Marisa Pyle, Volunteer and Rapid Response Organizer at Fair Fight Action explained that Fair Fight is designed to promote citizen engagement and protect the right to vote. She indicated that Fair Fight is currently collecting voter stories, and she would appreciate us sharing ours with her. In addition, she mentioned that Fair Fight is looking for runners throughout the state of GA, which would be assigned to drive by polling places on voting day, and then call in to report any issues or areas of concern. Finally, she discussed the upcoming Virtual Democracy Training Summit on August 15. You can register for this event by clicking here to access their website, sign up, volunteer, and work to bring more people to the polls in Georgia. To ask questions, share your voting stories, or to volunteer to be a poll runner, you may email Marisa at marisa@fairfightaction.com.
Cynthia Maude, one of two Democrats elected to the Fannin County Board of Elections shared information on conducting voter registration drives.
Nonpartisan registration drives are typically held at a local high school, and:
- Require at least one participant to be deputized by the county election or registration boards, after completing a training course provided by the registrar.
- Training to become deputized takes approximately one hour and includes topics like: how to complete a registration application, proper security of completed applications, form submission deadlines, ID requirements, etc.
- Require permission from the School Board/Principal to conduct the drive.
- Must adhere to regulated time and location on school campus.
- Must follow guidelines for registration form submission.
Partisan registration drives may be conducted by a private entity or political party, club, or organization, and do not need a deputized registrar present. These drives do not require permission to be conducted and there are no regulations related to time and location, only the limitation of not being able to conduct a voter registration drive where alcohol is being consumed or sold.
Cynthia also mentioned that October 5, 2020 is the final day to register to vote, in order to participate in the election on November 3rd. And in closing, she recommended a recent NY Times article "Anatomy of an Election Meltdown in Georgia."
Virginia Webb, GA9DDWN Treasurer, discussed the need for Poll Watchers through the state of Georgia on every election day. County poll watchers designated by the Democratic Party of Georgia are needed to ensure election integrity. Each voting precinct AND the tabulation center where votes are tallied should have at least 1-2 poll watchers assigned. Virginia will provide training that usually takes about 45 minutes, and can be done virtually. If you're interested in becoming a Poll Watcher, please notify your County Chair and they will seek out training for you from Virginia.
Stephanie Almagno, GA9DDWN 2nd Vice-Chair, reviewed the following issues related to Absentee Ballots:
- The bubbles on the ballot must be filled in completely. Failure to fill it in adequately will result it the ballot needing to be manually read.
- If you are 65 years of age or older OR disabled, you may apply to receive absentee ballots for an entire year. This process must be repeated each year, in order to ensure your continued receipt of ballots.
- if you are NOT disabled or 65 years of age and older, you must complete an absentee ballot application for EACH election in which you wish to vote by absentee ballot. Note: This includes run-offs and special elections.
- For more information on absentee voting, please visit the Secretary of State's site by clicking here.
Tom White, the newly appointed 9th District Vice-Chair for GOTV, discussed his goals and mission to recruit volunteers to maximize voter turnout in GA. We will be hearing more from Tom as his position becomes more defined in the coming days and weeks.
Volunteer Coalition is announced. With the help of 9th District candidates Leigh Miller, Dee Daley, Natalie Bucsko, and Kayla Hollifield, the attendees learned of the new GA9DDWN Volunteer Coalition, designed to match candidates and their needs to volunteers willing to lend a hand. Each of the candidates discussed areas of need within their OWN campaigns, and it's our belief that most of the candidates have similar, if not exact needs, within their campaigns. We've designed a sign up form that allows a volunteer to sign up for 1 of several different ways to help, including Phonebanking/ Texting, Virtual Event/Social Media, Postcard/Mailer Writing, to name a few. To become a member of this great group and to get busy lending a hand to candidates truly deserving of our help, please click here to fill out the Make an Impact form. And if you'd like to assist Lisa Gill Gardner in coordinating the effort, please email her at lisagillga@gmail.com.
Beth Williams, GA9DDWN Secretary and Virginia Webb, GA9DDWN Treasurer, shared information regarding the Women's Suffrage movement, which celebrates its 100th anniversary, this year. Virginia shared that the movement's origin was at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, and the first organizations were created in 1869 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. By the time the 19th Amendment finally passed in Congress on August 18th, 1920, over half of the states had already granted voting rights to women.
Beth shared ideas that counties could do to celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment and mentioned that while the anniversary is in August, it truly is a year long celebration. The 9th DDWN will be focusing our efforts on an event to hopefully be carried out in October. Please be on the lookout for a Centennial Celebration document that will include web links, timelines, biographies, and speeches, as well as places to purchase centennial products.
Calls to Action were made to round out the meeting. Susan asked that everyone consider joining the Volunteer Coalition. In addition, she reminded all attendees of the need to recruit new members, pay their annual GA9DDWN dues ($10 per year), and also reiterated Virginia's reminder of the $9 for the 9th fundraiser, where all monies received in $9 increments over and above the $10 dues will be donated directly to candidates. Dues may be paid by:
- Access Paypal and reference the email address ga9ddwn@gmail.com as the designated party to receive payment.
- OR Mail a check payable to 9th District Democratic Women's Network (9th DDWN) to Virginia Webb, Treasurer, 349 Gastley Road, Clarkesville, GA 30523