PEG 12th Congressional District Newsletter 286

26 Days until November Midterm Elections!!

“When I was asked how to get organized, I was told two words: Heather Booth.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren

Don’t miss the free zoom interview with Heather Booth, the founder of JANE, an underground abortion service in 1965, before Roe. Chuck Newman will be interviewing her on Conversations on Wednesday, October 19 at 2 pm ET. A video of this show will also be shown at 7:30 pm ET that evening. She is the most influential person you have never heard of. 

View the trailer by clicking here of the movie of her story, Heather Booth, Changing the World, and be awed and inspired.

Click here to register. A link to both showings will be sent to registrants.

By registering, thanks to Distill Social, you will also get free admission to a showing of the major motion picture, Call Jane, starring Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Banks, that is based upon the story of the Janes. The showing and an afterglow will be on Monday, October 24 at 7 pm at the Michigan theater in Ann Arbor. 

Events and Ways to GOTV

Support our friends at Nextgen with their Michigan Ground Game to GOTV

There are new event every week registering voters. Learn more and Sign up to get involved here.

• Wednesdays. Tabling Event at EMU Lobby. Eastern Michigan University Student Center, 900 Oakwood St. Ypsilanti. Sign up here. 2–4 pm ET
• Wednesdays. Register Students to VOTE at WSU Farmer’s Market. Wayne State University. Woodward Avenue & West Warren Avenue Park. Detroit, 48201. Sign up here. 10 am
• Wednesdays. Weekly Tabling Event at MSU. Michigan State University International Center. 427 N. Shaw Ln, East Lansing, 48824. Sign up here. 11 am – 2 pm 

Now is the time to Volunteer and Vote if you care about the fate of our democracy

Voters Not Politicians                                                               

Particularly crucial is Proposition 2, a ballot proposal also known as Promote the Vote, which provides safeguards to the electoral process. It will put significant voting rights directly into the Michigan Constitution, thereby enhancing the integrity of our elections and protecting the vote of every eligible Michigan voter.

We must promote Proposition 2 by canvassing at every opportunity. Promote the Vote is in desperate need of more volunteers. If you are interested in contributing to this effort, please go to votersnotpoliticians.com/volunteer. Remember, those who wish to suppress the vote haven’t lost time, going on the street and airwaves with outright lies. We must counteract their duplicity.

One Campaign For Michigan                                                                                

Another avenue for volunteerism is through the ONE Campaign for Michigan. On their website, you can sign up to talk to voters both about the two vital propositions (Promote the Vote and Reproductive Rights) and a wonderful slate of Democratic candidates, most notably, of course, Governor Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, both running for reelection. 

If you sign up to campaign and you’re nervous about calling strangers, never fear. You’ll receive training on phone-banking with an expert over Zoom.

DemCast.Com
If you wish to volunteer in the safety of your own home, you can do so through the website, DemCast.com. Describing themselves as a “digital movement,” they and their army of volunteers are dedicated to opposing the GOP’s network of lies on social media. DemCast uses Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to message the truth. You can join this effort by going to their website.

Become an election worker in Michigan!

Many communities in Michigan still have a high need for more poll workers, who affiliate as either Republican or Democrat to help ensure balanced staffing, to work the November Election. Can you help?

If you think you might like to sign-up you must first watch the 5 min Election Worker Intro video to learn about the responsibilities of working as election inspector in Michigan, and about the eligibility requirements for serving. Then select the “Next” button to complete your sign-up form. (If you have already signed up through Democracy MVP, you do not need to sign up again.)

You can also apply in-person at any local clerk’s office in Michigan, not just your own. Locate a local clerk by county HERE.

Once you’ve applied please wait for a local clerk to contact you. In order to serve as an election inspector in Michigan, you must be officially hired and trained by an election clerk’s office. If you have questions about your application status, rate of pay, training schedule, or placement please contact the election clerk’s office where you applied.

While you wait it’s helpful to review the Democracy MVP Election Worker Resource Library to prepare you for the election in November. It has great videos, materials, and other resources. Thank you for considering helping!

Sending letters for an hour can be an important contribution to electing your candidates 

Want to know which candidates for nonpartisan offices share your values? Your friends and neighbors want to know who to vote for as well. Learn how you can find out and help others do so too, by emailing chuck@LBA80.com. It’s easy and important.

Promote the Vote – Support Prop 2

Volunteer, Learn more about Why we need to Vote YES on Prop 2, and Donate!

To Volunteer, Click HERE

Why Vote YES on Prop 2?

Donate Here

Sources for Prop 2 images to download and share!

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Visit the PEG website for the full list and details of Upcoming Events

Things to read, watch, and listen to

Be sure college students know how to vote!

College students who are US citizens have two choices:

Register to vote using your student address or register using your permanent home address. Go to https://www.govote.umich.edu/ to register! What’s on the ballot? Check out the ballots at BallotReady.org or vote411.org. MLive reviewed how students at UM, EMU and MSU can vote.

And check out the UMMA (UM Museum of Art) for their efforts on registering students “Vote 2022: Midterms Matter.”

Decriminalizing Marijuana

Honoring a campaign promise, President Biden issued an executive order last Thursday, pardoning people with a federal marijuana offense. He also asked for consideration of “marijuana’s standing on the Controlled Substances Act” by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. “Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” our president said.

According to a Gallup poll, almost 70% of the American people support this action, including 50% of Republicans polled.

Patrice Willoughby, vice president of policy and legislative affairs at the NAACP, called Biden’s action “a step towards restorative justice” as the criminalization of marijuana has primarily impacted people of color who’ve been prosecuted and convicted more intensely than white people. 

This ironic caption expresses the lack of experience and qualifications of these GOP candidates                                           

The first, Matthew DePerno, who opposes Dana Nessel for Michigan’s attorney general, is being investigated for his alleged role in illegally accessing voting machine equipment. He has no legislative or political experience, only winning the Republican nomination as he had Trump’s backing because of his involvement in attempts to overturn the Michigan election results.                                                                  

The central figure in the cartoon, Kristina Karamo, is similarly lacking in experience and qualifications for the Michigan job she is running for—Secretary of State. She only came into prominence after working as a poll challenger in Detroit, alleging fraud in the counting of absentee ballots. As with DePerno, Trump endorsed her for her role in asserting the Big Lie.                                                                    

Tom Barrett, a Michigan State Senator, is running for the US House seat in Michigan’s newly configured seventh district, currently held by Elissa Slotkin, a moderate Democrat who voted with Biden 100% of the time. According to Ron Bieber, President of Michigan’s AFL-CIO, Barrett’s main priority is supporting the interests of “the wealthy and well-connected,” and he’s voted against key issues for working families, netting him a failing grade in representing labor.

The GOP expands its hate-filled culture war

This past week the news has been laden with racist and antisemitic comments by MAGA Republicans. From GOP Sen Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) racist comments at a Trump rally to Ye’s (aka Kanye West) post on Twitter that he was going “death con 3” on Jewish people to Doug Mastriano’s multiple attacks on Josh Shapiro for sending his children to a Jewish school, suggesting that “people not like us” are Jewish people, the Republicans seem to be escalating the culture war. According to Robert Hubbell, Republicans are trying to turn people like Ye into free-speech heroes whose antisemitic views are just another example of robust political discourse. –Rolling Stone

On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, its holiest of holidays, there was a resurgence of hate acts directed towards Jews. Writing in the Free Press, columnist Mitch Albom, notes that even more worrisome, are the antisemitic acts of hatred that occur during the rest of the year. “The Anti-Defamation League said 2021 saw an average of seven incidents per day of assault, harassment or vandalism against Jews.” That’s not counting the acts of sheer terror such as the shooting in the Pittsburgh synagogue which killed 11 and wounded six.

Perhaps most troubling is that antisemitism is often omitted from the efforts or organizations whose mission is diversity. The group StopAntisemitism, which surveyed 25 top universities in 2022, found that while 55% of students reported experiencing antisemitism on their campuses, only three schools even included Jews in DEI initiatives.

Robert Hubbell suggests that “as painful as it is to watch, we should take solace in the fact that for every bigoted voter the GOP motivates by using hate speech, they offend dozens of potential voters who are the targets of that speech…. Bullies and demagogues like Tuberville and Trump are counting on most people to be silent in the face of their vitriol.” As Hubbell noted, “Silence is complicity. Complicity based in cowardice. We must be neither silent nor afraid but must instead raise our voices in righteous indignation and condemnation. The targets of the GOP’s hate speech are looking nervously to see who will rise to their defense. That must be us.”

Election Season At a Glance: 

The Washtenaw County Clerk’s webpage enumerates in detail the elections, proposals and candidates to date. A few of the important remaining dates are listed below.

November 8 – State General Election

To vote absentee, a request must be received no later than 5 pm the Friday before the election. The ballot must then be returned by 8 pm on Election Day.

What are the voter registration deadlines?

Visit MichiganGov/Vote to register

• October 24: Last day to register in any manner other than in-person with the local clerk for the November general election. (168.497)
• October 25 through 8 pm on November 8: In-person registration with local clerk with proof of residency. (168.497)

Register to Vote here

mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Home/RegisterToVote

Search for your voter information

https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index

Information you might find here:

• Registration Status
• Polling place location and hours
• View a sample ballot
• Track an absentee ballot, and more

Search for your voter information

• Enter the required information. Required fields are marked with an asterisk *.
• Search by address or by driver’s license   

It tells you

• Your City/Township and County
• If you are registered
• Your election calendar: including election date, election description, ballot preview*
• Your precinct, polling location, election day hours, dropbox locations
• Your clerk and contact information
• Absentee ballot status
• All voter district information

Ballot preview* – View

• Allows you to view your upcoming ballot
• The nonpartisan portion does NOT show party affiliation
• If you live in Washtenaw County, the 2022 Democratic Voter Guide provides suggestions for partisan and non-partisan races.

Voter Protection Hotline