Good morning, Activists!
342 DAYS UNTIL THE 2020 ELECTIONS
First of all, we hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving! We here at Indivisible Philadelphia HQ are thankful for your friendship, your support, and all the hard work and great ideas you bring to our shared mission. We know Indivisibles are all thankful for our most basic right as citizens – our right to vote. And we know that over the past several years voting rights have been attacked by Republican governors and others. We continue to fight against that trend and so are Democrats in Congress. Many of you have taken significant actions with us to ensure voters get registered to vote and go to the polls. We have more and more ways for you to continue this fight to ensure voting rights are strong. You’ll see some of these below and we’ll have a lot more coming up. Plus — a party!
CALL TO ACTION -- PROTECT VOTING RIGHTS
Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. office 202-224-4254; email link Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link
In the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), gutting the landmark legislation and ending the federal government’s oversight of potentially discriminatory state voting laws changes.
To restore the Voting Rights Act’s enforcement power, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have introduced the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 (VRAA), which includes a modern formula to determine which states must secure federal approval for voting law changes. The new formula would assess which states have had repeated voting rights violations over the previous 25 years. States with excessive rights violations would be subject to federal oversight for ten years, with the opportunity to end federal oversight after that time period. The VRAA will again provide the federal government with the tools to combat voter suppression and help ensure every American’s right to vote.
Our Democratic MoCs are already co-sponsors, so call Senator Toomey. Here is your script: Hi, my name is [___] and I’m a constituent from [____]. I am calling to urge Senator Toomey to support the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019. We must restore federal oversight of potentially discriminatory voting law changes to ensure elections are free and fair for all. Thank you for your time and attention.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
IMPEACH & REMOVE RALLY: NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW
Indivisible Philadelphia is organizing an Impeach & Remove Rally for the night before the U.S. House votes on articles of impeachment. We’ll raise our voices and show the country – and the world – that we want an end to Trump’s abuse of power and degradation of our democratic institutions and values. Come out and show our elected officials that we demand they vote to impeach and remove Trump.
Tell your friends and any other organizations you belong to. EVERYONE in the Philadelphia area needs to know about this and come out! What: Impeach & Remove Rally When: Date TBD; 5:30 pm the night before the House votes on articles of impeachment (likely late December) Where: Thomas Paine Plaza, 1401 JFK Boulevard (across the street from the northwest corner of City Hall) SIGN UP HERE
CLIMATE STRIKE
During the week of September 20th, over 7 million people held a global climate strike and the Philadelphia climate strike was part of that action. Now, on Friday, December 6th, Youth Climate Strike Philadelphia, Fridays for Future, the Youth Climate Strike Coalition, and other Philly friends and allies, including Indivisible Philadelphia, are going on another global climate strike. The strike will be at City Hall and we’ll see you there! More information is here. What: World Climate Strike When: Friday, December 6th, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Where: City Hall, Philadelphia, 19107
HOLIDAY PARTY + DEBATE WATCH PARTY
On Thursday, December 19th we are having a two-fer! We’ll hold both our annual holiday party AND a debate watch party! Our last debate party was a huge success, and so was last year’s Volunteer Appreciation Holiday Party. This time we'll do both and celebrate our wins in this month's elections. Stay tuned for location. What: Holiday Party + Debate Watch Party Where: Center City location TBA When: 7:00 pm Thursday, December 19th Sign up here.
POSTCARDS!
We’ll write to voters in Florida to remind them to sign up to Vote By Mail. It’s an extremely effective way to get people to vote. We’ve written some of these in the past, and now we have another county to blanket with cards. All you do is come with your writing hand and good humor. And bring a friend! If you sign up and then find you can’t make it, please email us and let us know. We depend on having the right count! If you can, bring $5.00 to help defray the cost of postcards.
CARDS & COFFEE
When: Wednesday, December 4th, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Where: OCF Coffee House, 2100 Fairmount Ave.
RSVP here.
CARDS & COCKTAILS
When: Wednesday, December 4th, 6-8 pm
Where: Vicki Miller’s house (Graduate Hospital area). The exact address will be at the bottom of the confirmation email under Additional Information.
RSVP here.
IMPEACHMENT -- MAKE A CALL TO ANOTHER ACTIVIST
Want to put some pressure on Joni Ernst? How about Mitt Romney? Ben Sasse? Here’s how you can do it with Indivisible’s hubdialer online phone calling system. It’s super easy.
Sign up to make some calls connecting voters to senators to demand a complete and fair impeachment trial. We've identified 13 senators who really need to hear from their constituents (folks who are vulnerable because they’re up for reelection next year and folks who are retiring and worrying a lot about their legacies). Now we're asking you to call voters in those states and ask them to turn up the pressure on their elected officials. It’s a simple four-part process:You call a progressive voter in a key state with one of these 13 Republicans. These folks are your friends—they attended the Women’s March and/or fight for progressive causes.You explain how they have power now. You’ll remind them why the continued fight for impeachment is so important—and why they have particular power in this moment.You ask them to use their power. Then, you’ll ask them to call their senator and make their voices heard on why we’re demanding courage in this moment.You push a button and connect them to their senator’s office. The call tool will allow you to automatically patch them through to the senator’s DC office. Get started here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * You can help Indivisible Philadelphia continue its mission of advocating for progressive policies by donating even just a small amount. Thank you!
~ In Solidarity, The Indivisible Philadelphia Team