Action Hour for Democracy – December 6, 2021

Thank you for attending our Action Hour for Democracy! and speaking up for the freedom to vote! It was wonderful to see so many people come together to say “We demand safe and accessible elections for all. Recess can wait; preserving our democracy can’t!” Over 100 people attended, with dozens of letters to the editor written and more than 300 messages sent to our elected officials and other influential figures. Also more that 90% pledged to keep speaking up for voting rights, as well as recruit others to do the same.

A BIG thank you to Spencer Olson, Communications Director for Declaration for American Democracy, for his great insights, messaging, and best practices. His slides are attached.

Also, thank you to all our Co-Hosts!

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/
• Seattle Supports Democracy - https://seattledemocracy.wixsite.com/website
• LWV of Washington - https://lwvwa.org/
• LWV of Bellingham-Whatcom County - https://lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org/
• LWV of Seattle-King County - https://www.lwvskc.org/
• LWV of Spokane Area - https://www.lwv.org/local-leagues/lwv-spokane-area

We’ve included the slides from today’s event, which are attached. The event was recorded, and you can view the recording and review the chat file here:

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/JOh6bf-xsSyaWGS4oM3C6ssLFCUZdzW4XZ7A9YmLD92LOfEYgLjBsCd1BD0f8m8Uqr7_aG03vYlDrmjg.LFgxcK9goqnp-LoJ

• Gallery View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/5x7uShhelbOwomCiy2TQC6D4P7D13hiXhHIuUoi9zHPbTpgHCJUizSiWef2N4XqLtpaHh06UMV9qBeyn.JzmTBHqI3IpjVJoT

• Chat (Link will download a text file to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/bGtUjztjcQLX3SyrElltTRdyqRMukvrhKRLkibvxOgX0Kj7KKp1S9VcKZegRThKjdMkWHTxzieQrIIcC.GxAwfgMbOL9fD38q

• Closed Caption (Link will download a text file to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/AI6rbKawdyLy3mQttBNTs3ksko5BjXB_CoD-0AHuB-GjArifMz-Rt4Y9ykJBJTcb8Ozg698JPNdw4RXf.TatrwfbYbotHbrqB

Now that you’ve shown up for our democracy Action Hour event, we hope you are fired up and ready to continue working! We must keep the pressure on if we are going to convince Congress to pass this essential voting rights legislation -- and the next week is crucial!

Bill Info:

Freedom to Vote Act

• S.2747 – Freedom to Vote Act - https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2747/text
• Freedom to Vote Act Key Provisions - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/freedom-vote-act

John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

• H.R.4 - John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act - https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4/text
• The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act Unpacked - https://www.democracydocket.com/news/the-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act-unpacked/

Actions to Take & Continue This Week:

Today & Tomorrow, Dec. 7th: Letters to the Editor Campaign - Share LTE Tool!

• LTE Tool - dfadcoalition.org/takeaction/#lte

Now through Dec. 10th: Senate Call-In Blitz - Keep calling & recruit others to call!

• Sen Cantwell 206-220-6400; 202-224-3441 – Maria_Cantwell@cantwell.senate.gov
• Senator Murray (206) 553-5545; (202) 224-2621 – senator@murray.senate.gov
• Senate Majority Leader Schumer (202) 224-6542 – Contact Form: https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck
• Call Your Senator (Patch Through #): 1.888.453.3211

Tuesday, Dec. 7th: White House Call-In Day (8am–12pm PT)

• White House 1.888.724.8746 (Tues-Thurs, 8am–12pm PT) – Contact Form: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Thursday, Dec. 9th @ 8-9 am PT : Democracy White House Summit: Twitter Town Hall

• Hashtag: #FTVtownhall - Follow and share messages with this hashtag on Twitter!

Volunteer Phonebanks:

• Common Cause -https://www.mobilize.us/commoncause/event/376178/
• Represent Us - https://vol.represent.us/a/events-calendar

TAKE ACTION Page from Declaration for American Democracy - https://dfadcoalition.org/takeaction/

• Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok
• Hashtags: #RecessCanWait  #FreedomToVoteAct  #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct  #RestoretheVRA
• On Twitter follow: @fixdemocracy1st, @DFADCoalition, @LWVWA, @LWVBWC, @LWVSeattleKC
• Social Media Info & Graphics: https://bit.ly/3Ge1sat or https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NUBc3q3v9wmuMI7_g9vtEBl8rOr7NAb-?usp=sharing
  

Other activities you can do in the weeks and months ahead:

Text banks: Movement Labs  

Get Out the Vote letter writing: VoteForward

Get involved! Sign up with:

• State-level voting/organizing efforts:

• Fix Democracy First
• League of Women Voters of Washington
• Seattle Supports Democracy
• Common Power

• National-level voting/organizing efforts:

• Declaration for American Democracy
• Poor People’s Campaign
• Common Cause

Note: You can email Seattle Supports Democracy (seattledemo@yahoo.com) if you’d like to be connected to others in your region who are similarly interested in working to fight for democracy and voting rights.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Thanks again for attending, and for all that you do to help protect the right to vote!