WHY THIS ACTIVITY?
When you’re busy paying bills, raising kids, and avoiding wildfires, the last thing you want is to add one more thing to your plate. It could be easy for you, or your neighbor, to miss your chance to cast your vote this November. That’s why across rural Oregon, we are starting conversations now about how we’re going to get our ballots in the mail, and why that matters more than ever.
Because even while we’re busy surviving, we must also fight for what our families need to thrive. So we will show up and protect our vote. We will vote for people who care about us. We will set the future for our families and our communities.
WHAT IS THIS ACTIVITY?
Leaders across the ROP network are preparing to support our communities to turn out in November to vote for candidates and policies that protect and expand our freedoms, rather than cut them back.
Elections are when we choose who we’ll be working with in the coming years to build a thriving rural Oregon. They’re an opportunity to talk to our neighbors about what issues matter most to us and how the outcome of the elections will shape our daily lives.
Now is the time to make or update your group’s election plans, using this year’s STAND Election Guide to support you. The STAND Guide is written by and for rural Oregonians in both English and Spanish as a real people’s newsprint guide that uses simple language to break down how voting works, who represents us, and how we can each be involved.
Every election season, Human Dignity Groups and local leaders around the state use the STAND guide to engage their community about our values and our hopes and dreams for the future.
Place your order for STAND Election Guides HERE by August 26th!
HOW TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY
- Gather your group and make an election plan that will build relationships and strengthen your local organizing for the long haul!
- Does your group want to engage around the election but you’re not sure where to start? Reach out to your friendly ROP organizer or email sidra@rop.org!
- Check out these Voter Communication Strategies from ROP for inspiration with tips and tricks on how to communicate with voters.
- Order your group’s STAND Election Guides!
- Bonus points: decide if your group would like to create and include a flyer or insert. Human Dignity Groups have also prepared their own county- or city-specific guide to insert into STAND guides that look at candidates and issues specific to your community.
- We ask groups to cover the cost of the guides. We never want cost to be a barrier to your organizing; don’t hesitate to pay less than the suggested price while still ordering as many guides as you will use!
- Distribute STAND Guides in your community. Here are a few ideas for voter engagement organizing:
- Knock-and-drop STAND Guides on your neighbor’s doorsteps
- Host a ballot party to talk about the issues and fill out your ballots together
- Distribute a candidate survey or bring local candidates together for a candidate forum in person to get your questions answered
- Think creatively about spaces you’re already connecting with your neighbors where you can share STAND Guides. Is your group distributing meals or supplies to keep community members healthy in the heat and smoke? Do you know the owner of your local coffee shop? Do you use a community space for your group’s meetings or activities?
- Mail STAND Guides to your group’s contact list. Then follow up with a postcard thanking them for voting and inviting folks to a post-election conversation.
- Share your plans with ROP and keep us in the loop so we can share your strategies out as examples to other groups! Email us at sidra@rop.org to let us know what you’re up to!
Kitchen Table Activism (KTA) is a monthly activity by the Rural Organizing Project. The idea is that small actions can lead to powerful collective results when groups of people gather to complete the same action across the state of Oregon. ROP works to keep each KTA easily achievable so that groups with other projects or groups with limited immediate energy can still complete the KTA each month.
