruitment by the Trump Campaign of “poll watchers” whose purpose is to intimidate and harass votes at the polls.
But remember this: Our vote still matters. Together, we are more powerful than those who want to destroy our democracy.
This has been an election year like none other -- and I’m sure you’re tired. I know I am. But we know democracy is a marathon and not a sprint -- and that even after Nov. 3, we will need to keep mobilizing and fighting.
Our volunteers and staff are putting in long hours and working through weekends to make sure we’ve done everything humanly possible in this push.
Thanks to you we’ve been able to build a massive peoples’ mobilization that is bigger, stronger, and more robust than ever before in our 50 year history -- because we know exactly how high the stakes are.
Even now in the closing days before the election, we’re seeing a huge outpouring of volunteer interest and support. And quite frankly, I need your immediate help to make sure we can train, equip, and place every single one of them.
That’s because, Friend, we simply can’t afford to run out of resources at the moment we most need them.
I fully realize you’re probably sick and tired of being asked for money -- especially in these times where there are many worthy causes to give to.
But please know that by giving to Common Cause right now, you are making the best investment you can in work that goes directly to preserve and defend democracy for our children and for our grandchildren. Can you chip in $3 or more today?
Friend, you and I will look back on what we did, right here and right now, in this moment of history. And I believe our work is so important because it’s all about making sure voters like you and I -- not the privileged and powerful -- CONTINUE to have the power in our democracy.
The good news is, we aren’t alone -- not by a long shot. We have thousands -- literally thousands -- of patriotic Americans working each day to protect the vote.
So even though our democracy faces powerful enemies right now -- I’m confident in our ability to do whatever it takes in these critical final days.
In Common Cause,
Jesse Littlewood, Vice President for Campaigns
and the team at Common Cause
