Hello Indivisibles: All of us here at Leadership want to send a huge “THANK YOU!” to those of you who donated to Indivisible Champlain Islands in August!! Your generosity allowed us to claim the entire $500 matching grant from Indivisible National. With more to spare, I might add!! After a summer lull, where we were not hearing a lot from our members, this reassures us that you are still out there and as committed as ever to ending the policies of the Trump Administration, and building a better America.
NEW ISLANDS’ Honk & Wave: Protect Our Vote Honk & Wave: Saturday, Sept. 12th, 11:00 am to Noon, Route 2 at Missile Base Road, Alburgh 05440. Meet in front of the Cemetery on Town Highway 55. Plenty of Parking. Come meet some fellow indivisible members and friends. Feel free to bring signs, flags, banners and musical instruments. Bring your own sign, or use one of ours. Help us Spread the Word in Alburgh! If you haven’t been able to do a weekday honk and wave gathering but want to join in on the fun, this weekend hour is for you!
VERMONT VOTE BY MAIL DEADLINE TODAY!!
September 1st is the LAST day to update your mailing address for receiving your ballot in Vermont. In Vermont, In a general election, like the Midterms, ballots are automatically mailed to all registered voters by the VT Secretary of States office. The mailing list is finalized on Sept. 1.
So, if you have moved, or if you will be out of state in late September or early October, or there is any change in your mailing address, you should call your Town Clerk or go to vote.vermont.gov. TODAY. NOTE: The USPS does not forward mail-in ballots, even if you have a forwarding address on record with the post office.
VT INDIVISIBLE DIGEST
You can find the latest Digest (8/28) on the website. Indivisibles across the State are engaged in the most amazing actions. Check out what they are up to by reading the Digest.
MISLEADING TEXT/EMAILS ASKING FOR $$$
I am sure many of you have been receiving questionable texts and emails from various Democratic campaigns, PACS, and pro-democracy organizations. I know I have. You know the ones that have the ALL CAPS bait, like “What Obama just said” and “Urgent Action needed”, and they ask you to donate through Act Blue. Are these legit? Well, that answer is nuanced. Most of these fundraising campaigns are run by companies which do, indeed, raise money for various candidates and organizations. However, they return only a SMALL portion of the funds raised, to the actual person or organization you think you are donating to. They keep the rest. And some of these messages are outright phishing. Never click on a link in an unsolicited text or email.
Most mainstream candidates hate these fundraising tactics and the companies and PACS employing them. They interfere with legitimate fundraising efforts and they make the public distrustful of all fundraising efforts. But, so far, because they give at least some of the money to the intended recipient, they cannot be stopped.
THE BEST OPTION to support a candidate, or a pro-democracy organization (like Common Cause or ACLU, etc), is to go directly to their website and donate to them there. Cut out the companies that are raking in a huge profit off donations that were intended for the recipient. And, by all means, DO donate to legitimate candidates and causes of your choice! That is one of the most powerful tools in the fight to flip control of the Congress.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
Today I learned of yet another blow to the right to fair access to voting, for all eligible voters.
In Georgia, voters in certain districts sometimes wait in line for hours to be able to cast their ballot. In 2021, the Republican controlled legislature passed a law (SB 202) which, among other things, makes it illegal to give water or food to someone in a voter line. There was a subsequent lawsuit which paused that part of the law. But now, a judge has blocked that lawsuit and the law is back in force, in time for the Midterms.
This is just one type of voter suppression we are seeing. Here is a reminder of some of the others:
– Reduce the number of voting machines in precints with large numbers of black, brown, ethnic, or other populations that the GOP does not want to be able to vote. This causes incredibly long lines, and means people wait 2, 4, 6 hours or more. Precincts with majority white, upper class voters wait only 10-15 minutes to vote.
– Reduce the # of polling places. This week Texas is considering reducing the # of polling sites in Tarrant county by almost 100! That is about one third fewer polling locations in a county with 2 million residents and a large minority population. Fewer polling locations means many people will have to go farther and wait longer to vote. And, because the polling place they went to last time is closed, they may go to the wrong polling location and be turned away, after waiting in line for hours. (The good news here is that the GOP seems to be really scared of James Talarico!)
– Limit access to drop boxes for early voting ballots. In some southern states, a recent move is to have all ballot drop boxes be located inside government buildings. Thus, they can only be accessed when the building is open, eliminating the ability to drop off a ballot on the weekend or after work, or before work. Less early voting means longer lines, which means fewer people actually vote.
– Post Office delays are rising since the Trump-appointed Postmaster General instituted new cost-cutting, “efficiency” measures. Across several states, the number of ballots arriving after the “deadline” has risen dramatically, often double previous rates. These votes do NOT get counted.
There is one clear message here. VOTE EARLY. In Vermont, you should receive your ballot sometime in early-mid October. Make a plan to vote. Take your ballot to your town clerk or put it in an official drop box. Or, if you mail it back, please mail it at least 2 weeks before election day. It must arrive at the Town Clerk’s by 7:00 pm on Election Day. Postmarks don’t count. You can, of course, still vote in person on election day. We do not expect any disruptions at the polls, but the Administration is still sending mixed messages. So why not just vote early?
This is just a tiny sample of the attempts by the GOP and theTrump Administration to control the outcome of the Midterm elections.
In a Democracy, the voters choose their government. In an Autocracy, the government chooses its voters. Knowledge is power. Pay attention. Tell others about the attempts to distort the election results. It makes for good conversation!
The vote is the most powerful tool the people have. The midterms are 63 days away.
Cheers,
Marilyn Lagrow
“Of the People, By the People, For the People”
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