Sometimes, when dealing with huge amounts of money, it helps to graph it out…
Action #1: Call your legislators today and make sure they hear you!
“The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted absentee, their citizens were denied that right. Sally Field, a friend & social justice warrior, recites Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent on the Supreme Court of the United States ruling. Help us demand universal #VoteByMail for every person in the US.” – Brave New Films
Brave New Films joins with Indivisible, Stand Up America, MoveOn, FairFight, and We can vote to ask that our lawmakers pass $4 billion dollars in funding along with Senator Warren’s Election Protection plan to ensure that every eligible voter can safely cast a ballot. The November election is coming up fast!
Minimal script: I’m calling from [___] and I want Senator [___] to include Sen. Warren’s Election Protection plan, which builds on the S.2238 – SAFE Act, into the next coronavirus relief package along with at least $4 billion in funding to get it done.
More script if you want it: Congress provided $400 million for states to implement some of these changes in the last funding act, but it was not nearly enough. We are running out of time before the November elections.
Action #2 – Ask your legislators to rescind the huge tax giveaway to the rich.
If you missed this action when it was published the first time, it was “Action #2” on Tues 3/31 – The chaos and corruption edition.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep./Sen. [___] to heed our voice. We do not accept the business-as-usual corruption that allow the wealthiest Americans to walk away with the billions of dollars in tax relief while average Americans are wondering how they can save enough from their jobs, if and when they start again, to pay back their delayed rent or mortgage payments. That $170 billion dollar tax cut should be reeled back in to provide additional supports for the poor and middle class, equipment for first responders or payments for medical treatment for un-or-underinsured coronavirus patients. What are you going to do about this?
Contact
Rep. Julia Brownley: email, (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email.(CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Who is my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com
More information on Election Protection Act.
We have to figure this out.
Wisconsin voters made sacrifices to vote, standing in lines for hours and risking their health. Some states have postponed primary elections in an effort to reduce community spread of coronavirus. Even a public health crisis like coronavirus can’t impede the functioning of our democratic processes. States need to start now to build alternatives to in-person voting so that nothing will put the administration of the November presidential election at risk.
The money granted to fix our unpreparedness for elections in emergency conditions wasn’t enough. Having disinfectant wipes is NOT THE SAME as maintain fair elections.
Last year, Congress approved $425 million in funding for states to upgrade their election systems. Election security advocates warned that the amount was far too low for states to meet the threat to our election systems. Now the money is being diverted, with permission of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), to pay for sanitation supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Money follows what the GOP values. They threw pocket change in for elections with the CARES Act. In yesterday’s post, we mentioned that the GOP handed $500 BILLION to money-losing corporations, including those who’ve abused stock buybacks, those that pay no taxes, and those that have even killed people, like Boeing. They’re also handing $170 BILLION tax cut to millionaires and billionaires on the off-chance it might trickle down to a actual business, and not to an offshore bank. It also looks like a tasty treat for our president and his sidekick Jared, – the Democrats took care to exclude them from grabbing corporate giveaway money but missed a provision on page 203 of the 880-page economic bill that benefits the superrich.
The CARES Act provided a pittance – $400 million more to maintain what we now know to be an inherently hazardous system. EAC recommended that workers to stay home if they’re sick or experiencing symptoms that can be indicative of COVID-19, equipping polling locations with sufficient supplies of soap and hand sanitizer, and incorporating social distancing strategies like increasing the space between voting booths and posting signs to encourage voters to stay at least 6 feet apart.
Well, in Wisconsin, sick or vulnerable poll workers DID stay home, resulting in massive poll closures. “The lack of available poll workers on Election Day meant the number of polling places in Milwaukee shrank from 180 to just five for a city of about 592,000, according to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Molly Beck. In the state capitol of Madison — which has less than half Milwaukee’s population — there were 66 polling places open, Beck pointed out. Madison and other areas also had more locations with drive-through voting.”
This is no way to run a democracy. Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a new plan to assist states in expanding vote-by-mail for this November’s election. Senator Warren’s plan builds on the SAFE Act – “Securing America’s Federal Elections Act.” The House version – HR 2722 passed the House, and now it’s up to the Senate’s version – S.2238 – SAFE Act, introduced by Senators Wyden and Klobuchar. Warren’s asking for $4 billion for election protection efforts. Call your Senator to demand they fight to get the Warren plan included in the next coronavirus relief package. Senator Warren’s plan would:
- Expand early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail to all states.
- Require states and jurisdictions to establish a publicly available contingency plan to enable eligible Americans to vote in the case of an emergency.
- Require the Election Assistance Commission to create a domestic version of the federal write-in absentee ballot.
- Require that all states provide envelopes with prepaid postage to all voters who request a voter registration application, absentee ballot application, or absentee ballot, and require that all states offer and accept online absentee ballot applications.
- Require absentee ballots to be counted if postmarked or signed before the close of the polls on Election Day.
- Provide money to states to implement these reforms.
(Read her entire plan here.)
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 