Abbott’s voter suppression—and a national phonebank day! | Weekend Roundup

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Tell Greg Abbott: Stop Suppressing Voters

Abbott and Trump at White House

Especially in light of Donald Trump contracting COVID-19, Gov. Abbott must act in the interests of public health, not far-right extremists.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the lives of Texas voters. Texans who are eligible to vote by absentee ballot can reduce their risk of exposure to the virus by mailing or hand-delivering their ballots. To make it easier and safer to vote, two of the largest Texas counties set up secure ballot drop-off locations in multiple locations. This is especially important because of ongoing U.S. Postal Service delays.

On October 1, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order allowing Texas counties no more than one drop-off location for voters casting absentee ballots. This reduced the number of drop-off locations in Harris County (pop. 2.4 million) from 12 to one, and the number in Travis County (pop. 1.2 million) from four to one.

Harris and Travis county are both Democratic strongholds.

In July, Gov. Abbott extended the Early Voting period by six days—which will alleviate long lines and exposure to the coronavirus. However, Republicans in the state legislature are placing intense pressure on Abbott—including a lawsuit—to reverse his decision. Rumors (unfounded at this point) are circulating that Abbott may change his mind. Abbott must be pressured to do the right thing: keep the extended Early Voting period and allow multiple ballot drop-off locations.

Write Greg Abbott a letter here  (and CALL him at 512-463-2000)

Sunday: Make Calls to Voters for the 2020 Election

We’re less than six weeks to Election Day and things are ramping up. We are fighting tooth and nail to win the White House, flip the Senate, and keep the House. This has gotten even more urgent now that Trump and the GOP are intent on filling RBG’s seat on the Supreme Court. That’s why Indivisible is hosting its first National Phonebank Day on Sunday, 10/4.

Phonebanking is the gold standard of election work. On National Phonebank Day will be hitting the phones together in solidarity for a special community event for both new and veteran phonebankers. The event will start off with a training and will include a dedicated  social media space for questions, guidance, story and picture sharing and bingo!

We have aggressive goals (we want to reach out to 100,000 voters during this event), because we can’t leave ANY voter untouched. This goal is for all of us, and we’ll only meet it (and hopefully crush it) if everyone puts in the work.

This event promises to be a lot of fun. We’ll be starting with a livestream on Facebook  at 2p ET, which will include a training for first-time callers or those who just want to brush up on some skills. You can tune in by going to this link. Also, we’ll be chatting, sharing stories & photos, and getting phonebanking questions answered in our own Facebook group community space, which you can join right now by going to this link. Lastly, just to add a bit more fun into the mix we’ll be playing bingo – and there will be prizes!

Make Calls to Voters for the 2020 Election

Make sure you are registered to vote

Monday is the LAST DAY to register to vote. We know from experience that voters in Texas can be unknowingly purged from the rolls. Take a minute to confirm your registration. Poder Austin and other orgs will be conducting drive-through voter registration.

Am I registered to vote?

 

 

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