It’s not just about planning to show up on election day.

It’s also about preparing.

A former candidate for congress told me about Sun City Roseville (California). He said that candidates need to have done their voter outreach by the first weekend in October in anticipation of the November elections.

He explained to me that 60% of the people in that development (which caters to retired seniors) votes by mail. If a candidate has not performed his/her outreach by that first weekend, he/she faces the potential of underperforming in that neighborhood.

Winning is not just about people promising to vote. It needs to go deeper than that.

I’ve seen it where adults with the good intention of voting don’t make it to the polls: something happens at work; somebody’s child gets sick. The lines at the polling station are too long and they have to leav to make it to an appointment. They intended to vote, but it just didn’t happen.

So part of the Five Friends approach involves preparation….

•  Registering to vote
•  Knowing who to vote for
•  Voting by mail where possible
•  Voting early where possible

In order to increase the voter turnout of people who will vote for the Democratic candidate, we need to …

•  Know how to register voters in all 50 states (and in the territories, too).
•  Know what the requirements are for vote by mail, and
•  Know about early voting (where needed)

So we need help. We need people who can do research and writing to find the laws and provide the links to make sure our voters are actually registered, and where possible, they find the most reliable path to getting their ballot turned in.