Re: Our plan to cancel Republican voter suppression

Friend, in the midst of a viral pandemic and warnings of a second wave this fall, the safest way for Americans to vote this November will be by mail. But Donald Trump doesn't want voting to be safer. He wants people to be forced to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote. Trump knows that if more Americans vote, he will lose. That's why he sent the email below to his supporters. Trump is already pushing lies that mail-in ballots will be fraudulent. He is threatening to use the power of the presidency to [deny federal funding]( to key swing states like Michigan and Nevada if they attempt to expand vote-by-mail. He even signed an executive order initiating legal action against social media companies in response to Twitter for fact-checking his tweets about vote by mail. [Trump knows that the only way he will win in November is by suppressing the vote. That's why I am asking you to please support the Daily Kos Get Out the Vote campaign by giving $5 TODAY to help us advocate to expand vote-by-mail wherever possible, and to recruit a record number of volunteers to register, educate and turnout every possible voter. Together, we can cancel Trump's voter suppression efforts.]( Keep fighting, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos P.S. The email below outlines the Republicans' $20 million plans to suppress voter turnout in the November elections by recruiting 50,000 volunteers to challenge votes. --------------------------------------------------------------- Friend, Trump and his conservative allies are gearing up for an aggressive national effort to suppress votes in November. They plan on spending upwards of $20 million to [recruit 50,000 volunteers]( in 15 swing states. These volunteers will monitor polling locations, challenge ballots and report voters deemed "suspicious" -- in other words, they plan to intimidate or work to exclude voters of color by calling it voter fraud. [At Daily Kos, we are fighting back. We have already signed up 8,980 volunteers to help turnout voters and fight Republican voter suppression in 2020, and we are just getting started. We are putting together our largest Get Out The Vote campaign ever, and will we stand up to Trump and Republican voter suppression efforts at every turn. Please help us make sure as many people as possible can vote in 2020 by giving $5 today.]( Part of the Republicans' plan isn't just to intimidate voters, but build a well-crafted propaganda machine to paint Democrats as stealing the election. By using paid advertising, social media and Trump's network of loyal right-wing news outlets, they are laying the groundwork that there is widespread voter fraud and the election is "rigged." Trump has been claiming voter fraud since he ran in 2016, but now his attacks are ramping up. As the threat of COVID-19 lingers over the November elections, at the urging of voting rights advocates--including Daily Kos--many states and local jurisdictions are expanding opportunities to vote by mail. Trump has already attacked these efforts [publicly by saying]( "mailed ballots are corrupt" and that they are "fraudulent in many cases." Trump's claims, often echoed by other Republicans, [are simply not true]( (PDF). But the truth doesn't matter here. Trump knows what he is doing--every tweet he sends about voter fraud feeds into conspiracy theories long harbored by his base that any electoral victories by Democrats are fraudulent. [Not only do we need to turn out as many voters as possible, but we need to win the fight against bogus Republican voter fraud claims that they will use to de-legitimize any Democratic victory. As both a large news media outlet and a grassroots activism organization, this is something Daily Kos is uniquely positioned to do. Please, chip in $5 to help us kick Trump, his Republican allies, and their voter fraud conspiracy theories to the curb in November.]( The task before us is enormous and multi-faceted. Not only do we need to educate voters about their rights and debunk right-wing conspiracy theories, but we need to register voters, advocate to expand access to vote-by-mail, support local grassroots organizations in key swing states who are fighting voter suppression on the ground, and connect as many volunteers as possible with effective GOTV programs and platforms. We will use innovative platforms like Mobilize America, Vote Forward, Vote.org, Turnout 2020, VoteWithMe and other, newer tools still in the testing stage, that help volunteers turn out voters from anywhere in the country and the safety of their own homes. We will be providing direct financial support to numerous local grassroots organizations across the country that have already developed the infrastructure and the trust of their communities to successfully educate, engage and turnout every vote. Our activism and election teams will continue working together to generate grassroots activism in the form of petitions, letters, calls and virtual rallies to push elected officials to expand access to voting by mail so that no one has to choose between their health and their right to vote. [This is all part of our largest Get Out the Vote campaign ever. Help us make sure we have the resources needed so we can recruit a record number of volunteers to register, educate and turnout every possible voter and cancel Republican voter suppression efforts. Please support our Get Out the Vote campaign by giving $5 TODAY.]( Keep fighting, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. (Please note that we may be slow to process checks during the coronavirus outbreak.) Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.