Welcome to the October Dispatch! Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, just weeks away. This month's Dispatch is all about the most powerful thing moms can do right now: making sure the people we love are ready to vote.

New here? The Moms Next Door Dispatch is your monthly toolkit for organizing in your own community, finding joy, and recharging along the way. Learn more and find more resources on our blog. 

OCTOBER AT A GLANCE

• Now: Check your state's deadlines to register and request a mail ballot

• Sat, Oct 17: No Kings: Vote Early events nationwide

• Tue, Oct 20: Moms Next Door Zoom Workshop, 7:30 PM ET

• Tue, Nov 3: Election Day
   

UPCOMING OCTOBER WORKSHOP

Moms Next Door Session #10: Resistance Parenting: How to Talk About the Hard Stuff with Our Kids
Tuesday, October 20, 7:30 to 8:30 PM ET on Zoom
Save your spot here!

ICYMI: Last month's workshop, Get Registered, Get Election-Ready, Go Mobilize, featured ACLU experts on protecting your vote and a sneak peek at Empower, our new tool for organizing friends and family. Catch the recording before the election!
 

GET YOUR PEOPLE TO THE POLLS WITH EMPOWER

Friend-to-friend outreach is one of the most powerful ways to get people to vote. Our friends and family are far more likely to listen to us than to a stranger or an ad! That's why we're using Empower, a new tool that makes it easy to check in with the people in your life, share key voting info and deadlines, and make sure everyone you love is ready to cast their ballot. Join Empower and start reaching out to your friends today!

Haven't made your own plan yet? Deadlines to register, update your registration, and request a mail ballot are coming up fast. Explore your state's voting options and make your plan here.

FUN, JOY & POWER

• RSVP for No Kings: Vote Early on 10/17: No Kings is back, and this time it's a nationwide early voting party. Join neighbors, friends, and kids at a local No Kings: Vote Early event to rally together, get voting info, and make a plan to cast your ballot (early, where your state allows it!).

• Host a Mom the Vote Gathering! There's power in coming together. Studies show there's no better way to inspire people to actually vote than making a plan to vote, and it's more fun with friends! Text a couple of friends to see if they'll come vote with you. Or host a Mom the Vote gathering before you vote: a couple of friends around the kitchen table talking through what's on your ballots, a few families at the park making a plan to vote, or a bigger community event! The important thing is getting together with friends, family, and neighbors to celebrate voting, inspire one another, and make sure we each cast our ballots.  Sign up and get started with our toolkit!
   

WHAT WE’RE READING THIS MONTH

For you and your book group:

• Nonfiction: Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman. A history of the political movements and court rulings that have shaped voting rights since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

• Fiction: The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. A fresh retelling of Pride and Prejudice that puts the overlooked middle sister, Mary Bennet, at the center of her own story of self-discovery, independence, and romance.

For the kiddos:

• If You Go with Your Goat to Vote by Jan Zauzmer (ages 3 to 6) – Playful rhyming verse and colorful animals introduce young children to the step-by-step process of casting a ballot.

• Princess and the Pea-Tition by Kim Nguyen (Ages 4-8) – A clever reimagining of the classic fairy tale where a young girl challenges an absurd mattress test and rallies townsfolk toward democratic voting.

• Finish the Fight! by Veronica Chambers (ages 8 to 12) – The stories of Black, Indigenous, Asian American, and Latina suffragists who fought for the 19th Amendment.

Want to support your local bookstore? Use the Bookshop finder to find bookstores near you, plus women-, Black-, AAPI-, LGBTQIA+-, Latine-, and Indigenous-owned bookstores online.

MUTUAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY OF THE MONTH

When you check in with friends about their voting plans, think about what else might make those plans easier. Here are a few ways to help everyone in your community cast their ballot:

• Share the care. Trade child care with other parents so everyone gets time to vote, or bring coloring books and snacks to the line so little ones stay busy while their grown-ups wait.

• Give a neighbor a lift. Offer a ride to the polls or a ballot drop box, especially to folks without reliable transit or with mobility challenges. To find neighbors who could use a ride, post in your neighborhood group chat, Buy Nothing group, or local Facebook group; ask your place of worship, senior center, PTA, or community center; knock on the doors of older neighbors or anyone you know who doesn't drive; or look for a local volunteer group that matches drivers with voters.

• Show your poll workers some love! Election workers put in 12- to 15-hour days to keep democracy running. Drop off coffee, snacks, or a pizza. (Some places have gift rules, so check with your local election office first.)

New to mutual aid? Here's how to start a mutual aid pod in your community.

Thank you for being part of this growing, powerful community. We love seeing what you're up to! Hosting a voting party, driving a neighbor, or meeting up with your book group? Snap a photo and tag @MomsRising on social media.

Let's get our people to the polls!

Know a mom who'd love this? Forward this blog post to a friend, or share this link so she can join Moms Next Door too. 

P.S. Missed the September dispatch and looking for more resources? Check it out here.