The Non-Violins Marching Band (NVMB), a local advocacy group whose name is a play on ‘nonviolence’ and the fact that the group plays violas, filmed a video urging Coloradans to get out and vote, specifically voting by mail, in the 2020 General Election.
In the video, which can be found on NVMB’s Facebook page, the group used popular songs — with some altered lyrics — to convey the importance of voting. The NVMB then made their way to the Highland Recreation Center, serving as a polling place this year, and to a local post office.
One of the songs the NVMB played was a cover of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” by Stevie Wonder. Here are the altered lyrics:
“It’s time to vote and now it’s up to you, change the president it’s what we can do.
Let’s vote! Do it now! Signed, sealed, delivered, let’s vote!
By ballot box and by post office too, voting early is the best thing to do.
Let’s vote! Do it now! Signed, sealed, delivered, let’s vote!”
The NVMB is a group of violists who initially met playing for the Colorado Symphony. They decided to form a group before the Women’s March in 2017 and have since been performing at climate action events, healthcare rallies, and other events in the Denver community.
Helen McDermott, one of the founders of the NVMB, said the purpose behind their get out the vote campaign was to emphasize the influence citizens can have on issues they care about when they exercise their right to vote.
“I think the best way to advance progressive causes is to make sure that people vote,” McDermott said. “And the best way to get your vote counted is to vote early, so we’re telling people to get their vote in now.”
Another song by the group was sung to the tune of “This Little Light of Mine” with these lyrics:
“This little vote of mine, I’ll get it in on time. U.S. Mail, U.S. Mail, U.S. Mail.”
With two weeks until the Nov. 3 election 1.1 million Coloradans had already returned their ballots, slightly less than a third of Colorado’s active voters.
Trump’s continued attacks against voting by mail have been widely debunked as baseless. Colorado has one of the most efficient mail voting systems in the country.
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Voters can find their nearest ballot boxes or polling locations here.
For answers to commonly asked questions about voting, and voting by mail, the Colorado Secretary of State website has an FAQ page.