Today, VotEd hosted a letter-writing party in which participants wrote 200+ letters to voters in Georgia, encouraging them to vote in the upcoming runoff election. Participants attended a short zoom call to share their letters and celebrate their successes!

Today, Jacquelyn met with the League of Women Voters Action Committee to discuss next steps regarding legislative advocacy for the 2020 legislative session. She learned about their legislative priorities and about the aspects involved in legislative advocacy. She plans to work with the League of Women Voters this January through April to testify on behalf of legislation advocating for voting rights and the MD Blueprint for Education.

Today, Jacquelyn began helping to slice open, canvass, and judge mail-in ballots at the Carroll County Board of Elections. There are many processes involved in canvassing, especially on the first day of canvassing. First, the ballots are removed from special blue rolling lockboxes and sorted into bundles of 25. The names of the voters who submitted the ballots in each bundle are cataloged electronically by the Board of Elections, and a title sheet listing the amount of ballots in each bundle and those which need to be reviewed are then recorded on the sheet. Then, the ballots are sliced open, either using a special machine or a letter-opener. The ballots and the bundles sliced open are then cataloged in a spreadsheet. The ballots are judged and reviewed afterwards, with 2 people, one member of each the Democratic and Republican Parties, sit at numerous tables and review the ballots, making sure no identifying markers of the voter are on the ballot itself and assuring a signature is on the front of the envelope. They also recount the ballots to make sure that the correct amount recorded at the beginning still remain in each bundle. Then, the ballots and envelopes are sorted out separately and bundled into two different bundles in a privacy folder. The ballots do not begin to be scanned until closing of polls on election day November 3rd. Email ballots must also be copied onto an official ballot at the Board of Elections before any of the previously mentioned processes can occur. At the end of the day, the reviewed ballots are put back into boxes by number and which bundles are located in which box is recorded in a spreadsheet. They are stored in a locked warehouse within the Board of Elections. Jacquelyn participated in these processes from 8-5:30 pm, also meeting and having conversations with many election judges. She was one of two young adults and youth participating in the canvassing process!

Today, Jacquelyn volunteered with the League of Women Voters to work a voter registration drive in front of Mom's Market in Timonium, MD. She provided people with voter registration information. However, she sadly found out that many voters in Baltimore County still had not received their mail-in ballots. She provided these people with information on how to track their ballots here: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch. Voters also receive an email when both their requests and their ballots are received. However, people should be getting their ballots earlier than they seem to be. 
More information about the League of Women Voters: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch

Jacquelyn met local election judges to compile bags with stickers and pens for voter who come to the polls. She learned more about the election judge experience from experience election officials while also understanding the mor mundane tasks that are essential to voting processes in Maryland and the United States!

Jacquelyn, our founder, cast her first vote in a General Election today! She voted via absentee ballot and dropped off her ballot at a local dropbox in Maryland. She felt quite secure dropping off her ballot and made sure to sign the envelope. We all need to vote so our voices can be heard!

Our founder Jacquelyn attended a conference teaching college students how to encourage their peers to vote. She heard from speakers such as Greeshma Anand, the chair of MaryPIRG, Kristerfer Burnett of the Baltimore City Council, Dave Sommer from Instagram (who worked on Justin Trudeau's social media staff), and Congressman Steny Hoyer. She also heard from organizers lawyer Gideon Epstein and Joanne Antione, respectively representing the organizations  Civil Rights Under Law and Common Cause MD. She learned how to run peer-to-peer texting campaigns and got many ideas for how to pursue voter education campaigns through VotEd. She also learned many website design techniques.

More about the event: https://marylandstudentvotesummit.weebly.com/agenda.html​

Our founder, Jacquelyn Slade, participated in an event with VoteRiders and the cast of Hamilton. The cast of Hamilton did performances and trivia contests during the event. She wrote 30 letters to voters in Wisconsin about how to vote, when to request a mail in ballot, where to vote, and Voter ID requirements. She and hundreds of others wrote over 40,000 letters to voters in 10 states! 

Today, Jacquelyn was trained by Katherine Berry, Election Director at the Carroll County Board of Elections, to register voters! She learned how to register voters via the MD Board of Elections Website and about resources and recommended techniques she could use to host a voter registration drive! She also learned about the immense importance of non-partisan voter registration drives and was offered an internship at the Board of Elections.