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!
Everyday Election Activism: The Opportunities 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. And don’t forget about voter engagement! Where there are special elections (e.g., in Wisconsin, Florida, and other states), we can boost turnout. Where there are no imminent elections, our conversations with voters give people hope and bring more people into the resistance.
NORTH CAROLINA
Advocacy for NC
Protect Justice Allison Rigg’s 2024 win for NC Supreme Court. Help fight back against the challenge of 60,000 votes by her Republican opponent, Jefferson Griffin, by calling impacted voters.
* For information and 5 actions anyone can take, consult Common Cause NC.
* Join a phone bank reaching out to voters on the Griffin List with the New Rural Project on 3/20 (click here) or with the NC Democratic Party on 4/7 (click here).
* Stop Anti-Voting and Anti-Democracy Legislation in the NC General Assembly. For explainers and scripts, courtesy of Charlotte Indivisible, sign up here.
Protect NC Attorney General from a law prohibiting him from challenging illegal executive orders issued by Trump.
Oppose legislation that will disenfranchise NC voters: HB 66 and HB 127. HB 66 would eliminate 11 days of early voting, including 2 Saturdays and both Sundays. HB 127 bans third-party voter registration drives from using actual registration forms. (YouCanVote asks people to also call members of the NC House Election Law Committee, and the bill sponsors. Worth doing! Details here.)
Ask your legislator to condemn the attempt by Justice Griffin to challenge 60,000+ votes and overturn the November 2024 election win by Justice Riggs.
Oppose legislation (HB 171) that would stop any state agency from promoting, supporting, funding, maintaining, or implementing any DEI programs, policies, or initiatives.
Charlotte Indivisible also offers scripts to oppose legislation that would eliminate permit requirements for handguns and require NC law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE.
Let's Build the Resistance by Inviting More People In!
*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 NC folks across the state 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 3/20 and 3/27.
Invite your friends and co-workers to protests and rallies. Your best bets for finding up to date information are: 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)
Let's Build a Strong Democratic Party Starting with Neighborhood Precincts!
* In Durham: Make phone calls (Wednesday and Thursday evenings) and canvass (most Saturdays and Sunday afternoons) to invite people to attend their precinct kick-off meetings this month. We can better resist the Trump agenda by building up a strong party at the precinct level. See the whole calendar of events here.
* In Wake County (Raleigh area): Make phone calls with the Wake County Dems to invite Democrats to get involved in their county party. Click here for 3/19, 3/24, and 3/27 sign-ups.
* Across NC: Make phone calls in March (Wednesdays at 1 pm or Thursdays at 5 pm) to invite Democrats around the state to their Precinct Kickoff Meetings. Upcoming dates: 3/19, 3/20, 3/26, and 3/27. Click here to sign up.
Let's Build Towards Flipping the NC Legislature Blue
* Phone bank and canvass with Neighbors On Call/County To County. 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. Dante Pittman on 4/12. Sign up here.
Help Voters Obtain Photo IDs:
* Support voters to get state-issued photo IDs with 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 to 1-3 hours a week. The next training session is 3/18 at 7 pm.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
General Information About Calls to Action
* 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. They are also a resource for information about protests.
* For phone calls to make to Members of Congress: 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.
Contact Your Members of Congress Daily!
* Speak out and push back against the coup by making sure your elected Members of Congress hear from you - every day or as often as you can! Tell them how they should be voting and make them understand we want them to stand up for us! Unfortunately there are reasons to call daily!
Help Others (especially those in GOP districts) Contact Their Elected Officials
* Build opposition to 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 for March 16.
Some Tips for Making Phone Calls to Elected Officials
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.
* 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 evenings (click here). Click here for lots of choices of dates and time to help recruit volunteers for the county Democratic parties across the state.
* 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 and Wednesday evening. Click here.
* Join phone banks to voters with Swing Left every Tuesday evening. Sign up here.
* Join phone banks with Field Team 6 to reach out to Democratic voters they have registered. Sign up here for a phone bank on Sunday 3/23.
* Join a text bank with Vote Riders on 3/20 to help voters at risk for not having a photo ID. Click here.
* 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 letters to WI voters with Vote Forward at a virtual training and party on 3/20 from 7-8 pm. Sign up here.
* 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 for special elections in various states 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: Pennsylvania (3/18 and 3/20), Louisiana (3/19), Florida (3/25 and 3/26), and Alaska (3/27). Sign up here.
* Make phone calls for Josh Weil for Congress in Florida. Click here to make calls on your own via the Florida Democratic Party. To make calls any day of the week as part of a phone bank with his campaign, click here.
* Make phone calls to support Gay Valimont for Congress in Florida. To join a Monday evening phonebank with her campaign on 3/17, 3/24, or 3/31, click here. To make calls on your own with the Florida Democrats, click here. A few other options: for phone banks on Wednesdays, click here, and for a phone bank on 3/24, click here.
* Make phone calls to support Blake Gendebien for Congress in NY District 21. Phone banks every Wednesday (plus Monday 3/17). Sign up here.
* Make phone calls with the Massachusetts Dems to recruit volunteers and turn out Congressional Special Election voters for Democrats in FL-01, FL-06, and NY-21. Phone banks every Sunday at 4:30 pm and every Tuesday at 5:30 pm. Sign up here.
* Write postcards
* Write postcards to voters in Florida in support of Gay Valimont 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 and PA Supreme Court. The next regular Wednesday Info Session to introduce you to Field Team 6’s strategy is 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.
* 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 are 3/20, 3/27 and 4/3). 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, 7-8 pm to reach out to voters in Georgia and Mississippi at risk for not having an ID.