 Dear Friend, We are celebrating the prospects for social justice under a new presidential administration. We are proud of what UUs did to make our democracy work at the federal, state, and community levels. Together we helped expand our democracy and improve its health using political but non-partisan tactics. We are deeply, and sincerely, appreciative for the donations of time, materials, money, know-how, enthusiasm, equanimity, and resilience that made our 2020 project possible--and a major success. You were part of a HUGE voter mobilization effort -- nearly 150 million votes cast -- generating more votes than in any American election. UU the Vote shows that all our efforts together reached 3 million voters . So you sharpened our denominational engagement proving that UUs are a small but mighty voting block and supremely capable of moving other voters. Numbers are still coming in, Get Out the Vote figures are being separated from mobilization numbers, but so far we know, with Reeb/UUSJ you leveled up our collective mobilization game. And together we: - Wrote 106,000 postcards led by partners on the ground
- Hosted 36 regional phone/text banks and 9 national UU the Vote phone banks
- Attended 4-7 actions per week, building a core of 973 new active volunteers
- Helped 16 congregations engage, building 11 new electoral teams among them
- Contacted voters in 7 jurisdictions: DC, MD, VA, GA, FL, NC, PA, and TX
We've heard tell: - In PA: 336 volunteers made 19,918 calls, sent 208,702 texts, and registered 572 voters
- In NC: 204 volunteers from 11 congregations took shifts to make 11,413 calls, with 3,757 voicemails and had 1,128 conversations
This all means we did things like: - Wrote postcards to voters in North Carolina who had been purged from the rolls, encouraging them to re-register
- Wrote to voters in Hidalgo County TX, a border region area hit disproportionally by COVID-19, in both English and Spanish; helped eligible voters apply to vote safely by mail
- Helped young voters and college students in Virginia register to vote and remote students apply to vote by mail
- Helped a Latinx advocacy organization in Pennsylvania expand its English-language outreach around voter registration and voter mobilization
- Created a multitouch campaign (postcards, texts, calls, ministerial appeals) to reach out to bilingual Virginia voters from mixed-status families and help register eligible voters in their family and community.
- Reached out to voters in Gwinnett County, GA, a heavily Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) county that had the highest rate of absentee ballot rejections in the state, to help them suss out voting options for the general.
But we were present on November 3rd, as well! - On election day, UUSJ/Reeb took the lead on the national remote voter outreach operation for UU the Vote: we ran an all-day phone bank with live phone bank trainings every 30 minutes and tech support all day, so UUs could spend an hour or two of their election day making calls to critically important swing precincts in NC and PA.
- And Many UUs, including 56 from our congregations, traveled to PA and northern VA to participate in voter guardian programs at polling places, offering interpretation services, clerical support, voter assistance and other kinds of direct support.
So we showed up in force throughout the 2020 election season! It is true, important races locally and nationally have been defined by close margins, including the Presidential race, therefore: mail-in ballots and votes are still being counted, victors being declared, recounts and runoffs proceed and legal cases loom. We all need to be vigilant about the role of the Courts. Indeed, UUSJ has much to research on what new legislation is likely to be introduced, what has a chance to pass Congress, and which legislators are key to the success of legislation that will move the nation forward along UU values. But just now, at this moment, in this season, with Reeb/UUSJ you stood-up to: - Combat voter suppression and help remove the obstacles that keep people from voting. We kept a laser-like focus on this issue.
- Build out the strength and capacity of electoral organizations in all participating congregations. We built real, lasting partnerships, both among our congregations and with partner organizations on the ground.
- Engage in meaningful projects with measurable impact. We are redefining UU electoral work as a year-round effort that encompasses advocacy and accountability work.
We have profound gratitude for all that you enabled. You should be proud of what you helped accomplish. Your individual and collective engagement shows the power of UU movement building and points to what is possible for UU projects and organizations. UUSJ invites you to join us as we shift into holding newly elected officials accountable to UU values and principles. Let's take these election results home for social justice. Kelsey Cowger |
