IT’S PRESIDENT’S DAY. GIVE US SECURE ELECTIONS.
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For Wyden and Merkley:
In honor of President’s Day I am calling to support your fight for fair elections. It is unconscionable that the GOP Senate majority blocked votes on any election security measures right after the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that votes are vulnerable to cyber attacks and after the Iowa caucus showed how easily tech can fail. Keep fighting for hand-marked paper ballots and other measures to secure fair elections. Thank you.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For All Representatives except Walden:
In honor of President’s Day I am calling to support your fight for fair elections. It is unconscionable that the GOP Senate majority blocked votes on any election security measures right after the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that votes are vulnerable to cyber attacks and after the Iowa caucus showed how easily tech can fail. Keep fighting for hand-marked paper ballots and other measures to secure fair elections. Thank you.
For Walden:
The Republican response to the federal election from foreign interference and technological glitches was too little too late. It is the worst of Washington to throw some money at a problem without insisting on standards of best practice. I predict that the $425 million appropriated to protect our elections will be largely wasted – if tracked at all. You chose party over country by voting against HR 1.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: TAKE ACTION IN 2020
Plan to call Congress with Indivisible Oregon on a weekly basis. Set goals for your election work in 2020. Swing Left holds regular letter writing parties. You can sign up at: Take Action Now. If you are in the Portland area, join Indivisible Oregon letter writing parties with Swing Left/Vote Forward . You can also contribute to Swing Left Fundraiser. We are all in this together.
BACKGROUND:
Just before President’s Day, the Senate GOP blocked three measures to protect our elections from hacking and foreign interference. It makes no sense.
The Democratic Iowa caucus showed that technology can create problems in any election, even one controlled by a single party for its own members.
- A largely bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee laid out the case, yet the Senate GOP repeatedly blocked election security bills.
- Our own Sen. Wyden tried to warn the DNC about a possible tech meltdown in Iowa. Wyden also warned that an app now in use called Voatz has not been tested for cyber security.
- “No known technology guarantees the secrecy, security and verifiability of a marked ballot transmitted over the Internet,” says the National Academy of Sciences.
Congress allocated $425 million for election security – only 11 months before election day, and without key requirements such as hand-marked paper ballots or post-election audits. Now 8,000 largely separate election jurisdictions are navigating how to spend their share without much guidance.
Election security is a national security issue. Call your MoCs and ask them to keep fighting for election security. Then work for a change in the Senate and the White House.
SOURCES:
GOP Senate blocks 3 election security bills:https://thehill.com/homenews/house/482569-senate-gop-blocks-three-election-security-bills
What went wrong in Iowa caucus:
FBI Director warns of election dangers: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/06/russia-hacking-information-warfare-election-2020
