Ways to Get Active Now

Here are some relevant topics regarding immediate courses of action, individually researched by friends. There is more to cover if you want to lend a hand!
Visit the other pages of this website to learn more about the history of voting or to check out the idea network for videos, articles and links!
Although the information being shared is largely objective and certainly credible, there will occasionally be bias or opinion present.
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Whats a swing state?
A battleground or swing state is a state that could potentially be won by either party. Meaning it could swing left or right in any given election. There are several competitive states but six key battleground states that are crucial for winning 2020. Even if you don’t live in one of these states there are so many ways you can directly help right now. Virtual phone-banking can be done from anywhere!

          1. Arizona: Although it is traditionally a red state several democratic candidates won
statewide elections in the 2018 primary. Sign up to make calls in Arizona!
Dates to Remember:
State Primary Election: Aug 4th
General Election Registration Deadline: Oct. 5th
Early Voting: Oct 7th – Oct 30th
General Election Absentee Request Deadline: Oct 23rd
Emergency Voting: Oct 31st – Nov 2nd
General Election: Nov 3rd

          2. Florida: In 2000, Bush won Florida by razor thin margins. Florida has been competitive
with consistently thin margins for the last 20 years. Sign up to make calls in Florida!
Dates to Remember:
State Primary Absentee Request Deadline: Aug 8th
State Primary Election: Aug 18th
General Election Registration Deadline: Oct. 5th
Early Voting: Oct 24th – Oct 31th
General Election Ballot Request Deadline: Oct 24th
General Election: Nov 3rd

          3. Michigan: Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016, however democrats flipped eight
seats in 2018. Out of all the battleground states, Michigan is most likely to turn blue in
2020. Sign up to make calls in Michigan!
Dates to Remember:
Primary Absentee Request Deadline: July 31st
State Primary Election: Aug 4th
General Election Registration Deadline: Oct. 19th
General Election Absentee Ballot Request Deadline: Oct 30th
General Election: Nov 3rd

          4. North Carolina: Again, this state went for Trump in 2016 but also elected a Democrat for
governor meaning there’s a great chance it will turn blue in 2020. Virtual events and
training for North Carolina!
Dates to Remember:
General Election Registration Deadline: Oct. 9th
Early Voting: Oct 15th - 31st
General Election Absentee Ballot Request Deadline: Oct 27th
General Election: Nov 3rd

          5. Pennsylvania: In past elections, Pennsylvania has been a blue state, although with
somewhat slim margins. Trump won it in 2016 but 2018 flipped several seats making it
competitive for 2020 but with nice odds. Sign up to make calls in Pennsylvania!
Dates to Remember:
General Election Registration Deadline: Oct. 19 th
General Election: Nov 3rd

          6. Wisconsin: In 2016, Trump won this state by less than 1 point. The democratic governor
also won by less than one point; this may be the most important battleground state of the
election. Find Virtual Events in Wisconsin!
Dates to Remember:
State Primary Absentee Request Deadline: Aug 6th
State Primary Election: Aug 11th
General Election Registration Deadline (By Mail or Online): Oct. 14th
General Election Vote By Mail Request Registration Deadline: Oct. 29th
General Election Registration Deadline (In Person): Nov 3rd
General Election: Nov 3rd
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How do write-ins work?
CW! A certain candidate is being used to demonstrate how write-ins and delegates work. Be aware that it also shows a bias on this candidate by mentioning them on an informational source. This doesn't make the content regarding write-ins and candidates less true, but sneaky information is propaganda.
Anon: What if I want to write in Bernie Sanders? Some states voted for him in the primary & he's still on the ballot. Is this an irresponsible choice since he is not the front runner?

J Urban: Bernie Sanders has suspended, but not ended his campaign. That means you can still vote for Bernie Sanders if he is your candidate of choice. Sanders is still campaigning for delegates at the Democratic National Convention. A candidate needs 15% of the votes in a state to earn delegates. At Convention, delegates have the opportunity to shape the party platform. More votes for Bernie = a bigger opportunity to shift the party platform towards Sanders campaign promises and interests. It is in the party’s best interest to demonstrate (and earn) party unity, so the more Sanders delegates that are present, the more pressure there is to accommodate their demands. A vote for either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders is largely symbolic at this point. Joe Biden doesn’t need more votes because he is the presumptive nominee. A vote for Bernie is a vote to shift the party platform. A vote for Bernie loses you nothing and may help you shift the Democratic party platform going into the general election.


Delegates are important during the PRIMARIES. Here is an in depth look at multiple facets of the primaries from HowStuffWorks.
Primaries
Word of Mouth
In marketing, Word of Mouth is a coveted form of promotion but in life, word of mouth means more. It means story telling, it means oral history. Word of mouth is important because we value community.

Being an active voter or activist means using your voice, combined with the power of the moment. Speaking up and starting conversation.

I challenged myself this past school term to be vigilant in bringing voting up during class. One of my classmates, a very intelligent and community minded writer, texts me now when she votes. She says she thinks of how proud I'll be of her voting.

I'll be proud of you too. Here's a conversation we shared in early June 2020:

me, chloé: "hi hi! as an eloquent and vigilant black voice would you be willing to contribute to my voting resource? i think ultimately, physical means of expression have been so amazing [during BLM] & i hope we can riot until the end of the year. but as i have said, voting is the bare minimum of what we should be doing! with HIGH voter turn out on top of the physical NO everyone has been turning out.....we could be taking back this thing!! as you saw on the ballot for the primary, there’s some important local shit." 

my pal, Zip: "It is! I was surprised honestly by what I was voting for when I went in. This was my first ever primary vote ever since I turned the legal age. As a young black woman, I don’t remember learning much about government, politics and more. I [do] remember that although my teacher followed a curriculum set by the board of education, he went out of his way to tell us we had rights, how important it is to vote and more. But that was high school, most of us couldn’t vote yet so although it stuck with us then, it slipped out of some of our minds. Depending on where people went afterwards exposes them to learning more or not learning anymore about our government and our rights to vote and etc. Going to art school helped with the dreams of my career but I didn’t learn anything about my government and also there were no [presidential] elections, so I wasn’t updating myself. It’s sad for me to say that I didn’t learn the true importance of voting until I realized how the world I’m living in is against me and not for me. Although my vote is just one it still means a lot and I think people need to realize that. I can see how people don’t believe in the government because it’s corrupted but it’s still important that African Americans go vote because our ancestors and fellow blacks in the past worked hard, died, protested and more for us to have the rights to vote. It’s highly important that we not only educate ourselves on the government but also who’s running. Don’t go in blind. Know who’s running for what position. Learn what the position does. See how interactive they are. If they’re all about putting their words into action. All it took was a simple google search for me to realize how important it is to vote in the primary!"

c: "i think it’s important to share you saying this. the more me and my roommate learn while putting this [website] together, [the more i realize how] fucked up [it is.] how african americans didn’t get to vote into primaries right away and that in both of our grandparents life times  natives and black americans were not able to vote!"

z: "Exactly. It just sucks knowing that natives had no rights what’s so ever (from what I know) and that blacks never did, but once they did, only men and they were even rejected and asked to leave the polls because people didn’t want their vote. Then finally black men were able to vote but African American women couldn’t until years later. Like WTH?!?!?! It really doesn’t make sense the amount of hatred but history that we’re taught but hidden from when it comes to government and politics but it’s all part of their plan for people not to know so these corrupt people and get in high positions."
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Read 4 research-proven ways to get people to vote.
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