Easthampton made us all proud on Tuesday, Nov. 3!

After less-than-inspiring turnouts for the override election (36%) and the primary (49%), our little city turned out both early and on Election Day to participate in the Blue Wave that reverberated across our country. Voter turnout was 65%! We rejected the cruelty and corruption of the Trump administration and demonstrated our commitment to building a just society.

People often say, “I hope people will come out to vote.” We know that hope doesn’t do it. Hard work and strategy build turnout. We’re so proud to share that Indivisible Easthampton (IE) developed and implemented a campaign to support progressive candidates in other states and to drive turnout here at home.

We followed the theme: Make it too big to rig.

Easthampton loves a good standout, so we hosted a total of nine Vote Early and Vote standouts at Mountain View School and Nashawannuck Pond. We thanked early voters and highlighted the Voting Early opportunity on the first day of Early Voting (Oct. 17), sharing donuts and “No Kings, I Voted Early” stickers all day with 150 friends! You may have also noticed our “No Kings, Vote Early” signs in front of many homes. Our Take Action website page featured local election and candidate information (including on the critical nine ballot questions), plus links for other critical states and election protection guidance.

Postcards work! From January 2025 to October 2026, Indivisible Easthampton members and friends wrote and mailed 4,600 postcards. Volunteers picked up postcard packets and wrote their messages at home, while some came together over coffee, wine and cards.

In January, we sent 450 postcards to Michigan voters on the impact of the Republican budget. With Western Mass Taking Action Together, we sent 260 postcards supporting Chris Taylor for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Through Activate America via Western Mass Taking Action Together, we sent 420 Get Out the Vote (GOTV) postcards for the Georgia primary election.

We endorsed Jeromie Whalen for the 1st Congressional District, sharing our support by sending postcards to over 200 local voters. We sent 2,500 GOTV postcards with Postcards to Swing States for the November election: 500 to Ohio, 1,000 to Georgia and 1,000 to Michigan.

We focused on our community as well; in the weeks leading up to the election, we sent GOTV reminder postcards to 750 of our Easthampton neighbors!

Thank you to all of those who have written postcards with us! We are especially grateful to Tara Jacob, Sita Magnuson and Martine Vanpee for their skills and leadership. We should all be so proud of what we, and so many others across our country, including those with fewer resources and greater challenges, have accomplished.

There is so much more to do to get closer to a just and peaceful world. Please, take the time to read and watch “We Did It” by Tim Snyder on Substack: https://substack.com/@snyder/note/c-378188072?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=24valo.

Then, please join us. We need you! Let’s work toward 100% voter turnout in our community for every election.

For more information about Indivisible Easthampton, visit indivisibleeasthampton.org.

Julie Slavet lives in Easthampton.