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Call to Action: Support the Mission of the United States Postal Service
Americans rate the United States Postal Service as their favorite federal agency. Its workforce of more than half a million is scattered across the U.S., making it the biggest employer of any government entity except the military. And it will play an outsized role in Americansâ ability to vote safely during the worst global health crisis in 100 years. Yet the USPS is undergoing transformations, and not necessarily for the better. Its newly appointed postmaster general is implementing changes that have slowed mail delivery, which is problematic on at least three levels: First, the changes will damage the vote in terms of delivery time, votes held back, and a possible…
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Protect the Vote? Damn Tootinâ We Can
Election Day is 100 days from today. One hundred days is very little time to prepare for the complexities of voting during a pandemic, made obvious by several recent tumultuous primary elections and a resurgence of absentee ballot requests from voters who donât want to â or canât â risk voting at the polls. Last month in Georgia, for example, thousands braved rain, heat, and virus exposure after their requested mail-in ballots did not arrive. An 80-year-old woman hoping to vote in Atlanta said, âWhat is going on in Georgia? We have been waiting for hours. This is ridiculous. This is unfair.â An investigation is looking into why the âcatastropheâ…
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Call to Action: Ask Your Senators to Provide Funding to Keep Our Elections Safe and Accessible
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many facets of normal life and will likely have a disruptive effect on the upcoming November election. Voting, the very foundation of our democracy, requires a safe and secure environment in order to protect the vote, the voter, and the workers who administer the elections. These protections cost money. The pandemic has left states and municipalities fiscally compromised, and yet the onus of election security will still fall on states and local jurisdictions. We must call on Congress, specifically the Senate, to approve the $3.6 billion in funding necessary for states to protect the vote. To do: Contact your senators to let them know you…
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What Is Vote-by-Mail?
The election of 1864 was held in the midst of civil war â a national crisis of a magnitude our country had never seen before and has not seen since. One German-born commentator was shocked when the nation went ahead with elections. But Abraham Lincoln knew that if they allowed the flames of the Civil War to engulf the elections of 1864, the very republic he fought to preserve would also risk ruin. He said, âWe cannot have free Government without elections, and if the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined usâ (Nov. 10, 1864).…
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National Voter Registration Day!
September 24 was National Voter Registration Day! MWEG members in Utah joined groups at BYU and the University of Utah to register students to vote. Voter registration deadlines are quickly approaching, so make sure your voter registration is up to date (have you moved recently?) for yourself and your loved ones. If you or someone you know needs an absentee ballot, be sure to request one. MWEG has partnered with Voterise. Want to help? Become a voter ambassador with Voterise by signing up here.
