R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Submitted by John Tepper Marlin, originally from

Heidi Fiske: heidifiske@hfiske.com, 212-721-0140

Trump and his enablers complain about “rigged elections.”They should know. They’re doing their best to rig them.
Since it looks as if we have the votes to keep the House and elect Biden, and may well regain control of the Senate, to make sure those votes count our most urgent job now is to counter these R shenanigans.
How do we do that? Overview

• Above all, vote! early! in person, where available. Everything you need to know about deadlines and how to vote can be found on this superb site from NBC News, which is updated daily for all 50 states: Best site for PLAN YOUR VOTE

• Urge every young person you know to be a poll worker to replace the now COVID-cautious seniors who traditionallyly have served. The more polls are open, the easier it is to vote. And where R Secretaries of State are in control, if they have to close polls because there aren’t enough workers, they will close the ones in D-leaning districts. Everything you need to know about poll-working can be found on this other superb site from Power the Polls, by zip code — which is important, because qualifications are extremely local, sometimes down to the precinct level: Best site for WORK THE POLLS

• work in, find workers for, or contact voters in these states in particular, which are swing states and/or have endangered incumbent R senators.  ( **= state with a particularly vulnerable incumbent R senator): AZ (**), CO (**), FL, GA (**), IA (**), ID, KS, KY, ME (**), MI,  MT (**), NC (**), PA , SC, TX, WI

• sign this moveon petition to put pressure on those vulnerable R senators not to confirm a Supreme Court nominee now: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/do-not-fill-ruth-bader-ginsburg-s-supreme-court-seat-until-after-the-2021-inauguration
• DetailPlan your vote. Vote early, ideally in personHere’s the site again: Best site for PLAN YOUR VOTE
• Early voting is essential this year. Post office delivery is being purposely slowed by such things as removing 600 mail sorting machines, just as more people than ever will be voting by mail to avoid COVID. Rs will try to stop the count early after November 3rd, because they know that historically more late absentee ballots come from Ds, so the earlier a vote can be counted, the better. And the more D votes are counted on or by Election Day, the harder it is for Rs to challenge our victories. 
• Thus, here are the best ways to vote, in order, the best first: 

1. Early in-person, where available: Many states allow you to vote in person before Election Day. This means putting your ballot through a voting machine, exactly as you would on November 3rd.  Early in-person voting has started in Virginia and will start in Illinois this week. Do this if you possibly can because it:
   1. reduces lines on Election Day, allowing more people to vote
   2. doesn’t use the kneecapped and in some places possibly corrupted USPS
   3. allows you to vote among relatively few people, avoiding COVID
   4. means your ballot definitely will be counted on or by Election Day and thus
   5. will reduce R challenges of the totals. 
2. in-person, on Election Day:  As you may face daunting lines, here are three other options — but please, do any of them early so your vote will be counted early.
3. Early, absentee, dropped off at a designated B of E site, where available: The otherwise excellent NBC website calls this, confusingly, “early in-person absentee.” This is an oxymoron. It is an “absentee” vote full stop, no matter how early or where it is delivered, if the voter doesn’t put it through a voting machine. But dropping it at a designated B of E site is as good as it gets, absentee-wise. Goes to the endpoint. No shenanigans will stop it. Allows you to check that you’ve done everything your state requires to make it valid.
4. Early, absentee, in a drop box, where available:  Better than mailing. because the ballot goes through fewer hands, speeding its delivery, and it avoids the USPS
5. Early, absentee, by mail: In states that count ballots before Election Day, voting early ups the chances that you’ll be part of the November 3rd tally. And doing this early reduces the chance that a slowed USPS fails to get it there by your state’s deadlne.

If you can’t do any of this, be sure to vote anyway!
Become a poll worker and recruit poll workersHere’s the site again:  Best site for WORK THE POLLS

• rules about who can work at polls can be specific to units as small as a precinct. Sometimes the localness restrictions will be eased if they can’t find enough workers, expanding from precinct to county or even to state. 
• SO: apply even if you aren’t sure you qualify
• states may require poll workers in certain functions  to be matched by one of another party, 
• SO: recruit your R, Libertarian or Green Party friends too
• Most encouarge students or other young people to work, sometimes as young as 16
• SO: urge every student you know to apply, especially in those 16 states.  Young people are particularly valuable because
  • they have less to fear from COVID
  • they bring new eyes, energy and ideas to our antiquated election systems
• most states badly need workers. 
• SO: if you know a retiring poll worker urge them to find their replacement.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. If this was forwarded to you, please send your email if you’d like to get them in the future. And if you want to be taken off this list, say so and you will be. Thank you.
My great thanks to Craig K, Evan K, Deb S, Chris B and my sister Susan M for their insights and help with this.