by Director of Social Justice Rev. Lisa Schilansky
It’s hard to turn on the news or scroll social media without feeling the high stakes of our time. It can feel immobilizing or perhaps like voter suppression is inevitable. This overwhelm, this despair, that is by design. I invite you to care for our nation and to care for our spirit by channeling these anxieties into action steps.
The first thing you can do is to inform yourself and others by helping to counter the misinformation that is flying around about this election. The Supreme Court ruled on the 14th that the federal government does not have the authority to fully overhaul mail-in voting this close to the Midterm elections. Here in Pennsylvania we know that our elections are secure and that it is legal and valid to vote by mail. Voting advocates recommend that people vote early by placing their mail in ballots into official drop boxes or at election satellite offices. You must be the one to transport your own ballot unless you have a disability and have assigned an official designated agent to deliver it for you. This can be assigned here. If you would like to give people rides to their polling places or to the ballot drop boxes, you can sign up with Drive Your Ballot .
There are many ways to get involved from home. You can phonebank with the great nonpartisan PA group Promote the Vote PA and can sign up here. There is also lots to do out in the community! Poll workers and poll watchers are needed to ensure safe and secure elections. You can apply to be a poll worker here and can learn more about protecting our elections with the nonpartisan coalition being pulled together by POWER Interfaith. UU Justice PA will be organizing doorknocking this fall. Sign up to learn more here.
There is lots to do and the most effective work starts with community. Please join me for a UU the Vote launch rally this Sunday at 11:30am in the Main Meeting Room. Lunch and childcare will be provided. Together we can get fired up for the work ahead and also take action right then and there. We need all of us this election season and I am so excited to work with you all to make a difference this Fall.
If you sign up for any of the above initiatives or if you want to talk about ways to get connected to election-related work at MLUC and beyond, please contact me here.
Thanks everyone, let’s Get out the Vote and make a real impact together!