A Drink & Vote party is a way to support your friends, acquaintances and yourself to be informed about this year's elections - and most importantly vote!
Drink & Vote encourages informed discussion about candidates and ballot initiatives in a friendly group setting. We can learn and think together without the expectation that everyone will vote the same way.
This site provides simple steps to organize your own Drink & Vote party, templates for you to invite people to your event, links to some Oregon voters guides/endorsements, and a map for event locations.
How to be a Drink and Vote Host in 4 easy steps:
- Pick a Date
- Pick a Location
- Invite Friends
- Discuss and Vote
- Pick a Date
We recommend hosting your party a few days after ballots are mailed (October 17) and before election day (8PM, November 6). Other than that, pick a date that works for you - you’re the one hosting!
- Pick a Location
We usually host at a local pub, but you could host at a coffee or tea house, somewhere that will keep your kids busy, or even your own home. Just pick a place that’s easy and not too noisy. You want to be able to hear one another!
- Invite Your Friends
Use one of our invitation email templates as a starting place so you don’t have to spend too much time on thinking about what to say. Remind people to bring their ballots, and let them know you’ll bring the voting guides (print or link, depending on how digitally savvy you’re feeling). If you’re up for it, send a reminder text on the day of.
Open to some democratic stragglers? Let us know (drinkvotepdx@gmail.com) when and where you’re hosting and we’ll post it to our google map for anyone who wants to vote in the company of friends.
- Vote
On the day of your party, gather your ballot and voters guides (we have a collection of a few we like here) and meet up with your friends. Use your time to collectively ask questions and share insights about the candidates and measures in question.
Note: Ballots take 2-5 days to travel by mail, so get them in the mail before November 1. After that, it’s best to drop them at a local ballot site.
If you can bring postage stamps to your party, it’s not a bad idea!
