Everyday Election Activism: The Opportunities
An opportunity for every mood! ☺️ 😺😡 😜 😱 😼 💥 💪 🫠 🤔 😎
Interested in the Insider’s Guide to Everyday Election Activism?
Click here to check it out. I hope it speaks to you!
‘Opportunities 2025 Edition’ is North Carolina-centric but also has sections on Federal Government Accountability, and Elections. Starred Actions (*) are virtual.
The weaknesses of the Republicans are opportunities for us! Lower your stress by staying focused on taking action, and speaking out, while at the same time building for a better future.
Building for the future means working on elections! Don’t forget about voter engagement! Read here to learn why I feel so strongly about this.
NORTH CAROLINA
Advocacy for NC and from groups based in NC
Protect Justice Allison Rigg’s 2024 win for NC Supreme Court by fighting back against the challenge of 60,000 votes by her Republican opponent, Jefferson Griffin. The case is in the courts. For information and 5 actions anyone can take, consult Common Cause NC.
* Join a phone bank with the NC Democratic Party to voters on the Griffin List, to let people know their votes have been challenged and what they can do about it. Make calls on 3/10 and 4/7 with the NC Dems and on 3/11 with the Durham County Dems. Click here to sign up.
* Join a phone bank reaching out to voters on the Griffin List with the New Rural Project on 3/13, and 3/20. This is a great grassroots organization serving rural counties in NC. Click here.
Protect voting rights in NC by opposing HB 127. This law will severely restrict voter registration drives and limit access to the polls. YouCanVote asks people to call state legislators, members of the NC House Election Law Committee, and the bill sponsors. Worth doing! Details here.
*Advocate for NC against all threats to democracy from the General Assembly! Republicans, with their one-less-than-supermajority, have started introducing anti-democratic and anti-voting legislation. Make calls to your elected officials with scripts from the "Every Call Counts Team" of Indivisible Charlotte. Sign up here.
* Protect Medicaid! Reach out to North Carolinians impacted by potential loss of Medicaid. Up to 2.5 million are at risk. Join a phone bank to invite folks to get involved. Receive wonderful and supportive deep canvassing training and make phone calls with Down Home NC every Thursday evening from 6-8 pm. Click here to sign up for 3/13, 3/20, and 3/27.
Protests and Rallies and Local Calls for Action. Keep up with the latest. To get up-to-date action alerts, subscribe for email updates from several of the following organizations: Down Home NC, Common Cause North Carolina, Carolina Federation, and Indivisible groups in NC (e.g., Bull City Indivisible, Indivisible Charlotte, and others). In the Durham area, Bull City Indivisible, Engaged Durhamites for Action, and the Durham Democratic Party (also check out Durham Dems’ new Substack) provide the latest information. See below under Federal Government Accountability for tips on making calls to elected officials.*For information about the latest calls to action relevant to NC, see below for organizations to follow under “Protests and Rallies and Local Calls for Action.”
Engaging Voters - Don’t Forget About This!
* Phone bank with the Durham County Democrats to invite last year’s volunteers to their precinct kickoff meetings. Next phone bank is 3/12. Sign up here.
* Phone bank with the NC Dems to invite Democrats around the state to their Precinct Kickoff Meetings. Join any Wednesday in March at 1 pm, or Thursdays at 5 pm. Upcoming dates: 3/12, 3/13, 3/19, 3/20, 3/26, and 3/27. Click here to sign up.
* Phone bank with the Wake County (Raleigh area) Dems to invite Democrats to get involved in their county party. Two sets of phone banks. Click here for 3/13 add here for 3/19, 3/24 , and 3/27.
* Phone bank and canvass with Neighbors On Call/County To County, recently merged into one organization. They are dedicated to turning the NC General Assembly blue. Reach out to constituents of some of the Democratic state legislators who helped break the Republican supermajority in 2024. Phone bank for Rep. Dante Pittman with a kickoff on 4/9 (and after that through 4/30 on your own). Canvass for Rep. Cohn & Sen. Terence Everitt on 3/8 and for Rep. Dante Pittman on 4/12. Sign up here.
Voter Registration and Photo IDs
In Durham register voters with the Durham Democratic Party on Saturday 3/8 at the Farmer’s Market. Click here to sign up (slots are limited!). If outside of Durham, check with your own county Democratic Party website.
Another option: Join the League of Women Voters and find out where they are registering voters near you.
* Help Voters obtain a Photo ID. Support voters to get state-issued photo IDs. Having a photo ID gives people access to the polls but also makes it possible to get housing, jobs, bank accounts, and more. It’s life-changing! Learn more about the work of VoteRiders, the only nationwide organization that provides free 1:1 assistance. They have a physical presence in Charlotte but provide virtual assistance to any voter anywhere. Volunteer and commit as little as an hour per month. The next training session is 3/18 at 7 pm.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
Contact your elected officials and help others do the same!
* Speak out against tyranny! Push back against the coup by making sure your elected Members of Congress hear from you. Tell them how they should be voting and make them understand we are watching. Whether it’s opposing unqualified and dangerous nominations, fighting illegal Executive Orders, ensuring court rulings are obeyed, or pushing for stronger opposition in the U.S. House, there are always plenty of calls to make on a daily basis.
* Speak out and oppose the SAVE Act (H.R. 22), the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. This may be the most significant national-level threat to free elections. It will require all voters to produce a passport or birth certificate to vote in federal elections. Up to 150 million Americans would have trouble providing either of these. We know whom this will impact the most - women, people of color, young people, and older adults! It is expected to come up for a vote soon. Your choice of phone banks!
Join a phone bank with Common Cause to call voters across the country, asking them to call their elected representatives. Sign up here to make calls every Tuesday and Thursday in March from 5-7 pm.
Join a phone bank with RepresentUs to call voters across the country, asking them to call their elected representatives. Sign up here to make calls March 9, 11, 13, and 16.
To find out more calls to action from national organizations:
Indivisible puts out calls to action and serves as a great resource for learning how to make phone calls, send effective emails, and make visits to your members of Congress. Check out their 2025 Indivisible Guide, and use their website for information and guidance.
Try 5Calls.org (also a phone App). It has scripts for important national issues, along with contact information for your elected officials.The easier it is to make a call, the better. This app makes is easy!
Calls with Friends is a tool created by Swing Blue Alliance that you can use to urge people you know in red or purple states to speak out. Sign up to get weekly alerts.
Other organizations with reliable action alerts: Chop Wood, Carry Water (and look for the state-specific pages as well!), as well as Declaration for American Democracy. Look for your state-specific organizations wherever you live.
Some Tips for Making Phone Calls
Look up and save contact information for your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. House Representative. Store the numbers for their DC office as well as for their offices across the state. Then make calls!
Making calls: Republicans make it difficult to get through to a real person. If you can not get through to a real person, call back, try the official’s other office numbers, or leave a message. Be sure to give your name and zip code. Remember, it’s nice to talk directly with a Legislative Assistant, because you can ask about the elected official’s position, but leaving messages (even after hours) is always an option. In the end it is the number of calls that makes a difference.
For more information and where to donate:
* For messaging guidance about the MAGA agenda, including executive orders, check out the Guidance for Executive Orders from the Research Collaborative, headed by Anat Shenker-Osorio.
* For updates about legal challenges, follow Democracy Forward on their Legal Response Center page.
* To learn about and support litigation against unlawful and unconstitutional government action, pay attention, and donate if you can, to Democracy Docket, the coalition of litigators at Democracy Forward, as well as ACLU, Public Citizen, and Common Cause.
ELECTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Important Special Election in Wisconsin
Election Day for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and other races is April 1. Early voting starts March 15. The Supreme Court race will determine whether Democrats retain control of the court, and the Democratic candidate does not have strong name recognition yet.
* Join phone banks with WisDems, the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Talk to voters about the issues and the importance of the election: Click here for daily (yes, daily!) phone bank events. You can also help recruit volunteers for WisDems on Tuesday and Wednesday evening (click here) or for the county parties. Click here for lots of choices of dates and time across the state for volunteer recruitment.
* Join phone banks to Black voters with Reclaim Our Vote, a project of the Center for Common Ground. Sign up for one of their every Wednesday phone banks here, or learn how to make calls on your own here.
* Join phone banks with Wisconsin Working Families Party on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Sign up here.
* Join phone banks with Swing Blue Alliance every Monday evening. To reach out to voters, click here. To help recruit poll observers on Wednesday 3/12, click here.
* Join phone banks to voters with Swing Left every Tuesday evening. Sign up here.
* Join phone banks to voters with Field Team 6 to voters they have registered. Sign up here for phone banks on Sunday 3/9 and 3/23.
* Write postcards to WI voters with Postcards to Voters. Sign up here and then request between 1 and 50 postcards. Ask for as many as you can finish within three days, and then sign up again!
* Write postcards to WI voters with Activate America in support of Judge Susan Crawford. Mail postcards as you finish them up to 3/20. Sign up here.
* Write postcards to register voters. Volunteer with Field Team 6 to write postcards. Must be mailed by 3/25.
Other Important Elections
Help build Democratic power through small but important elections. We have a lot of special elections this year. Some are municipal elections, some are critical state legislative or governor races, some are state court races. Still others are Congressional races that will help determine majority rule in the House of Representatives and Senate - right now in Florida, we have a chance to flip two Congressional seats from red to blue! There are also primaries this spring and we are already gearing up for fall elections in a few states.
*Join Phone Banks
Make phone calls with the Environmental Voter Project. Another great organization to know about! Environmental Voter Project uses multiple outreach methods to turn environmentalists into consistent voters. Calling voters ahead of small elections is one of their strategies. Current phone banks include: Arizona (3/10), Colorado (3/11), Alaska (3/13 and 3/27), (Pennsylvania (3/18 and 3/20), Louisiana (3/19), and Florida (3/25 and 3/26). Sign up here.
Make phone calls to support Gay Valimont for Congress in Florida every Monday evening (3/10, 3/17, 3/24, and 3/31). Sign up with her campaign here.
Make phone calls to recruit volunteers and turn out Congressional Special Election voters for Democrats in FL-01, FL-06, and NY-21. Phone banks sponsored by Massachusetts Dems every Sunday at 4:30 pm hosted in Massachusetts. Sign up here.
* Write postcards
* Write postcards to voters in Florida (in support of Josh Weil) and Pennsylvania (in support of Dan Goughnour) with Postcards to Voters. Sign up here and then request between 1 and 50 postcards. Ask for as many as you can finish within three days, and then sign up again!
* Help register voters through postcard writing with Field Team 6. This is the largest partisan voter registration organization in the country. They contact voters through multiple outreach methods. They are now focused on fall elections for NJ Governor, PA Supreme Court, and VA Governor. The next regular Wednesday Info Sessions to introduce you to Field Team 6’s strategy are 3/12 and 3/19 at 2 pm. Sign up here to write postcards.
* Write postcards to voters of color for the VA primary with Reclaim Our Vote, a project of the Center for Common Ground. Sign up here starting on 3/14.
* Text voters
* Join a text bank to register voters with Field Team 6. This is the largest partisan voter registration organization in the country. They contact voters through multiple outreach methods. Get started on texting every Wednesday (next dates 3/13, 3,20, and 3/27). Sign up here.
* Write letters to help voters obtain a Photo ID.
* Write letters with Vote Riders by joining an hourlong letter-writing party on 3/19 to reach out to voters in Georgia and Mississippi at risk for not having an ID.