ABDUL FOR SENATE // MICHIGAN
Internal Digital & Field Operations Memo — Enter passcode to view
1. The Problem: E-Day Confusion & The "Slack Wall"
Election Day is going to be chaotic—precinct confusion, long campus lines, last-minute turf shifts, and urgent rapid-response needs. When things break fast on E-Day, we need as many communication channels open as possible to get people to the right place at the right time.
Right now, we have a massive blind spot with young volunteers and gamers because of a platform barrier:
- 22-Year-Olds Don't Use Slack: Slack is corporate office software. Thousands of 22-year-olds haven't worked a corporate job in this economy—they don't know what Slack is, they don't have it on their phones, and they will never download a workplace app for the final 12 days of a campaign.
- They Live on Discord: Discord is already installed and running on their phones and desktops. When a captain drops an urgent E-Day update, Discord delivers an instant mobile push notification to people who would otherwise miss an email or never log into Slack.
2. The Solution: A Two-Channel "Broadcast + Huddle" Server
We are not proposing a sprawling community server that staff has to babysit. We (the Tech Nerds) will build and manage a locked-down, ultra-simple setup that requires zero extra workflow from organizing staff:
- #start-here-rules (Read-Only): Pinned links to official polling place locators, the Voter Protection hotline, mobilize shifts, and basic rules.
- #captain-announcements (Read-Only): Connected via an automated, one-way Slack-to-Discord webhook. When a captain posts an announcement in Slack, it mirrors to Discord automatically in real time. Nobody can reply, troll, or clutter the feed.
- #gamer-coordination (Single Active Channel): One text channel where verified volunteers and gamers can coordinate GOTV streams, campus walk-ins, rides to the polls, and peer-to-peer turnout.
3. Security Reality Check: Discord vs. Salesforce/Slack
The Concern: Does Discord hand things over to "the government" more easily than Salesforce/Slack?
The Reality: No—and there will be zero sensitive data on Discord to hand over anyway.
| 🔒 What Stays 100% on Salesforce / Slack | 📣 What Goes on Discord |
|---|---|
| Internal campaign strategy & staff deliberations | Public volunteer announcements already blasted by captains |
| Voter file data (VAN), donor records & personal info (PII) | Public GOTV shift links & polling place locator tools |
| Private organizing turf & sensitive field metrics | Gamers coordinating public streams & getting friends to vote |
- Zero Exposure: Even if someone screenshotted the entire Discord server and posted it on the front page of the internet, it would pose zero legal, strategic, or compliance risk because everything in it is already public-facing mobilization info.
- Identical Legal Protections: As U.S. companies, both Discord and Salesforce/Slack are governed by the exact same federal privacy laws and require formal legal orders before disclosing user data (see Addendum 1 below).
4. Built-In Guardrails & 30-Minute Rollout
To guarantee this takes 0% of your staff's bandwidth over the final 12 days, the four of us will own the setup and moderation end-to-end:
- Phone/Email Verification & Slowmode: Only verified Discord accounts can type in #gamer-coordination, and we can toggle "Slowmode" on E-Day to keep the chat orderly.
- Automated Keyword Blocking (AutoMod): Native filters will automatically block slurs, external spam links, and any phone numbers or street addresses before a message ever posts (preventing anyone from pasting voter PII).
- DMs Locked Down: Server privacy defaults will block unsolicited direct messages between members.
- Auto-Sunset: On November 4, we lock the server into archive mode and shut it down.
Addendum 1: Legal & Data Privacy Comparison (Discord vs. Salesforce/Slack)
Reference sheet on how Discord Inc. and Salesforce Inc. (Slack) handle government data requests:
- Same Governing Federal Law: Because both Discord and Salesforce/Slack are U.S.-headquartered electronic communication service providers, both are bound by the exact same federal statute: the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.), alongside the Wiretap Act and Pen Register Act. Neither platform can legally volunteer private communications to the government upon request.
- Identical Legal Thresholds to Compel Data: Both platforms strictly require verified legal process before producing any user records:
- Subpoena: Compels only basic subscriber registration details (username, email, IP logs, account creation date).
- Court Order (18 U.S.C. § 2703(d)): Required to compel non-content metadata and transaction logs.
- Search Warrant (Probable Cause): Required by both Discord and Salesforce/Slack before disclosing the actual content of any messages.
- Mandatory User Notification Policies: Both Discord and Salesforce maintain formal policies to notify users/customers prior to disclosing data in response to legal requests, unless explicitly prohibited by a federal court non-disclosure (gag) order under 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b).
- Transparency & Narrow Tailoring: Both companies publish regular Law Enforcement Transparency Reports and employ dedicated legal teams that challenge overly broad, vague, or procedurally defective requests.
- Ephemeral Deletion vs. Enterprise Retention: When we sunset and delete the Discord server on November 4, all channels and message histories are permanently queued for purging from Discord's servers—leaving zero lingering data footprint.
Bottom Line: Using Discord for public volunteer coordination introduces zero additional legal or government surveillance risk compared to Slack, while keeping all sensitive campaign operations strictly segregated inside our existing enterprise infrastructure.