CREDO Tip: Write letters to voters and strengthen our democracy

With the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so many of the progressive issues we care deeply about — women’s rights and voting rights, climate change, health care, equality, racial justice, and so much more — are hanging in the balance. 

CREDO members are now more energized than ever before to participate in the election and help protect and strengthen our democracy. 

That’s why we’ve partnered with our friends at Vote Forward to help channel that energy to empower grassroots volunteers to help register voters from under-represented demographics and encourage them to vote in this election. Vote Forward has found that writing these letters is the single most effective use of volunteer time from afar.

It’s easy to sign up with Vote Forward and write letters to other voters across the country. Check out our newest CREDO Tip to learn more and get started today.

In 2020, Vote Forward’s goal is to inspire volunteers to write 10 million “Please vote!” letters in the months leading up to the election. The letters will be mailed en masse this October, at the start of the get-out-the-vote period. They’re calling it “The Big Send” and forming a coalition of volunteers and allies to help make it as big as possible. 

Vote Forward is also very aware of the recent issues and mail delays at the U.S. Postal Service. They provide guidance and reassurance on their website and have recently filed a lawsuit with a group of other plaintiffs and supported by the National Redistricting Foundation, challenging recent policy changes at the U.S. Postal Service that unlawfully infringe on the right to vote in this year’s elections. 

Here’s how you can get started with Vote Forward:

1. Visit votefwd.org and sign up for a new account. You’ll receive a confirmation email to continue the process.
2. After registering, you’ll need to fill out a very short questionnaire, asking you to pledge to vote and ensuring you want to help other voters this election.
3. Vote Forward will then review your application, which should take 12 to 36 hours. Once you are approved, you’ll receive an email and you’ll be ready to start writing letters!
4. For writing letters, the organization suggests using a blue pen and having enough stamps and #10 business envelopes for each letter. (Yes, you are actually sending the letters yourself!)
5. Once you’re logged in, you’ll be assigned a campaign (or you can choose a new one) where you will adopt voters in a particular state to whom you’ll send letters.
6. The Vote Forward dashboard will guide you through the entire process — from writing letters to mailing them to voters.

To learn more about Vote Forward and the process of writing letter, you can visit some of the resources on Vote Forward’s website:

• How-To: Write Letters to Voters
• How to host a virtual letter writing party
• Frequently Asked Questions about Vote Forward

With so much at stake this election, we hope you can sign up and participate in this important project — and have a little fun doing it. Let’s ensure more voters participate in this election!