The People Against Voter Suppression Virtual Zoom Phonebank with Pantsuit Politics
Start: 2020-10-17 13:00:00 UTC Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-04:00)
End: 2020-10-17 14:30:00 UTC Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-04:00)
This is a virtual event
NOTE: This event is not yet at capacity. We will update the page when it is.
OUR COMMUNITIES ARE UNDER ATTACK. Join Reclaim Our Vote (Instagram: @reclaimourvotecfcg) in conversation with Sarah and Beth, hosts of hit political podcast Pantsuit Politics (@pantsuitpolitics) about the impact of voter suppression on our democracy, especially in light of COVID-19 and changes to the Supreme Court. Afterwards, we will phonebank communities of color in multiple states to provide critical information about voting amidst ever-changing laws during the pandemic.
Pantsuit Politics is a podcast for real conversations that help us understand politics, democracy, and the news - while still treating each other like thoughtful human beings. Our smart-meets-spiritual political analysis blends hard facts with important social and cultural undercurrents so you don’t miss the big picture. Over years of discussing everything from abortion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we established basic rules of engagement, which we describe in our book, I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversation, which was published on February 5, 2019 by Nelson Books, a Harper Collins imprint. Listeners describe us as “America’s political therapists” and “our trusted, smarter friends who can help us make sense of the world.”
Pantsuit Politics is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts in terms of downloads. You can listen to their incredible, life-giving work here.
Agenda
1PM to 1:30PM ET: Reclaim Our Vote in Conversation with Pantsuit Politics
1:30PM to 2:30PM ET: Phonebanking Training and Virtual Zoom Phonebanking with WOLF & ZERO Music
We reach out to voters of color in rural areas by phonebanking, writing postcards, textbanking, and geofencing, and in doing so, enact structural change. Most recently, we helped increase Virginia’s statewide turnout in November’s General Assembly elections by 11% by making 55,000 calls to voters, mailing 180,000 postcards, and developing a Give a Ride to the Polls app. The newly elected state legislature has since then created an independent commission to redraw Virginia’s congressional district lines. The state will never be gerrymandered again, regardless of which political party is in power.
We are a registered 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization. To quote our founder, “we do not encourage people to vote for any particular person or party; we simply encourage people to vote!” We are led by people of color for people of color.
Voter suppression and racial gerrymandering discount the weight of people of color’s votes and thus their political power. They are two of the hardest-hitting forms of institutionalized racism and can only be fought through increased voter turnout. If you don't live in a state with voter suppression, this is a great way to leverage your privilege of not having to fight for your vote to help those that do.
In the U.S, there are 16.6 million inactive/deregistered voters of color, many from voter-suppression states.
Voters in voter-suppression states face some common barriers to voting:
Felony disenfranchisement – impacts 7 million voters
Voters de-activated/de-registered for not voting
Strict Photo ID laws
No same day registration/No automatic voter registration
Voter intimidation at the polls
Closed polling locations with no advance notice
Right now, we are contacting over half a million young (18 - 40 years old) voters of color in the six states along the Southern Black Belt that have strict voter ID laws and a Senate race this year:
Texas (38 electoral votes)
North Carolina (16 electoral votes)
Georgia (16 electoral votes)
Arizona (11 electoral votes)
Alabama (9 electoral votes)
Mississippi (9 electoral votes)
We’re helping them access the resources they need in order to do so, such as a voter ID and a ride to the polls.
Our voters are often poor, rural, face a technological divide, and have been abandoned by political campaigns. One of our volunteers called a woman last week who had never received a phone call from a political campaign despite having the same number for over 15 years!
Our phonebanks are particularly effective because we contact voters who are overlooked by traditional campaigns. We inform and empower them to use their vote as their voice. We go where other campaigns don’t, bringing new districts and areas into play.
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