The Vote By Mail for Tennessee campaign got two big boosts today!

The first came from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), which recommended that the state "consider making early voting and voting by mail more accessible" and that the state "consider a Vote By Mail pilot program."

The second came from Brook Thompson, director of the Tennessee Division of Elections, who told us after the meeting that he would be open to setting up a trial of the program. Thompson's support and the TACIR report were two big steps toward bringing Vote By Mail to Tennessee, but there's still lots of work to be done yet.

We're hoping to get legislation yet this session that would enable the trials. If we're unsuccessful, it goes on the agenda for next session.

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"It was awesome!"

That was the reaction of one of the Tennessee activists at the end of the two-day DFA Training Academy held in Knoxville last weekend.

Many of those who filled Karns Middle School had not worked on a campaign before or were not familiar with the sophisticated techniques outlined by DFA trainers. During breaks they peppered instructors with more questions and began making plans about how they would use the information in future efforts.

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The DFA Training Academy is one of the most respected and renowned campaign training programs in the country. And THIS WEEKEND, April 28 & 29, Training Academy comes to Knoxville!

DFA Training Academy is an intensive, two-day series of workshops geared toward your particular political landscape. The primary focus will be on campaign management, field organizing, communications, grassroots advocacy, and precinct organization. You'll get personalized, one-on-one instruction from some of the most experienced political campaign experts in the country and we make sure that you can use your training as soon as you get home.

SIGN UP NOW!

If you want to see what happened at last year's training in Memphis, click here.

On Easter weekend, close to 80 progressives from Memphis to Knoxville and all points in between attended Democracy for Tennessee’s Convention ’07 in Nashville throughout the day on Saturday.

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I'm pleased to say that the Green Tennessee (GT) Campaign is off and running with a great start! First of all, a huge thanks to everyone who attended the workshop and campaign launch: You all made the workshop a big success and a real pleasure to host. The diversity of ages and backgrounds represented was quite heartening, and exactly what I think is needed to get the kind of legislation enacted we want in order to protect our environment. So again, to everyone there, thank you!

After presenting a brief overview of the GT campaign, I handed things off to Seannalyn Brandmeir, presenter for the Climate Project. She provided an excellent overview of the goals and structure of Climate Project presentations, leading us through many great examples and explaining how the presentation builds its argument from start to finish. Next, Jeff Barrie, filmmaker and creator of Kilowatt Ours explained why he made the film, and how the Kilowatt Ours film and project seeks to show people how they can practically and dramatically reduce their energy usage without nearly as much effort or sacrifice as one might think.

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On March 22, I made a presentation on Vote by Mail to the Joint Study Committee on Voter Confidence, a subcommittee of the State & Local Government Committee. This committee is composed of six state Senators and six Representatives and is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Their task is to look at the proposed bills dealing with voting issues and to recommend those bills that they feel should go forward to the full committee for consideration.

To read the rest of this story, visit the Vote By Mail for Tennessee website.

WHAT IS VOTE BY MAIL?

Malfunctioning machines. Confused voters who can't read the complex ballot. Computer code that is kept secret by private corporations. Whole elections with no verifiable paper trail. Long lines and voter suppression tactics on election day.

It hasn't yet been getting much play, but there is a proven process to address all of these problems. That's right - a proven process. One that's been working in parts of the United States for over 20 years. The process is called Vote By Mail, or "VBM", and Democracy for Tennessee is getting ready to put its resources behind bringing this system to our state.
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Democracy for Tennessee officially launched its Vote By Mail for Tennessee campaign this weekend when Democracy for Cumberland County sponsored the first Vote By Mail Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, January 20, in Crossville. Carol Kemp, Chair of DFCC, and DFCC members warmly welcomed the approximately 50 attendees from across the community who braved Saturday’s cold to attend the group's first meeting of the new year.

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Some 25 activists from across the Democracy for America coalition gathered for dinner on Saturday night at the National Conference on Media Reform.

DFAers from Tennessee, Connecticut, Missouri, and Georgia met at T.J. Mulligans Pub to have dinner and drinks, to talk about the issues raised at the media conference, and to tell us what their DFA groups have done in the last year – and what they’re planning for 2007.

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I'm thrilled to announce that Jim Grinstead of Nashville has been named as the new Executive Director of Democracy for Tennessee!

Jim, a Missouri native, joined DFA Nashville in the summer of 2006 and became active on the DFAN Steering Committee. Aside from his work with the Nashville group, Jim also signed on as one of the instructors in the DFT Root Camp training program, where he gave invaluable instruction on media and communications. He also provided media consultation for DFT chapters and several of our candidates, including as a key advisor to Gracie Porter, the DFT-endorsed candidate who won a landslide victory in Nashville last August.

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