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Dear Friends,

We are almost at the finish line! More than
95 million voters ([link removed]) have already cast their ballots — nearly 70% of the total ballots cast in 2016. Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Nevada have reached more than 90% of 2016’s turnout, with Texas at more than 100%.

News about the great voter turnout was amplified by the Biden campaign. Earlier today, Biden for President’s Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon with Former White House Counsel Bob Bauer discussed what to expect on Election Night and the enthusiasm we’re seeing across the country.

In the briefing, O’Malley and Bauer discussed the historic early voter turn out the campaign has seen, the timing behind vote-counting— keeping in mind the different time zones, the expansive and offensive map the campaign has cultivated that presents various paths to victory, and election administration efforts. Below you will find a breakdown of voting, vote counting, and multiple paths to 270 electoral votes.

The enthusiasm about voting is high, but there may be some questions about what to do on Election Day. This is why I am sharing some guiding principles and voter protection resources that could be useful to your networks to use on Election Day. This will be an unprecedented election, but I am confident that the infrastructure that has been built will provide the necessary resources for us to navigate a variety of situations. Please help us encourage our people to stay calm, remind folks of their rights, don’t get ahead of the Biden team in messaging, and remember our superpower is that “when they go low, we go high.” It’s been a proven, successful civil rights strategy for a reason.

Yours in the Fight,
Mũthoni

In this Update
* Guiding Principles for Election Night
* Biden Campaign Breakdown: Early Vote, Vote Counting, Path to 270, Election Administration
* Voter Protection: How to Report Issues to Voter Protection
* How Voter Protection Responds to Incidents
* Battleground State Voter Protection Hotlines

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ELECTION NIGHT (please share)

Encourage Calm:
* We have held elections through pandemics, during world wars and, in 2020, we are having a well-executed election.
* Over the last several weeks, a record 93.5 million voters have voted by mail and voted in person. In most states, they have been able to do so in a manner that works best for them.
* There have been some hiccups and issues with voting, but the overwhelming majority of voting has occurred without incident. And, while we have seen some instances of aggressive behavior from Trump supporters, by and large voting has proceeded smoothly and we have not seen large-scale or coordinated voter suppression or intimidation efforts.
* It’s all of our responsibility to not amplify President Trump’s rhetoric. His goal is to make voters feel too scared to vote. Don’t play into his hands.

Remind People of their Rights:
* If you haven’t already voted: vote. Go toiwillvote.com ([link removed])
and find your polling information. If you are still holding onto your ballot, find your nearest drop box or county office and make your voice heard in this election.
* You have voting rights! They include, but are not limited to:
+ The right to stay in line and vote if polls close while you are waiting inline
+ The right to privately cast your ballot without interference
+ The right to a paper ballot if you so choose
+ The right to a provisional ballot if a poll worker tells you your name is not on the list
+ The right to ask for a new ballot if you make a mistake on your ballot
* If you have any questions about your rights or trouble with voting:
+ Call: 1-833-DEM-VOTE (English); 1-866-296-8686 (Spanish)
+ Text: “ACCESS” to 43367 (English); “ACCESO” to 43367 (Spanish)

Don't get ahead of the Biden team:
* In calling the Presidential Race (whether it’s won, contested, or lost) we should wait for the official Biden channels (@JoeBiden // @TeamJoe) before we share anything.
* In calling states for the Presidential Race, we should wait for the official Biden channels (@JoeBiden // @TeamJoe) before we share anything. It’s likely they will “thank” the states as they are won.
* For Senate, Congressional, and down-ballot races, you should wait for official DNC channels (@TheDemocrats // @TomPerez // @TheDNC) to share the news. It’s likely they will be cautious in sharing results so as not to get put in the “penalty box” by Twitter. That’s okay. Our highest and best purpose is to not get any of our accounts frozen at any point throughout the night.

When they go low, we go high:
* Remember: Joe Biden has said numerous times, including during the last presidential debate, that he will be the president for every American-- including those who voted for him and those who didn’t.
* Make sure your messages are unifying and hopeful. This is what Joe Biden has tried to make this campaign about so honor your humanity and the humanity of others by not making callous or cruel remarks about anyone.
* As a general rule, do not engage with Trump supporters.
+ Do not ridicule Trump supporters
+ Do not wish ill on Trump supporters
* We joined this work because we believe in the potential of who America can and needs to be. Try to embody that today.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN BREAKDOWN: EARLY VOTE, VOTE COUNTING TIMING, PATH SCENARIOS, ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

Early Vote
* Early vote - both in person and by mail - has seen historic turn out across the country: 93.5 million Americans have voted early. At this point in 2016, 50 million Americans had voted.
* This tells us that voters know the rules - they are motivated to vote, following the instructions, and their ballots are being accepted. IWillVote.com ([link removed]) to make a plan.
* Our strategy in encouraging early voting was to reduce the number of ballots we had to chase and voters we needed to turn out.
* Going into Election Day, we believe our strategy was successful. The campaign banked leads in critical battlegrounds, and are focused over these final 36 hours on targeting our organizing efforts at our remaining supporters who haven’t cast a ballot yet.

Vote Counting Timing
* Different states have different rules for counting ballots, and that impacts when their votes will come in.
* When Trump says that ballots counted after midnight should be invalidated, he’s just making stuff up that has no historical precedent for how our elections run and he’s disenfranchising millions of Americans - including his own supporters.
* Not all of the ballots reported after Election Night will be ours. Many of them will be Trump’s voters.

Path Scenarios
* Trump needs Florida to win. It’s the key to his path to victory.
* If Trump wins Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia like he says he is going to, Biden still has a clear and viable path to 270.
* We don’t have a single path to victory, we have an expansive and offensive map.

Election Administration
* Trump is desperate. Trump has not given voters a reason to support him, so he is trying to scare them. Trump has failed as President on coronavirus, divided our country, and ruined our economy.
* And, Trump knows that voters get the final say on his failed presidency and will decide the results of the election. They will vote - as they have for the last 200 plus years - and they will decide who the President will be.
* We are running the largest and most well-resourced voter protection operation. We have tens of thousands of volunteer poll observers stationed at polling locations across the country during the early vote and on election day.
* Voters are turning out in record numbers. That is the best possible evidence that any sort of suppression or intimidation efforts that we are hearing about from the other side is not working.
* If they haven't already cast their ballot, every voter should feel safe going to vote on Tuesday and should go to

HOW TO REPORT ISSUES TO VOTER PROTECTION

If an individual voter has a question or is facing a barrier to voting, they should call the National Voter Assistance Hotline: 1-833-336-8683.

If you want to relay an incident to the Voter Protection team, please ask the following questions before passing along the report, so that the Voter Protection team has the information it needs to address the issue:

WHO is affected and WHO can we contact on the ground?
WHAT is the exact barrier to voting?
In WHICH county and, if possible, which polling place, is the incident occurring?
How recently did the incident occur?
How many voters are affected?
How long has this problem been going on?
Is the issue still going on or being fixed?
Is this incident attracting media attention?

HOW VOTER PROTECTION RESPONDS TO INCIDENTS

The Voter Protection team both helps individual voters resolve issues they face that are preventing them from voting and focuses on broader trends affecting large numbers of people from voting.

Incidents affecting individuals will be shared with state boiler rooms. For more immediate assistance, individuals should contact the hotline. The National Voter Assistance Hotline number is 1-833-336-8683.

In addition, each battleground state has a voter protection hotline. If the affected voter is in a battleground state, they should call their state’s Voter Protection hotline:

Arizona

(833) 868-3429

Colorado

(720) 580-0148

Florida

(833) 868-3352

Georgia

(888) 730-5816

Iowa

(515) 293-6860

Maine

(207) 990-0788

Michigan

(833) 648-6837

Minnesota

(833) 335-8683

North Carolina

(833) 868-3462

Nebraska

(531) 201-0333

New Hampshire

(603) 466-8683

Nevada

(888) 525-8683

Ohio

(844) 644-8683

Pennsylvania

(833) 728-6837

Texas

(844) 898-6837

Virginia

(844) 482-8683

Wisconsin

(608) 336-3232

Spanish Language Hotline

(866) 296-8686

Accessibility Textable hotline

(833) 923-2020

Incidents that are affecting a large number of voters (ex: long lines, voter intimidation outside of the polling place, issues with voting machines, etc), will be reported to our state boiler rooms so our Voter Protection teams can work with elections officials on the ground to resolve the problem.

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