Use Your Pens, Make A Difference!

[Jon Szanto]

This post primarily applies to the members who are US citizens, regarding our upcoming election...

For many reasons, I've wanted to combine my urgent need to be involved in our upcoming election as well as get some use out of my fountain pens. I had already done some research but a friend found at least 3 projects using hand-written appeals to voters. I settled on Vote Forward.

This is a non-partisan, non-agenda voter encouragement campaign. You sign up and when approved (weeding out bots), you decide how many voters to 'adopt', in groups of 5 and 20. You start by selecting one of a handful of states where the election is looking to be close. Once done (I'll use an example of 5), you get a 5 page pdf, one letter per page. Each has the recipients name and address. You are only adding one personal addition to the letter, a couple of sentences why you think voting is so important and encouraging their participation. Once written and signed, you address the envelope (return addresses are to a mail account in that state for them to track, you are always anonymous), put the letter in and add a stamp. All are held until Oct. 17 and mailed on that day.

They have done quite a bit of research on lead time and when it is best to get to the addressee, and this time window seems to be the most effective (and taking into slower USPS delivery). Data points to not a giant surge from people who get these, but a statistically significant up-tick in participation. In the state I live, the main election is already decided, and I have felt very frustrated at seeing something so important get decided far away from me with no way to become involved in a positive way. Keep in mind that you will pick up the tab for supplies and postage, and will need a way to print out the letters. Full info at the site.

So, give it a thought - there are 24 days left. Each letter only takes a couple minutes and you can do as few as 5 or as many as you want. All without pushing a party, candidate or issue, just encouraging people to exercise their right to vote. I'm using a late-30s Sheaffer OS Balance, and I feel I'm bringing it back into action at a critical time.

Again, it's Vote Forward - https://votefwd.org/

Thanks for your consideration! May the pen be mightier than the robocall!!