How to get involved with the "I Vote!" campaign, 2007

·        What is this?

"I Vote!" is the first campaign launched by One Voice, No Secrets!

The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness in legislators at the federal and local levels about the need for open adoption records.  This is the first of what we hope will be an annual campaign to begin the process of changing the legislation that prevents those affected by adoption from having access to their original, un-amended birth records.

·        What do I do?

1. Get postcards! You can go buy them or you can make them on cardstock.  The US Postal Service sells postcards, so you can go to your local post office to pick some up.  More info about postcards can be found here.
2. Fill out the name and address of your congressperson on the right hand side.
3. Place the stamp in the upper right hand corner (unless your postcard is already stamped!)
4. Fill your return address in on the upper left hand corner.
5. Write out your message.  Click here for sample messages.
6. Sign your name below your message.
7. Mail your postcard on Monday November 26, 2007.
8. Repeat the process for each of your federal and local congressional representatives.
9. Ask friends and loved ones to get involved and do the same, even if they are not directly affected by adoption.  Just ask them to send the message that they support open records!
10. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to let us know you sent your postcards.

·        Who can participate?

Anyone can participate!

Ideally, anyone who is affected by adoption in any way will join with us and send their "vote" for open records.  You do not need to be an adopted person, natural/first mother or an adoptive parent to participate, you simply need to have an interest in human rights. 

·        What if I am not directly affect by adoption?

Even if you are not an adoptee, natural/first parent or adoptive parent you can still participate. In fact we need your support! Having the support of those not directly affected by adoption makes our collective voice stronger. It let's our Congressional representatives know that this is a human rights issue people are aware off. We encourage everyone to send postcards and encourage you to encourage others to send postcards too! 

·        How will this campaign work?

By sending postcards you are sending a short, clear message to your legislators.  They will be aware of the range of people concerned with open records and they will know that by addressing your needs they are addressing the needs of their constituents - the voters!  The more people take part the more our collective voice will be heard.  After all, every voice counts when we speak as one!

·        Why are we sending postcards rather than emails?

We are sending postcards for a few reasons. Sending “snail mail” takes more effort than email. By making the little bit of extra effort we are showing that we have taken the time to send a piece of mail rather than simply typing and email on the spur of the moment.

Secondly, a legislator will actually be able to SEE the quantity of mail received.  Numbers of emails in an email box don't have the same visceral impact as a stack of postcards from around the country.

·        Well then, why don’t we send letters?

We are not sending letters because we want the postcards to be read! Our congressional officials are likely to be busy and may not have time to read letters in depth. A postcard has a short message that is visible without having to take time to tear open an envelope, unfold paper, and then read.  We want to make it easy for our congresspeople to know what we want. 

·        How can my organization support the "I Vote!" campaign?

There are a few things you can do to help us.

First, you can notify members of your organization about the "I Vote!" campaign and provide a link to our website that they can participate. You can also simply print this page to send to members of your organization who might be interested in supporting the campaign.

If you wish to support the "I Vote!" campaign, send us an email and we will have you listed as a supporter on the www.onevoicenosecrets.org. Eventually the site will be placing banners on the main page that link to the organizations that support and partner with us.

Finally, you can also notify other organizations that support open records to participate.  Spread the word!  Every voice counts went we speak as one!