This is how you can text your elected officials

At this point, many of us have our elected officials on speed dial. We’ve also grown accustomed to the dreaded busy signal or automated voice informing us that “this mailbox is currently full.” Luckily, there’s a now a way to text your local officials — the new service Resistbot will turn your messages into faxes that are sent to Congress.

Whether you want your congressperson to oppose the Affordable Care Act replacement, block the revised Muslim ban, or take any other action, text “resist” to 50409.

Resistbot makes the process super easy — enter your name and zip code, the service finds your local elected officials, and you’re prompted to write what you want to say to them. Messages can be as long or as short as you want.

Once Resistbot has all your info, you’ll be asked to confirm that it’s correct, then the service will turn your text into a fax that’s sent directly to the offices of your elected officials.

By default, the bot sends your message to your two senators — but you can provide a little more information and request that your text is faxed to your House representative as well. (A small extra step that we definitely recommend!)

According to Resistbot’s website, the service is a volunteer operation run by a group of concerned citizens who are “deeply opposed to nearly all of the actions taken by the Trump administration.”

“We built this to faithfully deliver the voice of the grassroots to Congress," Resistbot's founders state.

These times require our vigilance and resistance — and Resistbot is an accessible, practical way to communicate our concerns to our elected officials. Just be sure to remember that phone calls are still the most tried and true method — so we’ll still be calling offices quite regularly for the foreseeable future.