Action Resources

by | Aug 9, 2020 | 2020 Vision

This page lists ways for you to help
Dump Trump,
Flip the Senate,
Grow the House, and
(bonus) Flip state legislatures (to fight GOP gerrymandering)!

 

Contents:

Read Up

Register!

Choose a State

 Phone Banking

Text Banking

Postcarding

 Letter WritingIn Person

Donate

Social Media

The November election is the most consequential in our history. For the sake of your future, and the future of your loved ones –Get Involved Now! Today! Given how rapidly events are unfolding, this Resource page will be updated as needed.

If you have resources we should add to this page, please send details to indivisiblesb@gmail.com.

 


Read Up

Step 1: Read up from our local resources. Our local Indivisible Santa Barbara’s 2020 Voter Guide is a great place to start.

 


Register!

Step 2: Make sure you and your friends are registered.

In Santa Barbara County: Did you receive a green postcard from Santa Barbara County Elections? If not, there may be an issue with your voter registration. Go to the Elections website, where you can verify your registration. If there is a problem, send an email to voterreg@co.santa-barbara.ca.us or call (800)722-8683. When you verify your registration at the Elections website, you can sign up for ballot tracking, which will email, text, or call you when your ballot has been received.

Anywhere in the US: Go to VOTE.ORG, a one-stop-shop for all states. Check if you are registered to vote; register online (if online registration is permissible), request an absentee ballot (if the state permits), and find all the important dates.

There are other websites where anyone can check their registration or register. For example Rock the Vote. Since its inception, this website has registered over 12 million voters and has been a trusted resource for more than a decade, with a proven track record of accessibility, security, and partner support. The platform is mobile-friendly and available in 13 languages.


Choose a State

Vote Save America wants you to adopt a battleground state and work to swing it. Choose from Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. They will set you up with a variety of outreach tools for the state you choose.

Democratic State Party Organizations. Each state has on-the-ground operations to help elect Democrats up and down the ticket. They enlist remote volunteers for voter registration, vote-by-mail, and Get Out The Vote. Sign up on their websites to register. Typically, there is a zoom training and then volunteering for certain hours. Listed below are some examples.


Phone Banking

  • Commit to Flip Blue Commit to Flip Blue is a special project of Flip the West. They are committed to flip the Senate, keep the Central Valley Blue, hold the House Majority, and put a Democrat in the White House. Their texting, post carding and phoning is focused on races in AZ, AK, CO, IA, MT, and TX.
  • Indivisible’s Dials to Save Democracy uses HubDialer during scheduled shifts.
  • Field Team 6 had a big part in flipping 5 Orange County House seats in 2018. Now they are targeting AZ, CO, TX, IA, WI, MI, PA, ME, NC, GA, FL, and parts of CA. They have phone or text banking events most days. Join them to help register 100,000 new Democrats and help registered Democrats vote by mail. They have recently acquired a list of 6.3 million voters who were purged from the rolls in these 12 states. They are working to re-register the voters they can contact.
  • Grassroots Dems HQ works to re-flip CA-25 with Saturday calls for Christy Smith. They host a wide variety of phone banking and other events.
  • Swing Left focuses on “Super States”–swing states for presidential, Senate, and gerrymandered state houses. See their local (virtual) events.
  • Reclaim Our Vote focuses on voter suppression states to register and mobilize voters of color. Currently focusing on AL, AZ, GA, MS, NC, and TX with phone calls and postcards. For example, they have virtual phone banking on Sundays.
  • Flip the West does phone banking and sends postcards to flip the Senate. They are targeting CO, AZ, MT, IA, and AK. They may target TX and KS depending on polls.
  • Powered by People has made over 1.2 million calls and sent over 4 million texts to Texas voters. Founded by Beto O’Rourke, they are expanding their organization with a plan to call and text every single Democrat in Texas for whom they can find a phone number. They are also registering likely Democrats by sending forms by mail with follow-up phone calls and have registered 50,000 so far. Join a phone banking event to help flip Texas and its 38 electoral college votes!
  • Mobilize is a searchable database of in-person and virtual ways to campaign from multiple organizations. Choose how you want to filter the search, and find events.
  • Phone Banking events from Indivisible SB’s calendar.
  • Women’s March Action is hosting virtual phone banks to flip the Senate race in Iowa, and presidential and Senate races in North Carolina.
  • Sister District focuses on flipping state legislatures through postcarding, phone banking, and text banking. They are supporting candidates in PA, NC, TX, MI, WI, GA, MN, AZ, and FL.
  • Flippable focuses on flipping state legislatures in AZ, FL, GA, IA, MI, NC, OH, PA, TX, and WI. They have phone banking and text banking actions available.


Text Banking

  • Commit to Flip Blue Commit to Flip Blue is a special project of Flip the West. They are committed to flip the Senate, keep the Central Valley Blue, hold the House Majority, and put a Democrat in the White House. Their texting, post carding and phoning is focused on races in AZ, AK, CO, IA, MT, and TX.
  • Field Team 6 had a big part in flipping 5 Orange County House seats in 2018. Now they are targeting AZ, CO, TX, IA, WI, MI, PA, ME, NC, GA, FL, and parts of CA. They have phone or text banking events most days. Join them to help register 100,000 new Democrats and help registered Democrats vote by mail.
  • Indivisible’s Text Team has everything you need to contact people to defeat Trump, flip the Senate, and hold the House. A lot of people don’t answer phones, but 6 in 10 Americans send and receive text messages.
  • Swing Left focuses on “Super States”–swing states for presidential, Senate, and gerrymandered state houses. Sign up for the August Text Bank on Aug 22 with Swing Left SB.
  • Text Banking events from Indivisible SB’s calendar.
  • Women’s March Action is hosting virtual text banks to connect with women voters in Michigan and Wisconsin.
  • Sister District focuses on flipping state legislatures through postcarding, phone banking, and text banking. They are supporting candidates in PA, NC, TX, MI, WI, GA, MN, AZ, and FL.
  • Flippable focuses on flipping state legislatures in AZ, FL, GA, IA, MI, NC, OH, PA, TX, and WI. They have phone banking and text banking actions available.


Postcarding

  • Commit to Flip Blue has a local postcard writing group, so you can pick up postcards and addresses from local porches. Fill out the Postcard Volunteer Sign-Up Survey to get connected. During August, they are focused on Arizona new voters and Colorado and Alaska Senate races. Nationally, they also have phone banking and texting opportunities almost every day.
  • Grandparents for Democracy holds virtual postcard parties on Tuesdays. They are teaming with Grassroots Democrats HQ to focus on voter registration, defending the House and flipping the Senate and White House.
  • Grassroots Democrats HQ is based in Los Angeles, and hosts as wide variety of events. You can sign up with them to write postcards and select one of their campaigns in CA, IA, MT, and NC.
  • Postcards to Voters sends friendly, handwritten reminders to targeted voters coast-to-coast.
  • Postcards to Swing States (started by Indivisible Chicago) mails cards to AZ. MT, KS, IA, WI, MI, PA, ME, NC, and FL.
  • Flip the West does phone banking and sends postcards to flip the Senate. They are targeting CO, AZ, MT, IA, and AK. They may target TX and KS depending on polls.
  • Reclaim Our Vote focuses on voter suppression states to register and mobilize voters of color. Currently focusing on AL, AZ, GA, MS, NC, and TX with phone calls and postcards.
  • Pen Connection currently hosts Sunday video chats until they are able to meet again in person.
  • Letter/Card Writing events from Indivisible SB’s calendar.
  • Women’s March Action is planning a Women Ditch Mitch postcarding campaign in September.
  • Sister District focuses on flipping state legislatures through postcarding, phone banking, and text banking. They are supporting candidates in PA, NC, TX, MI, WI, GA, MN, AZ, and FL.


Letter Writing

  • Vote Forward has passed the 3 million letter mark in their Big Send campaign. Their goal is to send 10 million letters in the run-up to the election. Join up and write letters to tell people why it’s important to vote. If you have questions, see the FAQ and the COVID-19 FAQ. Vote Forward is partnered with Indivisible, Swing Left, Women’s March, and lots more.
    Sign up to receive addresses (in blocks of 20) for selected target groups
    Download and print prepared letters
    Add a personal note to each letter
    Address and stamp envelopes
    Save to mail in before the election
  • Swing Left focuses on “Super States”–swing states for presidential, Senate, and gerrymandered state houses.


In Person


Donate

Set a Budget. . .then double it!  How much are you willing to spend to save our democracy?

  • Voter Registration: The Voter Participation Center has registered more people by mail than any other organization. They identify people who are eligible to vote but who need to register. This year, they are also getting people registered to vote by mail in states where that is optional. They test and measure their program and are constantly improving its results. Sending prepaid registration forms resulted in 35 net voters per $1,000 spent in 2018. VPC targets people of color, unmarried women, and young people in swing districts. This is the most cost-effective registration organization. Donate today. Donations are tax deductible.
  • Joe Biden: Give to his campaign or buy and display Biden swag. You can give up to $2800 before Aug 17th and then up to another $2800 after Aug 17th (if you want, you can give a total of $5600 before 8/17). You can also give to the Biden Victory Fund. This PAC has fewer restrictions so, if you are able, you can contribute even more to defeat Trump.
  • Win2020 Network: Want to donate to other races, but don’t know which races are most important? Check out their Strategic Candidate Lists.
  • Senate races where donations would do the most good. We need to Flip 4 Senate seats (possibly 5 depending on the elections). It is within reach!
  • Close House races in presidential swing states
  • Flip state legislatures
    • Sister District focuses on flipping state legislatures. They are supporting candidates in PA, NC, TX, MI, WI, GA, MN, AZ, and FL.
    • Flippable focuses on flipping state legislatures in AZ, FL, GA, IA, MI, NC, OH, PA, TX, and WI.


Social Media

Spread the Word! Share this guide. Like and share posts by Democratic candidates like Joe Biden and organizations supporting Democrats this election. The key is to get everyone engaged and mobilized.

Indivisible Santa Barbara’s social media:

Images

You can use these images on social media to build awareness of the need to have a voting plan.

Videos and Ads

These organizations and people frequently release hard-hitting ads supporting a Blue Wave. You can retweet the ads to get their hashtags trending.