Actions for Week of July 12, 2020
Call, text, write to voters, fix NY's ballot mess, and meeting recap.
MONTHLY MEETING RECAP
It's 114 days until the election and Indivisible National has a big goal. They want to reach 20 million voters between now and Election Day.
Our share of that is about 4,000 people. Since we can’t canvas or go door to door, that means a combination of text-banking, phone-banking, and letter writing. There will be four big “pushes” overall, starting July 27, and then on through November.
We took a poll of meeting attendees and the winner was letter writing on the 27th. We’ll be hosting additional regular weekly actions and sending a schedule to sign up for those.
As for the texting and phone banking, there are tools to do this. You don’t have to use your own phone, or enter numbers or texts manually. It’s just login to a platform, push buttons, and either text or telephone to reach people.
Don’t worry, they will train you to do the texting and phone calls!
Text Bank Training
Learn how to start texting and reach out to voters to support endorsed candidates, recruit volunteers, and get out the vote. All the trainings are the same, just pick the date/time that works best for you.
Tuesday, July 14 at 8:30pm ET/ 5:30pm PT
Wednesday, July 15 at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT
Sunday, July 19 at 6pm ET/ 3pm PT
Wednesday, July 22 at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT
Tuesday, July 28 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT
Phone Bank Training
Indivisible has a special tool that allows you to call hundreds of people without having to manually dial (or show your phone number). Other than face-to-face, calling is the best way to reach people and persuade them.
Choose the day/time that suits you (the information is the same each time)
Monday, July 20 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT
Saturday, July 25 at 3pm ET/ 12pm PT
Monday, July 27 at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT
Tuesday, July 14
MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY CANDIDATE FORUM
6-8 pm
Hear from five of the candidates for Manhattan District Attorney at a candidate forum organized by The NYC Program Council and Columbia Law School's Black Law Student Association. Register at the link.
Wednesday, July 15
JOINT REDISTRICTING SESSION
10 AM
The NY State Senate and Assembly will hold a joint session to discuss the next steps in the redistricting reforms enacted back in 2014. An independent redistricting council is supposed to draw up new districts. If you haven’t noticed, the lines are rather squiggly. The process needs to be fairer, and more non-partisan.
PRIMARY ELECTION ABSENTEE BALLOT UPDATE
Counting the ballots
Absentee ballot counting and results are slowly being tallied. Check at the link for updates. There were about 403,000 returned ballots, compared to 28,000 in 2016!
Track the ballots!
Dan Quart has a bill that would require confirmation of receipt of absentee ballots. It would also require the election boards to provide voters with a reason why a ballot was rejected and give them the chance to fix it. There is currently a rejection rate of between 14 and 34%!
Fix the absentee voting process
Council member Carlina Rivera also has some excellent suggestions for improving our screwed-up vote by mail process. This will require a coordinated effort between the city council, the legislature, and the governor. Let's let them know!
Keith Powers
Phone: 212-818-0580
KPowers@council.nyc.gov
Ben Kallos
Phone: (212) 860-1950
BKallos@BenKallos.com
Dan Quart
Phone: (212) 605-0937
quartd@nyassembly.gov
Rebecca Seawright:
Phone:(212) 288-4607
SeawrightR@nyassembly.gov
Liz Krueger
Phone: (212) 490-9535
lkrueger@nysenate.gov
Governor Cuomo
Phone: (518) 474- 8390 (Choose option 1 to leave a message)
Email form
POLICE REFORM
NY AG calls for police reform
Citing police misconduct at protests, the attorney general said an independent panel should oversee the city police and hire the commissioner, making him or her more independent from the mayor’s whims. This would likely require approval from the city council and the state legislature. You know what to do!
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S8676
Senator Biaggi has a bill that would require police officers to have liability insurance, and excludes them from being protected by the state for malfeasance. The state would cover a base policy, but officers who get sued for misconduct will have to pay higher premiums. Sen. Krueger is on the rules committee, which is currently reviewing the bill. Let’s tell her to support it!
ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATION UNDER QUARANTINE
ADULTS
July 12-16 at 8PM
Shakespeare Without the Park
WNYC 93.9 FM and 820 AM, plus streaming on WNYC. org. Shakespeare in the Park on the Radio Richard III broadcast over four nights on public radio or online. Think old-time radio plays.
Gerogia O'Keefe
An online archive of her work.
The Falcon and the Throg's Neck
Photos of the subway, but not quite the way you’d expect.
The Far Side
New Gary Larson drawings, with digital ink.
KIDS/GRANDKIDS
Prehistoric road trip!
Emily Graslie (of Brain Scoop fame) takes you to go see some dinosaurs!
Lights and circuits
Moby the mouse needs help finding her way in the dark. This video talks about how lights and circuits work
Stretch like a plant
Move the way an arctic plant does. The summer there is short, so plants have to get as much sun as possible.
Bubble Snake
Make a snake out of soap bubbles. See how big you can make it.