The Vote Forward “mail dates” for 2020 GOTV letters are this Friday or Saturday, October 16th or 17th!
Note: Many local post offices are closed Saturdays. See here for info on many local post office hours, and which will accept “back dock” drop-offs of a large amount of letters (i.e., generally, an amount that would be difficult for you to take and “drop” inside the office).
If you have distributed letters: Please forward this email to all your letter writers.
Getting Ready to Mail
General mailing tips
- Please get your postage now; there may be delays later.
- Blue curbside mailboxes are suitable for mailing up to about 100 letters; double-check that all of your letters drop down into the box.
- Remove all rubber bands.
- We’re mailing first-class, so sorting by zip code is not necessary.
Large batches of letters (over 100)
- If you can, take your letters to the post office to help your mail carrier out. If a branch post office is more convenient for you, you do not need to go to your “main” post office.
- “Drop” your letters as early as possible on the 16th or 17th. Postal staff will need time to ready them for trucking to the District processing center.
- The USPS District office has notified local offices to expect a larger than usual volume of mail on our “mail dates.”
- If you are mailing 400+ letters, visit your post office ahead of time to borrow a tray. You’ll want one for each batch of about 400 letters.
- If you can’t borrow a tray, use a box.
- Be sure all of your letters are facing the same direction.
COVID-19 precautions
- If you are quarantining or don’t feel safe going to your post office, make arrangements with a friend, neighbor, family member, or neighborhood mail carrier to pick up and mail your letters for you. Dropping your letters in a blue curbside mailbox may also be an option if you feel you can do it safely.
Thanks to your efforts, the Vote Forward “GOTV” program met its goal of sending 10 million letters to potential voters, and now has a new goal of 15 million!
Optimistically yours,
Swing Left Peninsula