(This article first appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine) 

The 2020 election is closer than we think. This election is critical and we are asking everyone to start taking action now to ensure every person is able to cast a vote on Election Day. Voter suppression is a prevailing problem in this country. It affected almost 17 million Americans between 2016 and 2018. Everyone should educate themselves on how it can affect them. It can take many forms, including:

• Voter roll purges,
• Cuts to early voting,
• Closing polling places in heavily minority communities,
• Restrictive voter ID laws.

Every APWU member, regardless of political affiliation, should check their voter registration status to ensure they are still showing as an eligible voter. There are several reasons a person might have been purged from the rolls, including: name change, home address change, or because they had not voted in recent elections.

Every local can assist in making sure all of their members are registered to vote by notifying their members who are showing up as potentially unregistered. This list can be obtained by local presidents and secretary-treasurers via the Members-Only section of the website (where these two officers obtain the DCO’s). The potentially unregistered voter list is obtained by the APWU from the AFLCIO and is updated quarterly.

We also recommend those who live in states that have permanent absentee voting or no excuse absentee voting submit their application for a ballot as early as possible. Not only will this serve the purpose of checking your voter registration, it will ensure you have your ballot in advance of Nov. 3, 2020 so you will not have to worry about the issues that typically arise on Election Day.

Any member who wants to check their voter registration status should visit vote411.org.

Second Legislative Conference a Success!

The APWU Legislative & Political Department hosted its second, national biennial conference in Las Vegas, NV. on Oct. 27. Workshops focused on the core ways APWU members – active and retired – could get engaged and support our legislative priorities. Attendees explored how to get more involved via lobbying their representatives, engaging with their Central Labor Councils (CLC) and State Federations, writing op-eds and letters to the editor, and using digital media.

Under the theme of Rising Up and Fighting for our Values in the 2020 Election, a panel discussed the need to use our collective power to enact change at the local, state, and national level and elect pro-labor candidates.

To read more about the Legislative & Political Conference, as well as the rest of the All-Craft Conference, click here.