DPVA goes Digital, setting an example for other State Parties
We haven’t missed a beat. We’re on target to hit fundraising goals for the month, we’ve reshaped the way Democrats run Delegate selection processes across the nation, and we’ve done this while managing to be more inclusive by allowing anyone with a phone or internet connection to join in on committee meetings and local events. — Andrew Whitley, DPVA Executive Director
Chairwoman Swecker, Senator Deeds, and Delegate Lindsey highlight Virginia’s new voting rights laws
As Democrats at the national level propose aid to state election administrators to help them make voting safe and reliable this year, they should look to the laws Virginia recently enacted to expand the right to vote as a guide.
Here in Virginia, Democrats passed a series of bills before the pandemic hit that will expand absentee voting and eliminate roadblocks that made voting difficult even under normal circumstances. This includes a repeal of the photo-identification law, something more than a dozen states — including many in the South — still have. Virginia also recently enacted automatic voter registration, made Election Day a state holiday, and extended poll hours by an hour, which will help reduce crowds.
Andrew Whitley, our Executive Director, laid out how we’ve moved our political operation to the digital space
Under normal circumstances, delegate selection is confusing at best. Trying to explain to voters just how their votes on Super Tuesday parlay into delegates at the local, congressional, statewide, and national level isn’t the easiest to do. Doing so in the midst of a national pandemic makes it even harder. Here’s a simple explanation of what we’ve accomplished and the changes we’ve made:
Several weeks ago the Democratic Party of Virginia staff, working with all our stakeholders, set out to transform our delegate selection plan to adjust to the new reality in which we all live. Not only did we seek to move the process to be 100% virtual, we also sought to keep a normally confusing plan simple but open, inclusive, and easy for folks to navigate.
Our Senior Senator professed his love for Tuna Melts while showing us proper handwashing technique
(CNN) — Sen. Mark Warner looked to bring some levity to the public amid the coronavirus outbreak by sharing a cooking tutorial this week — but even some of his colleagues decried his culinary choice as fishy and heavy-handed.
The Virginia Democrat took to Instagram this week with a video of how to make a tuna melt — a polarizing choice among many sandwich aficionados — that doubled as a handwashing tutorial.
The DPVA Staff have put on over 40 virtual events during the COVID-19 pandemic
We moved our 5th Annual Barbara Johns Panel on Civil Rights online, where we were joined by Gov. McAuliffe and the authors of “For colored girls who have considered politics” Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore.
Our “In The Know” series is starting to take off
The DPVA is committed to electing Democrats at all levels all around the Commonwealth. We have built the best State Party in the nation over the course of the last 5 years and it shows in the skill, speed, and ingenuity our Party has shown during this crisis. We take pride in our work and take pride in our wins — but we won’t rest on our laurels. After all this is Virginia — there’s always an election to win.
