It's been a crazy 4 years and the time is finally upon us to stand up, speak out, and have our voices heard through the votes that we cast. 

We hope that you find the October-November Newsletter filled with useful information, notices of upcoming events and debates, and additional ways you can become involved, because this month is flying by and we need everyone to commit to staying engaged until the end!

                                                                      Susan DeMoura, GA9DDWN Chair

GA9DDWN Meeting Recap-September 26th, 2020

Despite not having two of our headlining speakers join us, our September GA9DDWN meeting was filled with content and great information about a variety of different topics pertinent to the upcoming election. 

We owe a great debt of gratitude to Devin Pandy, Candidate for the 9th District House of Representatives for joining our meeting. Devin praised the 37 other candidates from our district and thanked each of them for their dedication and commitment to running in such a conservative area.  He got down to business quickly by reviewing each of his 3 primary areas of focus, when he's elected: 1) Healthcare-with a special emphasis on reducing drug prices and reopening rural hospitals, 2) Growing our agricultural opportunities in north Georgia, and 3) Taking care of our veterans.  To learn more about Devin or to donate to his campaign, please click here to visit his website.

Kim Allen and Maggie Joslin attended as representatives for the Democratic Party of Georgia's Voter Protection Project to discuss poll watching, ballot review, and ballot rescue.  These items will be covered in greater detail within a separate section of this newsletter.

Tom White attended, as our 9th District Vice-Chair for GOTV.  He encouraged everyone to consider phone-banking, since it's our only means to get out the vote, this year.  We are contacting strong Democrats throughout the state to ensure they have their plan in place to vote and to answer any questions they might have.  Please consider getting involved in either phone banking or texting by contacting Tom at ga9gotv@gmail.com or 706-395-5228.

The GA My Voter Page was reviewed to show everyone the wealth of voter-related information that's available when they visit this site.  To access this page, please click here, and fill in your first initial, last name, county of residence, and date of birth.  A new window will appear with all of your voter information present, including your voter status, precinct, ability to print a sample ballot, and the status of your absentee ballot, just to name a few.  

IMPORTANT!  If you haven't already requested an Absentee Ballot for this year's election, please do so immediately by clicking here, to request one online.  

A brief overview of the Special US Senate election was provided to the attendees in an effort to provide further clarification on this race.  On your ballot, under the Special Election heading, you will see the names of 20 candidates.  Eight of these candidates are Democrats, with Raphael Warnock currently polling highest among them, likely due to significant endorsements by President Obama, President Carter, Stacey Abrams, and Planned Parenthood, just to name a few.  He is currently running neck and neck with 2 of the six Republicans; Incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins.

When voting in this very important Special Election, you must CHOOSE ONLY ONE candidate from this list.  If you choose more than one candidate for this race, none of your selections will be recorded and your vote will be nullified.  This may seem obvious, but there have been several ballot reconciliation issues related to voters choosing multiple candidates in the same race, so make sure your voice is heard by choosing only one candidate.

A special Election can be won outright if a single candidate is able to amass a majority of the votes (50% + 1 vote).  But given the large number of candidates typically involved in a race like this, the possibility of winning that majority is rare.  What is more typical is that a runoff between the two candidates receiving the most votes will be needed, and in fact, that's already been tentatively scheduled for January 5, 2020.  It's important to note that unless a Democrat receives one of the two highest vote totals, the runoff may have 2 Republicans competing against one another for the seat.  We MUST select a Democrat in this race, to prevent the Republicans from running the table and eliminating our chance to win this seat.  Please do your part and vote responsibly.  

Finally, there's still time to become a member of the GA9DDWN Volunteer Coalition to help our candidates with the work that needs to be done to get them over the finish line.  To sign up to help candidates in the Mighty 9th, please click here and fill out the "Make an Impact" form.

A big thanks to GA9DDWN Secretary, Beth Williams for her assistance in compiling the Meeting Recap.

PRECINCT POLL WATCHER-On election day, every polling place will need at least one Democrat Poll Watcher assigned to immediately report any issues of voter suppression or intimidation.  You will have no contact with voters, or poll workers, and will report all issues of concern directly to the DPG using an application available for download to all smartphones.  If you have additional questions.  If you have additional questions, please contact Kim Allen at kim@georgiademocrat.org or Liza Weisberg at liza@georgiademocrat.org.  

If you'd like to become a certified Poll Watcher, you must complete an online application and attend the training that's also offered online.  Once these two tasks are completed, your name will be sent to your county's Board of Elections office, along with the precinct to which you'll be assigned.  To apply for a Poll Watcher assignment, please click here. 
                                 Deadline to apply is October 12th. 

BALLOT MONITOR-While representatives at county Boards of Elections may begin the process of opening ballots on October 19th, most in the 9th District won't begin this step until November 2nd.  Each Board of Elections should have at least one Democrat to be witness to this process to ensure all procedures are being followed.   Knowing that the number of ballots to be processed this year far exceeds that of any prior year, the DPG is looking for several representatives per county to be a part of the Ballot Monitoring team to be onsite at the local Boards of Elections to oversee this.  If you have questions about becoming a Ballot Monitor, please contact Maggie Joslin at mjoslin12@yahoo.com,

If you'd like to become a certified Ballot Monitor, you must complete an online application and attend the training that's also offered online.  Once these two tasks are completed, your name will be sent to your county's Board of Elections office, along with the precinct to which you'll be assigned.  To apply for a Ballot Monitor assignment, please click here. 

Deadline to apply is October 12th. 

BALLOT RESCUE-When issues are flagged on a Georgia voter's ballot, a trained member of the Ballot Rescue team will be needed to contact the voter to help them fix the issue.  This is a perfect opportunity for those that may feel uncomfortable being a Poll Watcher at a precinct, or a Ballot Monitor at the Board of Elections, since this responsibility can be done in the comfort of your own home.  And every voter you contact is one whose vote may not be counted without your help!  If you have additional questions about the Ballot Rescue Team, please contact Liza Weisberg at liza@georgiademocrat.org.  

If you'd like to become a member of the Ballot Rescue Team, you must complete an online application and attend the training that's also offered online. To sign up for this responsibility, please click here. 

Deadline to apply is October 12th.