RESOLVE, VoteSafe, and Mission for Masks have joined forces to launch Gear Up to VoteSafe, a new non-partisan initiative to get PPE into the hands of election officials, poll workers, and volunteers. Gear Up to Vote Safe will provide PPE kits and voter safety guides to help support safe in-person voting.
Nearly 1 million people in the U.S. serve as election officials and poll workers during national elections. This election will occur during an historic pandemic, and we need to make sure that polling stations, including Election Super Centers, have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep volunteers and voters safe. Voters and poll workers are doing essential work; we should do everything we can to protect them – especially those who are older or who have underlying health conditions.
RESOLVE, VoteSafe, and Mission for Masks have joined forces to launch Gear Up to VoteSafe, a new non-partisan initiative to get PPE into the hands of election officials, poll workers, and volunteers and provide voter safety guides to help support safe in-person voting.
VoteSafe is a non-partisan coalition of election administrators and organizations co-chaired by former Governors Tom Ridge (PA) and Jennifer Granholm (MI) that endorses the simple principle that every American has the right to vote safely, even amidst the pandemic. Mission for Masks, an initiative to connect medical workers, essential workers and non-profit organizations to PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, was co-founded by actress, producer, and advocate Jess Jacobs and critical care nurse and author Sonja M. Schwartzbach.
Through RESOLVE's COVID-19 response initiatives, we have already designed innovative projects that fill needs and find common ground. Our Open Source Medical Supplies team has performed rapid, expert review of open-source PPE designs, while our Makers Respond team has put PPE in the hands of first responders. Gear Up to VoteSafe expands on this success.
Together, RESOLVE, VoteSafe, and Mission for Masks are working with election officials, polling sites, and others to provide Gear Up to VoteSafe PPE kits at scale. The typical Gear Up to VoteSafe PPE kit will include a Makers Respond face shield, N95 or equivalent face mask, hand sanitizer, and a pocket-sized voter safety guide. This PPE is essential for workers and volunteers who will interact with voters for many hours. These kits will be provided on a low-cost or donated basis, with prioritized distribution to election officials, poll workers, and volunteers at Election Super Centers and other polling stations.
A Gear Up to VoteSafe downloadable voter safety guide, created by Open Source Medical Supplies, will also be available online for election workers and voters alike.
We are currently raising funds to produce and ship our Gear Up to VoteSafe PPE kits to polling sites before Election Day. You can support this effort by sponsoring Gear Up to VoteSafe PPE kits for distribution to Election Super Centers, purchasing and donating kits for polling stations or volunteers, buying face shields to supplement voters' own PPE, and sharing information about Gear Up to VoteSafe with your networks. To donate, or for more information on how to help, visit the Gear Up to VoteSafe project page or send us a message.
Your support is critical to this effort! Please help in any way you can!
Beth Weaver
RESOLVE
October 1, 2020
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
