Social Justice Team Discussion on Zoom

If you are wondering what actions you can take over the summer to help preserve our democracy, the Social Justice Team plans to continue our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts during July and August.  These activities will include post-carding and learning more about our country’s electoral system.  Anyone who is interested can participate.  We do not have the specifics on the post-carding campaign yet but plan to email the details as soon as we have them to those who expressed interest. We have email addresses for those who participated in the April post- carding session.  If you did not participate in April but would like to participate over the summer, please contact Dody Adkins-Perry adkinsperry@gmail.com; Lois Aldrich lois.aldrich63@gmail.com; or Bill Howe whowe53@gmail.com to add your name to our list.

Learning Opportunities

In addition to post-carding, the Social Justice Team plans to offer educational opportunities for congregation members to learn more about our voting system and the potential challenges our country will face in this election year.  Our first educational topic will be the Electoral College.  Please click on the following link if you would like to learn more about the Electoral College:

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/electoral-college-explained

Then on Monday, July 29, at 6:00 pm, we will offer an opportunity (via ZOOM) for those who have read the article to share their feedback.  We also plan to use this time to hear your thoughts and concerns about our democracy and your ideas on what other actions we as UUs can take to preserve our democracy.  The Zoom link for this discussion is https://zoom.us/j/98755358664.

Questions to consider

Here are some questions you might consider in preparing for the discussion:

1.When was the Electoral College established? Why was this system chosen?

2.How are the origins of the Electoral College racist?

3.What is the National Popular Vote (NPV) Interstate Compact? How would it impact the Electoral College?

4.Why is the NPV a more likely alternative than abolishing the Electoral College?

5.What are your feelings on the Electoral College versus a National Popular Vote?

Personal planning

If you are more interested in pursuing activities on an individual basis, attached is a link to a checklist titled “Your Personal Plan to Help Save Our Democracy.” Organized by the UUSJ Democracy Action Team, the checklist includes 50 actions individuals can take to strengthen our democracy.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L2nmUuQUPeXEh39D9RW-3zEVKfrfLKWX/view

Thank you in advance for your participation!  Looking forward to working with you over the summer!!