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Reclaim Our Vote Campaign

In 2022, The American Ethical Union issued two statements; one marking the first anniversary of the January 6th US Capitol Attack and the other on the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. What do both of these statements have in common? That we, the AEU, acknowledge the ongoing threats to our democracy and the damage that these threats are inflicting on our nation. While we suggested multiple actions that one could take to stand up to these injustices, one is quite pertinent with the upcoming November midterms: voting. Since the end of 2020, the AEU Ethical Action Committee coordinated participation across the AEU in the Center for Common Ground’s Reclaim Our Vote campaign. Since late 2017, this initiative has played a vital role in combatting voter suppression. This project’s overwhelming success in involving Society members from across our Movement in a common social action is cause for celebration and may serve as a model for organizing similar initiatives in the future.

With all of the horrors plaguing our country, why focus on voter suppression? The answers are as sobering as they are simple. Eligible voters of color are being purged from voter rolls at a much higher rate than white voters. People in minority communities were already struggling to reach the voting booth in voter-suppression states, due to the implementation of strict new voter ID laws, a reduction in polling places and/or early voting days, and many other tactics. That’s why our Societies have stepped up in the fight for voters’ rights by conducting postcard-writing campaigns to the very people that Reclaim Our Vote is reaching out to.

Volunteers from the the New York Society for Ethical Culture conducted its own postcard-writing campaign, packaging over 65,000 to voters in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. In addition to encouraging their participation, the envelopes also contained county-specific early voting information with instructions on securing transportation for those who are unable to go to their polling stations. Volunteers from the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture organized postcard-writing events to help encourage first-time and disenfranchised voters to go to the polls this year. They held three events including two in partnership with Congregation Beth Elohim. In total, volunteers of all ages helped create several hundred postcards during each event, and in total, they mailed a few thousand postcards. Volunteers from the Westchester Community for Ethical Culture sent 1,200 postcards to disenfranchised voters in Macon, Georgia with the goal of encouraging them to vote in their state’s midterm elections.

The AEU would like to thank the volunteers from NYSEC who helped initiate the project and all the members from the following Societies who participated in this nationwide ethical action:

As recent events have made clear, the right to vote and participate in fair elections is still under attack in the US, and it is up to all of us to defend our democratic freedoms. Keep an eye out for our upcoming All-Society Platform devoted to this issue on October 30th!