OUR STORY

 

Markers For Democracy was born in the aftermath of the 2016 election, when two friends, who had been writing Postcards To Voters on their own, decided to meet at a local coffee shop to write postcards together. What started in September 2018 with two friends, soon became five, ten, twenty-five, fifty, and more. Today, Markers For Democracy is a community of over 1,500 grassroots activists from at least 15 states dedicated to electing Democrats up and down the ballot all over the country, protecting democracy, and educating our members and the public about voting and democracy.  We accomplish this by:

  • writing postcards with Postcards To Voters and other organizations to boost Democratic voter turnout,

  • participating in voter registration drives,

  • phonebanking and textbanking on behalf of Democratic candidates and allied organizations,

  • amplifying Democrats and allied organizations on social media,

  • hosting candidates and speakers, reading books, and screening films to educate and inspire our activism, and

  • raising money through our giving circle and for individual candidates and organizations. 

Writing GOTV postcards at Le Pain Quotidien

We have been writing postcards with Postcards To Voters, Activate America, and other organizations since 2018. Collectively we have written hundreds of thousands of postcards. Through our Postcards For Democracy postcarding platform, we focus on local candidates (such as school board, state house, and state senate) in areas where our postcards can have maximum effect. These down-ballot candidates are often overlooked and under-resourced, and our postcards can boost up-ballot turnout by as much as 2.5%.

We used to meet in person around a farm table at Le Pain Quotidien in New York City where we occasionally hosted “meet and greets” with candidates and local politicians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we started meeting on Zoom with our sister activist groups, Downtown Nasty Women Social Group and Team Min. We realized that Zoom made it easier for candidates to visit us. Since March 2020, we have hosted over 800 candidates and speakers including Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock; Representatives Matt Cartwright, Andy Kim, Lucy McBath, Katie Porter, and Lauren Underwood; and many candidates for state and local offices around the country. Our groups have hosted three postcarding marathons, #PostcardAroundTheClock, which each featured a full 24 hours of programming including speakers, panels, candidates, and more.

Our evening speakers series has featured Bill McKibben, author and climate activist; David Pepper, Former Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and author of Laboratories of Autocracy; Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice; and humorists Roz Chast and Patty Marx. Upcoming speakers include reproductive rights attorneys and authors Kathryn Kolbert and Julie F. Kay. 

In 2019, we formed a giving circle through The States Project, an organization co-founded by former New York State Senator Daniel Squadron to elect Democratic candidates running for state legislatures around the country. We have raised $450,000 since 2019 for state legislative races in Virginia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

GOTV postcard writing with lots of Sharpies

We hope you will join our community! Please explore our website for more information about our activities, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about our upcoming events. 

Gratitude to Yael Jekogian for website design and to April Stewart Klausner for logo design.