Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • PA Register to Vote Flyer

    At the eulogy for George Floyd we were reminded our movement won’t rest. We will continue to fight on until there is justice. To those who have marched and protested around our country and throughout the world, thank you.

    For more than a year a number of us have been working hard to register voters in Philadelphia. A few months ago a group coalesced to become the Philly Voter Engagement Network, meeting on a weekly basis to promote voter registration and voter engagement. My contribution this past Friday was the development of a Register to Vote flyer. Feel free to post it in your community, share with organizations and networks.

    The flyer was created for these COVID-19 times. A person can scan the QR Code with their smartphone and fill out the PA Department of State’s PA online voter registration form. Another QR Code (QR is short for quick response, created by a company, Denso Wave) links a prospective or a re-registering voter to a page for printing a hard copy voter registration application form.

    The register to vote flyer will be an effective tool for registering or updating a voter registration record under the following conditions:

    • Attached to a sign while in public spaces
    • Attending protest marches, rallies or vigils
    • At other socially-distanced events
    • Placing on community bulletin boards
    • Displaying in local shop windows

    Feel free to copy, distribute and reproduce this flyer. Share it with your network.

    Together, we know our voices can be heard. Be safe. Be a voter.

  • Philly Vote By Mail Letter

    The 2020 elections may well be the most important in our lifetime. Our state legislature and Governor Wolf, acting in a bipartisan spirit, have enabled us to vote from the safety of our homes. The upcoming June primary election will be an appropriate time to test the state’s capacity to process mail-in ballots. This is the first election when all Pennsylvanians will have the option of voting by mail. We need to make sure the process runs smoothly in the fall when we may still need to be practicing social distancing.

    Pennsylvania’s primary election has been moved to June 2 due to COVID-19. For your safety and protection, I urge you to vote by mail in this upcoming election. You can sign up online for an absentee or no excuse needed mail-in ballot. If you include your email address in the mail-in application, you will be able to check your Election Ballot Status.

    Philadelphia voters who do not have internet access or do not have a PA driver’s license or state ID should call the Office of the City Commissioners. Leave your name, address, zip code, date of birth and telephone number when asking for a mail-in or absentee ballot application. The deadline to request a ballot is May 26, but it will take time for the city to process an unprecedented number of mail ballot application, so please request your ballot ASAP.

    Voting by mail is a secure option that has been successful in other states. According to Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, “the system has proven to be highly secure, and engages more voters, while significantly lowering costs.”

    For assistance, contact these City Commissioners:
    Lisa Deeley, 215-686-3460, Lisa.Deeley@phila.gov
    Omar Sabir, 215-686-3462, Omar.Sabir@phila.gov

    Be safe.

    Vote By Mail Three-Step Process

    • Step 1: Get the Absentee or Mail-In Ballot
    • Step 2: Complete the Absentee or Mail-In Ballot
    • Step 3: Deliver the Absentee/Mail-In Ballot to the right place by the right time

    Step 1, Option A: Get the Ballot Online
    • Sign up for an Absentee/Mail-In Ballot online at VotesPA.com/ApplyMailBallot by answering questions:
    • Are you a military or overseas civilian absentee voter?
    • Are you applying for a ballot because you will be absent from your municipality for the upcoming election?
    • Are you applying for a ballot for the upcoming election because you have an illness or physical disability?
    • Based on the answers, Absentee or Mail-In Ballot will be mailed

    Step 1, Option B: Get the Ballot Through the Mail
    • Sign up for an Absentee or Mail-In Ballot
    • Download a paper application for an Absentee Ballot or Mail-In Ballot from VotesPA.com
    • Fill in and sign the paper sign-up form
    • Mail the sign-up form to the appropriate County Board of Elections Office
    • Requests for Absentee and Mail-In Ballots must be received by the County Board of Elections by 5:00pm the Tuesday before the Election (May 26 / October 27). Postmarks are not accepted. (See Step 3 for deadline to deliver completed ballot.)

    Step 2: Complete the Ballot
    • Mark the Absentee/Mail-In Ballot, following the instructions
    • Place the completed Ballot in the secrecy envelope and then put the secrecy envelope into the outside envelope with the declaration printed on it
    • Be sure to sign the form and use the secrecy envelope or Ballot may not count

    Step 3: Deliver the Ballot
    • Deadline is now 8:00pm on Election Day
    • DELIVER THE COMPLETED BALLOT TO THE RIGHT LOCATION
    • The County Board of Elections Office must receive the marked Absentee/Mail-In Ballot on Election Day by 8:00pm
    • Do not deliver the Absentee/Mail-In Ballot to a polling location
    • Postmarks are not accepted
    • If you mail the Absentee/Mail-In Ballot, it must be RECEIVED by the County Board of Elections by 8:00pm on Election Day

    Steps 1, 2, & 3 All At Once
    • IN-PERSON EARLY Absentee/Mail-In Balloting
    • Go to your County Board of Elections Office – find it here
    • The County is required to provide an Absentee or Mail-In Ballot, over-the-counter, while you wait
    • Mark the Absentee/Mail-In Ballot in private at the County Board of Elections Office following the County’s instructions carefully
    • Hand the completed Ballot back to the County Board of Elections right then and there

    Note: The above “Vote By Mail Three-Step Process” was written by the PA Dems Voter Protection Team and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

     

  • Democratic Presidential Candidate List – Update #5

    Updated: March 19, 2020

    A lot has happened in the past few weeks. The world has experienced a full blown pandemic, COVID-19, the U.S. stock market is in a tailspin and the list of Democratic Presidential candidates is down to two. Here is an updated list.

    The active Democratic contenders are, in alphabetical order:
    Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States
    Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont

    A total of twenty-four candidates have dropped out, withdrawn or suspended their campaigns to date. They are, in chronological order:
    Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii, March 19, 2020
    Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts, March 5, 2020
    Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, March 4, 2020
    Amy Klobuchar, Senator from Minnesota, March 2, 2020
    Pete Buttigieg, former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, March 1, 2020
    Tom Steyer, former hedge fund executive, February 29, 2020
    Decal Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts, February 12, 2020
    Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado, February 11,2020
    Andrew Yang, tech company executive, February 11, 2020
    John Delaney, former Congressman from Maryland, January 31, 2020
    Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey, January 13, 2020
    Marianne Williamson, author, January 10, 2020
    Julián Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, January 2, 2020
    Kamala Harris, Senator from California, December 3, 2019
    Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana, December 2, 2019
    Joe Sestak, former Congressman from Pennsylvania, December 1, 2019
    Wayne Messam, Mayor of Miramar, Florida, November 20, 2019
    Beto O’Rourke, former Congressman from Texas, November 1, 2019
    Tim Ryan, Congressman from Ohio; October 24, 2019
    Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City; September 20, 2019
    Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator from New York; August 28, 2019
    Seth Moulton, Congressman from Massachusetts; August 23, 2019
    Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State; August 21, 2019
    John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado; August 15, 2019
    Eric Swalwell, Congressman from California; July 8, 2019

    Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is technically still a contender, although she last appeared in a presidential debate on November 20 and currently has two pledged delegates to July’s Democratic National Convention.

    Be a voter, even if you have to get a mail-in or absentee ballot.