Weekly Check in Oct 14

[tassosss]

It's been a busy week as focus goes back to the midterms. It's also a good time to check your voter registration deadlines for your state and double check your registration as there have been numerous reports of voter purges, notably in Georgia and Indiana.

Upcoming Elections - New
Find a DNC event near you and phonebank with MomsRising
If you fancy some long shots in your rage-donating
Encourage your friends to vote with VoteWithMe app
North Dakota is making it harder for Native Americans to vote
Get out the vote with letter writing and texting, focus on local elections
Volunteer to help elect Democrats
BallotReady.org lets you research all races in your location
Motivote sort of "gamifies" the midterm voting process (you sign up at the site and as you complete various actions to prepare to vote, you're entered to win prizes.)
Help ProPublica by installing their Political Ad Collector

Immigration - New
The administration is trying to sneak through a change in the immigration definition of a "public charge." Under the proposed rule, immigrants could be turned away if they earned less than 250% of the federal poverty line and use any of a variety of programs such as Medicaid or SNAP (food stamps).

Attack on First Amendment Protests
Comment on proposed changes restricting protest in DC by Monday 15 October

Voter Registration, Voting Rights and How to Vote
Useful How-to Guide For Voters
Link(Spam): US Voter Information
Deadlines to register: in table format and in graphical format.
There have been more reports of people being removed from rolls so check your registration and tell others to as well.
Cancelled voter registrations: If You're In Indiana Or Know People In Indiana
Check For Availability Of Provisional Ballots, And Resist And Win Calls

Ongoing Actions -- Elections
Info to Share: Lyft are going to be providing half-price or free rides to the polls on Nov 6 for those in need
Register or check your voter registration
ACLU Voter Postcards for midterm turnout
Crush the Midterms and NC GoVote
The Protect American Votes and Elections Act 2018
Florida - Voting Restoration Amendment
C&P from Indivisible: Action for the 100 Days Pre-Midterm
GOTV Resources from Organising for Action
Make a difference in the 2018 Midterms - organization organizing for all levels of elections
District funds for the mid-terms
Support progressive Congressional candidates in competitive rural districts
Information on State Primary Dates and list of pro-NRA Republicans who are vulnerable

Ongoing Actions -- Immigration
NILC Webinar on Immigration Issues
Family Separation
RAICES fundraiser on Facebook (This post also includes a link to a Google Doc where you'll find lots more resources and ideas for action if you scroll down.)
#Families Belong Together Recess Toolkit

Ongoing Actions -- General
Eat tacos. Drink beer. Fund abortion.
ACLU Newsletter Subscriptions
Indivisible's Save SCOTUS strategy
Call your Reps about the Census
Protect the Americans with Disabilities Act -- Call your senators
Action: SNAP benefits -- the comment period is closed, but you may still want to contact your reps about this to help move it up their agendas.
Planning Ahead in Case of Mueller Firing
Information and organizing to end police violence
Racial Justice Toolkit (see comments for a shorter link)
Information on the Poor People's Campaign, an anti-poverty campaign.

Housekeeping (the usual stuff)
Reminder that we now have a Friending Meme and a (locked) post where you can connect with others with live in the same area. We hope you find both of these posts useful!

We also have a suggestion post if there’s a topic that you’d like to see discussed but would like to ask the mods to look into. This can be anything from general information, or a how-to-do-a-thing, or something you may want to discuss as a community. Folks are welcome to post directly to the comm as always, but if you’re not comfortable/don’t have spoons, we can help too.

As we don't always get the time to pull things out of the suggestions post into their own separate posts, it may be worth checking every week (or tracking the post) to see if there's any new information you're interested in.

Also if you need help with tags, PM redbird, who is our tag guru. Both tanaqui and I are very grateful for the help.

Poll #20576 This week:

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

View Respondents

I

View Answers

called my one senator
4 (50.0%)

called my other senator
2 (25.0%)

called my representative
1 (12.5%)

called my governor
0 (0.0%)

called my state reps
0 (0.0%)

sent a postcard/email/letter/fax
2 (25.0%)

attended a town hall
2 (25.0%)

donated money to a cause
5 (62.5%)

attended an in-person activist group
0 (0.0%)

participated in phone/online training
2 (25.0%)

.

View Answers

went to a protest
0 (0.0%)

signed up for alerts
2 (25.0%)

took care of myself
4 (50.0%)

not a US citizen but worked in solidarity in my own community
2 (25.0%)

did something else
6 (75.0%)

committed to action in the coming week
3 (37.5%)

Comments

tags/housekeeping

[redbird]

I try to look at recent posts and add more tags if they seem appropriate, but if you want me to create a new tag, or want me to look at a specific post for tagging, please PM me. (I realized a couple of days ago that I'd fallen behind because I was out of town for five days and just checking my email, not looking at DW or much else on the web.)

Re: tags/housekeeping

[tassosss]

Sounds good. I think at the moment we have a pretty good spread of tags, but I’ll let you know if something comes up.

[sabotabby]

I voted! In our municipal elections, which sadly will likely be the last municipal elections we ever get at the rate we're going. And I spent the weekend at a union conference.

[tassosss]

Yay!

[cadenzamuse]

Volunteered as timekeeper at the local juvenile court judge debate. Also went to the LWV All-County Candidate Night, to determine who to vote for for all the fiddly little votes like County Recorder, etc.

[cadenzamuse]

Also, I am planning on phone banking as soon as I'm done with a midterm on Tuesday, but have never done it and don't have formal training scheduled until the end of the month. Resources on phonebanking would be appreciated!

[sathari]

When I've done it, the organizers have been REALLY GOOD at providing scripts "on the fly"; in fact, I don't think I've ever gotten anything like formal training the times I've done it. I also found a Metafilter thread on the subject--- hope this helps.

[cadenzamuse]

Thank you!

[sathari]

Looking forward to voting early!

Also, Vote.org has an early voting calendar, which also includes as their information sources a list of states' official "voter information" webpages.

Finally, a topic that has come up a couple of times at in-person events I've attended: don't forget the downballot candidates--- not just in your voting but in your donations and activism. The folks at the top of the state/local tickets (governor, mayor, and similar) can only do as much as the folks down the ballot will help them. (Think what happened to Barack Obama with a Republican Senate.)