Ahead of July 14 Primary, Democratic Volunteers Contact Mainers With Absentee Voting Information

This week, the Democratic National Committee and Maine Democratic Party held a virtual text bank encouraging Mainers to request, complete, and submit absentee ballots ahead of the state’s July 14 primary. Some 75 volunteers texted approximately 91,000 Maine voters. This effort follows an initial text bank held last month and continues Democrats’ months-long effort to ensure voters can safely cast their ballots.

“Democrats believe that our democracy is strongest when every voter can make their voice heard,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez. “We are using every tool at our disposal to ensure Mainers don’t have to choose between their health and their right to vote. By contacting and engaging voters now, we’re laying the groundwork we’ll need to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in November.”

“This is a stressful, uncertain time, and it’s critical that we make sure voters have the information they need,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “We’re adapting our organizing tactics and reaching Mainers where they are. That’s how we’re going to mobilize voters, it’s how we’re going to defeat Donald Trump, and it’s how we’re going to send Susan Collins into retirement.”

This week’s texting campaign comes as Democrats have shifted to virtual organizing tactics in the midst of COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Maine Democratic Party has expanded remote phone banking, launched a digital “commit to vote” campaign, and hosted digital trainings for volunteers. Additionally, the DNC’s acquisition of tens of millions of cell phone numbers earlier this year has allowed Democrats in Maine and across the country to seamlessly transition to digital-only organizing by improving voter contact and strengthening data infrastructure. Democrats have also recently launched vote-by-mail text banks in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia.