1. Making sure everyone I know is registered to vote in time for the primary.
Everyone has to be registered by April 5 (postmarked form) to vote in the Indiana primary on May 5th. And if they happen to miss the primary, they have to be registered by October 4 to vote in the general election on November 2nd. You can download a voter registration form here.
2. Contributing money to the Kerry campaign and to local candidates.
I’ve already done some contributions, but I want to make sure that my money counts and that I’m also supporting local candidates for office. So I’m making a commitment to give more to the Kerry campaign, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and to Marion County Democrats.
3. Working at the polls for the primary in May and for election day in November.
Many Indiana polling sites go without Democratic oversight/representation on election days because there just aren’t enough volunteers. Having democrats represented is key to ensuring a fair election. We also need volunteers to get people to the polls if they have disabilities or need help. I’m taking vacation days on the primary and on the election to help out. I’m contacting the Marion County Democratic party to find out where to volunteer.
4. Putting signs in my yard and on my car to support Kerry and other democratic candidates.
I’m buying signs from Kerry’s website, and when the local candidates have signs available, I’ll get them from Marion County Democratic headquarters. Indiana is a city where you just don’t see many Democratic signs — and that needs to change.
5. Highlighting key issues with friends and family, not just nationally, but about local issues as well.
Getting Kerry in office won’t mean much unless we give him a congress he can work with. Making sure that my family and friends know about key issues both nationally and locally is important. I regularly post information of interest on my weblog, and send info via e-mail as well as discussing issues.
6. Networking with other democrats
I visited the John Kerry meet-up tonight at Borders (fourth Thursday of every month) and met a really interesting group of around 40 people. Lots of folks who had never volunteered or gotten involved with stuff before, but who are just so upset at the current state of government, that they want to get involved in some way other than just voting. There were a handful of experienced democrat volunteers with party connections there, who gave everyone info about how to get involved with polling and precinct work. And there were lots of folks who were just interested in talking about the key issues important to them. They made plans for a meeting involving Kerry’s local campaign representative, and began planning additional meetings to get organized.