Now Complete!
(October 1, 2020)
Get Out the Vote Postcard Project Update
We completed a very successful postcard writing campaign to get the vote out this month. The project involved writing cards to 500 people in Tarrant county Texas. The script was bilingual and we really enjoyed the exercise. Estimados senoritas.
Our special thanks to the following volunteers: Bev Nidick, Chris Ritter, Pat DeRensis (who took 3 packets), Pat Morrison, Judy Finch, Cathy Colman, Asha Bajaj, Martha Gus Slavin, and Isabel Lau. Apologies to some of the volunteers who were not able to participate: Marcia Steinhardt, Judy Keenholtz, Nancy Murray, Dianne Tinnes (who wrote cards on her own initiative), and Kathy Gage.
There were a few glitches in zip codes in a number of addresses and our erstwhile group went the extra step to verify these as we went along –a full and profound gratitude to all of you. We invite you all to the next project on Phone banking via texting.
We also sponsored the school board candidates’ forum on September 23rd in conjunction with the PTA and the League of women Voters.
We are looking for a few good activists to join the public policy committee. If interested, please contact Asha Bajaj.
Stay engaged. Stay alert. Stay involved.
Asha Bajaj
Public Policy chair
(September 9, 2020)
Postcard writing time window is closed – but phone banking and texting are still options. Please contact Asha Bajaj to participate.
(August 13, 2020)
“Today, women of color are still unfairly disadvantaged at the polls. We cannot achieve AAUW’s vision of equity until everyone has access to the same rights.”
Support Equal Voter Access
Join other DAW AAUW branch members in writing postcards to voters who may not realize they have been removed from voter rolls. Our branch is partnering with the “Reclaim Our Vote” outreach project from the Center for Common Ground 501(c)(3) organization. This partner campaign’s goals are aligned with our national policy position (“Where Do We Stand: Voting Rights”), it is effective (20-25% of the postcards from a 2019 effort resulted in voter registrations), and it is a non-partisan program.
The postcard addressees are voters in states that have enacted changes in their voter registration criteria subsequent to the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder supreme court decision that made many of the 1965 Voting Rights Act provisions moot. These voting restrictions disproportionately impact people of color, women, voters with disabilities, and young and older voters, making it more difficult for them to access the ballot box. While California is among the more proactive in voter registration, voters in other state such as North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and Georgia struggle to make their voices heard. It is to these currently disenfranchised voters that we will send our postcards.
The post card activity requires you to view a video short training session. Our branch will provide the materials you need: postcards, stamps and labels. The addressees and scripts will be provided by the “Reclaim Our Vote” team. Your contribution is to write the postcards and mail them.
To participate, please contact Asha Bajaj today!