John, voters are facing unprecedented obstacles to the ballot box this year – and I need your urgent help to fight back.
While we witnessed some important wins against the far right’s all-out campaign to suppress eligible voters this week… we were also reminded of the work still to be done.
The good news: we saw a huge bump in Georgia and Arkansas turnout since the last midterm primary. Total turnout for the gubernatorial primaries in both states, for example, was 2.3 million voters – up from 1.5 million in 2018. [1][2]
That’s right – hundreds of thousands of additional voters showed up for these elections, ready to make their voices heard. This was largely thanks to historic volunteer efforts led by a wide voting rights coalition.
We know that when trained, nonpartisan volunteers are at a polling place, their support can make the difference between voters casting ballots that are counted – or voters going home in frustration. That’s why Common Cause has spent decades building a strong Election Protection program.
But John, despite turnout increases, we need to be careful – because even though you may see headlines this week about the defeat of some candidates pushing Trump’s Big Lie, many other primary winners in key states are still pushing his false claims of voter fraud to court his supporters.
You see, even though Trump’s personal influence may be waning slightly, his poisonous anti-voter ideology is still alive and well.
Trump even encouraged his favorite Senate candidate in Pennsylvania to pre-emptively claim victory on election night – long before thousands of ballots were counted in a razor-thin election, and ahead of an almost-certain recount.
The worst part: this is just a preview of what’s coming in the fall, when voter suppression, disinformation, and election sabotage attempts will be supercharged by partisan politics. If extremist politicians are willing to go this far now to silence voters, imagine what they might try in the general elections.
John, that’s why I’m asking you today to step up and support our Protect the Vote 2022 program.
Thanks to Common Cause members like you, we were able to train and equip volunteers across Georgia, Texas, and other states with primary elections on Tuesday. And with your continued support, we can continue scaling up our efforts and protecting even more voters this November.
These volunteers are placed at high-risk voting sites in their own communities, where they’ll be able to offer direct support to voters – and respond quickly with legal resources when eligible voters are denied access to the ballot.
My team is telling me it takes about $50 to train and support a volunteer through the entire election season. Just $50 to potentially help hundreds of voters be heard.
This is one of the smartest investments you can make in our democracy – and it’s especially valuable this far ahead of the general election.
Will you step up today and contribute to our Protect the Vote 2022 efforts, ensuring that high-risk voters nationwide are protected as they exercise their most fundamental democratic right? >>
John, we’ve seen the difference our dedicated volunteers can make for voters across the country. Instead of declaring defeat, they’re taking direct action against the twin threats of voter suppression and election sabotage.
Let’s act now and empower them with the resources and support necessary to make a massive difference this November.
In Solidarity,
Jesse Littlewood, Vice President for Campaigns
and the team at Common Cause
1) https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/25/us/georgia-primary-election-midterms/dd787184-9724-55db-8277-fac7b56cb3d9?smid=url-share
2) https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/research/election-results
