MoveOn sees over 1 million new members join since March 1

MoveOn said it has seen a massive spike in its membership since the outbreak of the coronavirus and is revising its 2020 election strategy to defeat President Trump.

The progressive advocacy group said more than 1 million new members have joined since March 1, during which time MoveOn said it has seen more advocacy on its platform than during any month in “many years.”

Much of that activism has come in the form of petition signatures for campaigns that have picked up momentum during the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 1, the group has recorded more than 2 million signatures for campaigns about canceling student loan debt, urging television networks to stop carrying Mr. Trump’s press briefings on coronavirus live, rent forgiveness, and other matters.

“These petitions speak to the new world we’re operating in — with millions of people losing their jobs and health care and the medical system facing tremendous strain —and speak to issues of flattening the curve, stopping the spread of misinformation, and getting economic relief to the people in desperate need,” a spokesman for MoveOn said in a statement.

The group also has begun changing its tactics, anticipating the need to continue organizing and campaigning remotely in the era of social distancing. MoveOn is now prioritizing vote-by-mail advocacy over other issues it had expected to dominate in 2020.

“MoveOn is revisiting its general election strategy — for example, door-to-door canvassing may make less sense, whereas focusing on making sure there is a robust vote by mail option in every state is suddenly more important,” the MoveOn representative said.

The group’s members also have been messaging other members to share guidance on staying home to flatten the coronavirus curve.

The push for expanded vote-by-mail for the November elections has mobilized quickly since social distancing guidelines gripped states nationwide. Last month, Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Ron Wyden of Oregon partnered with the liberal group Stand Up America to push for emergency legislation to fund states’ attempts to reach voters in quarantine or social distancing.

The Democratic senators introduced the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020, which includes several provisions to expand America’s early and absentee voting capabilities, and pushed for the $400 million in election assistance funding included in the coronavirus relief package passed by Congress.

Mr. Trump and Republican leadership in the Senate are fighting against expanded vote-by-mail.

“Republicans should fight very hard” against new mail-in voting plans because of the “tremendous potential for voter fraud,” the president tweeted Wednesday.