Shaula Evans
Good candidates win based on their ground game aka field work. It takes an army of volunteers to make Get Out The Vote (GOTV) happen. Canvassing will not be pandemic-safe for many but there is also phone banking that can be done from home.
If you want to help, call a local campaign office (including downticket) or local or state party office to volunteer ASAP. You can make a difference. Call now.
Read on before replying. 1/3
Shaula Evans
If you are in a position to donate N95 masks to campaign offices for their canvassing volunteers, you're making a public health statement and possibly saving lives.
Don't dump them on campaigns that don't want them (they are buried under "stuff" right now), do call ahead and ask. If you offer, follow through.
Shaula Evans
> "Make sure they have accurate information about their applicable voting options."
I want to unpack that. Meaning: early voting options and deadlines, polling place hours and locations, etc.
Bad guys throw out a lot of disinformation in the last week about polling place details, etc., as a way to suppress voting. (As ever, don't fight me on this: it's well documented.) Take care of good info for your people.
Shaula Evans
If you have a food-related business (food store, restaurant, catering, etc.), call your local campaigns and party offices and offer to donate and deliver food (snacks, meals, drinks, espec. water, whatever). GOTV takes an army which means campaigns need to feed an army. Good food makes an INCREDIBLE difference. In-kind donations of food in the final week boost morale and feel like a miracle.
Shaula Evans
7. Remove obstacles to voting for them, like offering rides to the polls, switching shifts, babysiting kids, etc..
Make your GOTV as targeted and selective as the pros do. Don't drag any old voter to the polls, help out good voters. (Yeah, naive democracy purists, the grown-ups are talking here--don' fight me on this in my mentions either).
Do what you can, within your resources and what is safe for you. You know best.
Shaula Evans
You can also make a difference without volunteering. Do you own personal GOTV.
1. Talk to people in your life.
2. Share why you are voting the way you are, from a personal and emotional place.
3. ID if they are voting "right".
4. Encourage good people to vote.
5. Make sure they have accurate information about their applicable voting options.
6. Verify they've voted.
continued below
Shaula Evans
*Finally: Men, don't fight me on this advice; I use to work in US election campaigns (in my dark and mysterious past), I actually know what I'm talking about. If you have thoughts or big feelings on this as an amateur, good for you: share them on your own TL not in my mentions. My block button is standing by. Thank you for your reading comprehension.
Shaula Evans
Why call now? Because campaigns are in overdrive, understaffed, getting loopy from sleep deprivation, and it takes time to process and slot in volunteers. There's still time to make a difference, a huge difference, if you want to get involved. The sooner you call the better.
Note: I didn't use hashtags, party names or troll triggers. (And yet you all still know who I'm talking about!) Keep them out of my mentions.
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