THIS SUNDAY - Vote YES Postcards - Crozet Park

Hello all!

Apparently, all of 2026 is going to be election season in Virginia 😅 We're getting started with GOTV postcards for the VOTE YES campaign THIS SUNDAY, March 15th, from 1-3 PM  **at Crozet Park** at the covered shelters near the playground and baseball fields. The weather is calling for it to be about 70 degrees - we'll be outside in covered areas at picnic tables. If you want to bring a clipboard, please feel free! Also, please bring a friend! This is a nice, easy intro-to-activism opportunity.

Depending on how many postcards we knock out, we may have a second gathering in Charlottesville the following weekend (either at the normal park location or a library room depending on the forecast). I got 500 postcards for us to send out ASAP. That's a lot to send quickly, but these should be quick to fill out as they are about 2/3rds pre-printed (given the time crunch), but still have space for a personal message and hand-addressing.

As usual, I'll have postcards bundled and ready to go. I'll also have pens and stickers, etc, but you're welcome to bring your own too. If you can't make it, but want to help out, please feel free to donate funds for postage to @LaurenBoggs-Meslar on Venmo with a note of "Postage" - 100% will go towards postcard stamps. 

Early voting has already started - have you voted yet? Make your plan and tell your friends!! There are many folks out there who don't know about this election and/or don't understand why we'd be voting for gerrymandering, thus it's super important that we inform voters. Talk it up! This is a statewide election, so we have the blue numbers in Virginia as long as we get them to the polls. Also, consider that both the "No" camp and "Yes" camp claim to be for "fair elections" - therefore it is VERY IMPORTANT that we make it clear that Dems (and any anti-fascist!) should vote YES as the taglines are confusing.

Helpful VOTE YES information for when you're talking to voters

This map is a great visual of why we must look at more than Virginia's decent district lines from 2021 — the balance of the House of Representatives is a nationwide issue, so we must look at the fairness of maps nationwide.

      Keep in mind that the map above does not account for pre-2025/2026 gerrymandering which has already tilted the scales.

Virginia (and California) are having their redistricting approved by voters; Texas and Ohio redrew their maps without consent from their constituents.

The Virginia change is temporary; districts will be redrawn without gerrymandering after the 2030 census.

The new Virginia map will create much more competitive districts which usually makes for better candidates. Our district will be about 50/50.

Trump instigated these mid-census redistrictings and his Supreme Court has rubber-stamped partisan gerrymandering.

      My opinion: we've got to use this USSC-approved tool to fight back - and then, hopefully, be able to pass laws to ban partisan gerrymandering nationwide.

Democrats have proposed federal anti-gerrymanding bills in which all Democrats voted FOR the measure and all Republicans voted AGAINST it (For the People Act of 2021).

My opinion: we can't keep taking the moral high ground and letting the R's get away with playing dirty. We've got to fight fire with fire before our democracy burns beyond repair. 

EXTRA

*Especially if you live near 5th Street,* if you are able to help out taking down "Dems Vote YES!" signs at the Albemarle early voting location on 5th Street Extended, there are still slots to fill: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090945A4A62CA2F94-62824169-early#/   Reach out to your Albemarle Dems district lead to see if they're doing tabling at the early voting location or to help on day-of precinct coverage.

As mentioned, this election is about informing and turning out the vote - we don't have to worry about flipping our district, it's a simple EVERY VOTE COUNTS situation, so canvassing can have even more of an impact this election. Take advantage of this glorious weather and knock some doors to get our updated districts and bring back balance to the House of Representatives!
Albemarle: https://www.mobilize.us/virginiansforfairelections/event/916511/?referring_vol=12585047&rname=Matthew&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link
Cville: https://www.mobilize.us/virginiansforfairelections/event/900070/?referring_vol=12585047&rname=Matthew&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link

Don't forget - the next No Kings Protest is coming up on Saturday, March 28th from 1-2:30 at Stonefield! RSVP'ing (even with a fake name) can help give news outlets accurate numbers - don't let them discount you! https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/901382/

I hope that information is helpful! I hope to see some of you on Sunday in Crozet and I'll be in touch if we need to host a Charlottesville gathering the following week.

Thanks so much for being engaged!!

Lauren Boggs Meslar

434.996.4769