Things To Do

The cure for what ails us is more democracy, or what Obama calls “citizenship”:

First things first: Make sure you’re registered to vote! Lots of people are being purged from lists.

The Biden campaign has a way for you to check to make sure you are registered and to learn how to vote in your state here.

Other resources:

You can check to make sure you are registered here.

Deadlines for registering are here.

Registration rules by state are here.

Periodically check to make sure you are still registered.

If you can, APPLY TO WORK THE POLLS.

Many of the problems we’ve had in recent elections, including the Georgia primary, could have been solved with more poll workers. Each state has a different procedure.

For information, start here.

James Williams tells how he did it in Maryland.

In Minnesota, you can apply to be one of the judges counting (and overseeing the counting) of ballots.

Check out what your state needs. If you can’t do it, recruit people (college students would be perfect) who can.

In some states, you can apply for the job of counting votes. Wanna make sure it’s done right? Do it yourself.

BECOME A VOTERS RIGHTS ACTIVIST.

I’ve written about how absentee (mail in ballots) increases turnout and lowers the risks of voter suppression, and solves a host of other problems.

Become a voters rights activists now. How? Find whatever your state has in terms of voters rights organizations. Start with the Democratic Party. Join. Get involved.

BECOME AN INSTITUTIONALIST.

Our democratic institutions are under attack. So what should you do? Defend them. Become an institutionalist. What’s that and how do you become one? Click here.

This is #2 from Timothy Snyder’s list on how to save Democracy in On Tyranny:

Check out Fair Fight, the organization Stacy Abrams started for free and fair elections.

Their website is here. See how you can help.

Official Voter Registrar

In some states, you can become an official volunteer voter registrar. James Williams in Maryland tells how he did it in his state. Click here for his explanation. He completed his course and keeps his certificate and paperwork with him so he never misses an opportunity to register a new voter.

Want to really make a difference in politics and government? Don’t just march, run for something.

Do it! Run for Something recruits and supports young progressives running for local office with the long-term goal of building a bench for decades to come. You can run for office. Or you can volunteer to help them, including screening candidates.

If you’re in California, scroll down to learn about Close the Gap California.

The fact that elections are held and monitored locally explains why people need to run for office.

Be the official making the decision about how the election will be conducted. Democracy means “rule by the people.” We are the people. Don’t like how things are done? Run for local office and change it.

Do you think someone else should do all the work for you? Nobody owes you a democracy.

[I understand this is the long term solution. The short term solution is to vote in large enough numbers to offset the inevitable cheating.]

Promote and Protect the Vote.

If you are a lawyer, volunteer with a promote and protect the vote organization (connected to the Democratic party). Here are my experiences.

Help Biden: Joe Biden is Standing Between us and 4 More Years of Trump.

Contribute to Biden if you can. Click here for how. If you can do it, set up a recurring, automatic payment.

Participate in a virtual event.

Donate to charities and other groups helping immigrants and migrant children at the border.

Hillary Clinton tweeted out a list of groups doing work at the border and beyond doing critical work to defend the rights of immigrant and refugee children. Click here for the list.

If you are a teacher . . .

Consider an assignment requiring students to advocate on behalf of an issue of their choice, or allow / encourage them to substitute an assignment with a civic engagement activity of some kind.

Help People Become Citizens

Support low-cost immigration services, volunteer at organization such as @CUNYCitizenship, or at organizations that tutor English and civics for the naturalization test.

On election day, you can help drive people to the polls

Help increase turnout by helping people get to the polls. Here’s one place to start. You can also organize locally. Be a community organizer!

Democratic Coalition

Tell your representatives your views. The Democratic Coalition keeps a list and easy instruction here.

Organize locally

One reason the Tea Party was so effective was that they organized locally and put pressure on local representatives. As Obama said, “All politics is local.” This is why Indivisible formed: To help each community create their own grassroots organization.

RAICES

If you’re a Spanish speaking lawyer, or you are a lawyer who can secure a translator, you can offer legal assistance to asylum seekers through the RAICES Karnes project. You can read about my most recent experiences here.

Americans of Conscience

Americans of Conscience has ideas for letters you can write to elected officials.

Want more Groups?

Here’s a list.

Volunteer in your local Democratic office.

Even if you’re a conservative, 2020 is the year you have to vote Democratic. The GOP needs to learn a lesson.

Write postcards to voters.

A great way to get involved and donate from your own home. More on that here.

Subscribe to local newspapers, and national journals that do good investigative reporting.

If everyone does this, lots of money will get pumped in to news reporting. Without an influx of money, news organizations rely on clicks. This means they have to be sensational to survive, which isn’t necessarily good reporting. If you can’t afford to subscribe, give good journalists clicks and likes. If you don’t like something a newspaper says, write a letter to the editor, don’t unsubscribe. (You can’t expect to like everything a newspaper prints). Remember that reporters are basically risking their lives in pursuit of truth. (Americans were hit with a very successful propaganda campaign in 2016; we’re all on a steep learning curve.) If Trump bashes the press, and liberals and others bash the press, reporters are getting it from all sides, and who would want to do that job? It’s not like reporters earn a lot of money.

Close the Gap California (CTGCA) is a campaign to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028.

By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTGCA is changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time.

Nine CTGCA recruits are serving today, eight of them women of color. Our recruits are pro-choice, pro-public school funding and committed to fight poverty. Our campaign’s successes are fueled by committed volunteers from all over the state.

See how you can get involved here.

Donate to organizations like Raices or the ACLU, or Democratic candidates.

Make your views known, but try not to increase the polarization.

Put a sign on your lawn.

The cure for an ailing democracy is more democracy. “Demo” means people, and “democracy” means rule by the people. That means us.