As part of Contract 2000, BMWE will energize the Committee on Political Education (COPE) program begun several years ago. For the next two years, COPE will focus on voter registration and voter turnout.

Many BMWE brothers and sisters do not vote because they are not registered or because they can't get to the polls on election day. COPE's focus in 1999 will be on voter registration and in 2000 will be on turning members out to vote. BMWE's goal in 1999 is to register to vote every member of BMWE and every eligible member of their family by December 31, 1999. BMWE's goal in 2000 is to make sure every person BMWE registered in 1999 can and does vote in 2000.

What will COPE do?

First, BMWE will try to provide at least one voter registration form* to each BMWE member in good standing (dues paid or BMWE unemployment card). Please fill out the voter registration form and return it to BMWE. Please also have your family members eligible to vote (age 18 and not convicted of a felony) fill out a voter registration form and send it to BMWE.

Even if you and/or your family are already registered and voting, please fill out the registration form anyway and send it in. BMWE will use the 1999 registrations to make a roster of BMWE's registered voters in each state and to see who is not registered.

Second, each BMWE member not registering by mail will be contacted on the jobsite, at a union meeting, or at home by a BMWE/COPE representative to remind him/her to register. Local Legislative Representatives, State Legislative Directors, and COPE volunteers can supply appropriate registration forms. A similar effort will be made to register retired members.

As a rail union member, voting--and registering to vote--is not merely a civic duty. It is no less a responsibility to you, your family, and your union than paying your bills is your obligation to your family--and for the same reasons. In rail, your paycheck, whether you get home at night, indeed, whether you work at all are determined in large part by who you elect to Congress and to the state legislatures--or by the legislators your enemies elect if you don't register and vote.

* Twenty-three states accept a "universal" voter registration form created by the Federal Elections Commission to register you for all elections in that state. The rest require various additional registration for some elections, usually local. The BMWE will try to furnish the appropriate form for your state. All states accept the universal form as a request for the specific state registration materials. If you live in a state requiring additional paperwork, please complete and return it promptly. Remember, while officially preventing election fraud, complex voter registration procedures are designed by the monied elite--including rail management--to prevent you from using your right to vote to make your and your family's lives better.