Postcards in the Park - Sunday, October 4th, 1-3pm @ RIVES PARK

***NEW RIVES PARK LOCATION***
Rives Park Shelter - 926 Rives St, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Hi all!

I know it seems like I just wrote and that’s because we’re in the final stretch for postcards where we have two gatherings a month. We’ll meet at Rives Park this Sunday, the 4th, from 1-3pm and for our last gathering of the season on Sunday, October 18th from 1-3pm. 

Have you early voted already? Early voting is a great way to save campaigns money, to get you off outreach lists, and to ensure there’s time to fix any registration issues if they come up. You can find Albemarle & Cville early voting information below.

There are so many ways for you to get involved in addition to writing postcards with us. Perhaps you can plan to table, canvass, or phone bank with one of your postcard pals - check out the opportunities below! Look for the BOLD words!

POSTCARDS: SUNDAY! Postcards in the Park - Please be sure to note that we are meeting at RIVES PARK for this Sunday’s gathering. It worked out great last month, so we’ll continue meeting here for the rest of this season. 

We still have a lot of postcards for Pennsylvania and Virginia’s 2nd District. All Perriello postcards are on their way to potential voters and we’re almost done with our postcards to Ohio voters. 

There are lots of other local events listed below 🙂 Please feel free to bring a friend or two on Sunday and to share these local and organization-based ways to help the blue wave 🌊

Sunday, October 4th, 1-3pm - RIVES PARK

Sunday, October 18th, 1-3pm - RIVES PARK

VOTE: Don’t forget! Early voting for the Midterms starts September 18th! The earlier we vote, the more the campaigns can focus on reaching out to other, less-likely voters. 

Albemarle Residents: 5th Street County Office Building, Room A, 1600 5th Street Extended, Charlottesville VA 22902

Charlottesville Residents: If you’re a Charlottesville resident, the registrar's office will be the early voting site. The address is: City Hall Annex, 120 7th St. NE, Room 142. Polls will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM until Election Day.

TALK: Ask folks if they have their plan to vote and if they’ve checked their voter registration to make sure they have not been purged (and NOT on Elon Musk’s “VoteSafe” registration website which mines your data and then targets political ads at you - YUCK!). Encouraging folks to vote early helps give them time to sort out any registration issues, too.

«If you’re interested in helping earn funds for postage through relational organizing (talking to friends, family, acquaintances about all the things listed here), please e-mail me at [email protected] for more information. I’m signed up through Red, Wine, and Blue’s RALLY platform and they’re offering group funds if certain interaction goals are met. I’d LOVE your help!»

Don’t forget to chat with friends about the three proposed amendments - yes, yes, yes! Please talk up the amendments with friends, family, and acquaintances. Albemarle and Charlottesville ballots will also have a proposed 1% tax increase (to expire in 2046) to fund the building and renovation of schools. Use these topics to bring up voting and make sure folks have a plan to vote. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 23 - make sure everyone, especially the young folks in your life, are registered and have a plan to vote!

Here is a big, long script I’ve been sending reaching out to folks with. Asking them to reach out to their people helps empower them into action as well as reminding them to make sure they have a plan to vote established. Feel free to use or edit this sample script:

Hey ___________! It's 'that time of year' again, so I'm reaching out to folks with (hopefully!) helpful voting information. If you want to share this with pals who might not know about the amendments yet or why it can be helpful to early vote, that would be great. Relational organizing with friends is very effective! Feel free to edit/etc, especially if you’re sending it to non-CD5 people, you’ll want to edit the part with Perriello. 

Hi ____! Early voting is on in Virginia and there is a lot on our ballots! Voting early has the benefits of: 

In addition to our US Senate and US Rep elections, we have three proposed Virginia Constitution amendments to vote on. They are: 

We also have a local issue to vote on: 

I'll be voting Warner, Perriello, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes - I want to stem the crazy coming out of DC, protect our rights in Virginia, and reduce the overcrowding at so many of our schools.  

Early Voting Locations + Times: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/early-voting-office-locations/ Sample Ballot: https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_Sample_Ballot Detailed Explanation of Amendments: https://my.lwv.org/virginia/charlottesville-area/2026-proposed-constitutional-amendments 

I hope this information is helpful! Please pass it along to friends and family to help make sure they get out and vote too Our communities are counting on us. 

Thanks for doing your part! 

I hope you’ll share this or another outreach to friends, family, and acquaintances!

SIGNS:I’ll have about ten amendment signs available at the gathering this Sunday as the rest have made their way to the early voting tent. They are great to pair with Perriello and Warner signs so that Dems who may not be following all the constitutional amendment details get the message VOTE BLUE = YES, YES, YES 🙂

Help me get 100 of these signs into yards 🙂

EARLY VOTING TABLE: There are a few slots left, especially in October, for tabling at the Early Voting Tent. Please take a peek to see if you can volunteer for a two hour shift to help hand out sample ballots, inform folks about the amendments, and thank them for voting. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054BAAA62EA1F9CF8-63737577-early#/ Meet a new pal if there’s only one slot available or sign up with a friend if a spot has two slots available! It’s always nice being in community with other caring folks. 

PHONEBANKING: The Center for Common Ground is reaching out to all registered voters of color in the 5th District. You can sign up for phone banking shifts at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/1018087/.  Training will be provided. 

CANVASSING: Grab a buddy and knock on some doors! It’s a lovely time of year to walk around a neighborhood and chat about the upcoming election. More often than not, you simply leave literature at folks’ doors, but canvassing can also result in great conversations. You only knock on ‘likely Dem’ doors to help ensure they get to the polls. https://www.mobilize.us/va26cc/event/1004085/ OR Perriello Charlottesville Weekend Canvassing · Tom Perriello for Congress

Other Local Events:

If you can’t make it to postcards on weekends, I’ve been alerted to another group meeting up on weekdays and the host also provides postcard packets for pick up anytime to folks who wants to write on their own. If you’re like more information, please reach out to Diane at [email protected] with “Postcard List” in the subject line.

Turn Out the Vote Thursdays: Cville and Albemarle Dems will join together every Thursday through October 29 to GOTV on November 3. They will meet on the lawn outside of Brazos Tacos. If the weather is bad, they will be on the patio or inside Brazos. If you plan to phone or text, it is best to bring a laptop or pad. 

A great way to keep up to date with lots of opportunities to engage by signing up for Albemarle Dems' informative and entertaining newsletter here.

Postcarding Info:

Remember, stopping by for just a bit is fine! I'll have postcards in sets of 5, so you can do a set and head out if you need to. Able to spend the whole two ours with us? WONDERFUL! Let's aim for 20! Have your own postcards and/or postcard lists you're working on? Feel free to stop by to do some with us! I look forward to catching up with past postcarders and meeting new folks! Invite a buddy to come with you, too. We can vent and plot and plan together 😅

I do ask that all postcards be completed on site and left with their address list so I can ensure they're sent on the appropriate day for each organization. Please note that some bundles require specific scripts, while others do not. Using your phone to photograph the sample script and copying from that works well.

If you'd like to simply swing by and pick up some postcards and a printed guide to get your own addresses and mail them yourself (or host your own postcard party!😍), we will have blank postcards available and printed guides available. I HIGHLY recommend everyone try to have their own little postcard gathering of friends - it's a great way to spend some time together and chat about upcoming elections. The more folks we get engaged in the process, the better!

I also posted two 'how to' blog posts with helpful tips for hosting your own, public or private, postcard gatherings. Feel free to check them out here:

How to get addresses & get the word out: https://beve.co/blogs/beve-party-inspiration-and-happenings/the-how-and-why-of-beves-get-out-the-vote-postcards-how-i-got-started

Logistics tips: https://beve.co/blogs/beve-party-inspiration-and-happenings/the-how-and-why-of-beves-get-out-the-vote-postcards-how-i-organize-gotv-postcard-parties

You're welcome to bring postcard stamps to donate, a contribution that will 100% go to postage for postcards, or - if you can't make it - you're welcome to contribute to the cause by sending funds earmarked "postage" to [email protected] via PayPal (friends & family) or @LaurenBoggs-Meslar on Venmo. THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has donated funds or postage ❤️

Plenty of postcards and some pens, markers, and stickers will be available, but you're welcome to bring some as well.

Thank you for all you do! I’m looking forward to seeing you!

Lauren Boggs Meslar

434.996.4769