Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; and deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:3-4
Our Church & Society/Social Justice Committee is organizing a postcard writing campaign through the Center For Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote (CFCG/ROV).
The goal of the campaign is to contact marginalized voters in states where voter suppression efforts are underway. The non-partisan message encourages voters to check their registration status and vote. If you want to participate in the postcard writing campaign, contact Sue Porter at seporter29@gmail.com. It’s easy to participate because Sue prepares packets with postcards, instructions, stamps and the names and addresses of postcard recipients. The cost is $9.00.
Started in 2018, CFCG/ROV is a non-partisan voting rights organization led by people of color. “Our mission is to empower under-represented voters to fully participate in democracy”.
CFCG/ROV also offers many programs including phone banking and texting campaigns. During the 2020 election they engaged and recruited younger, more diverse, student-run groups on high school and college campuses, for weekly, youth-led phone banking events called the Callapalooza.
Below is information from their 2020 Annual Report. For the 2022 Mid-term election, they will continue to be active in the same ways, if not more.
- Through billboards they reached out to find voters where they live and work, meeting voters where they are. For rural voters, CFCG/ROV purchased more than 100 billboards. For urban voters, CFCG/ROV used mobile truck billboards.
- Technology: When suddenly Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia offered early voting in 2020, there were no texting solutions that could look up the closest early voting location for voters, so CFCG/ROV designed Text-Per-Cent to text voters the Election Day precinct address.
- Election Protection: The See Something/Say Something project in 2020 informed voters how to report election suppression or interference. An electronic map of election incidents was developed to track them. In addition to the incident report, images and videos can also be included for documentation and proof. CFCG/ROV advertised www.seesay2020.com using billboards, phone banking and texting, then provided training to election protection leaders throughout the country. Students for Justice received all incoming posts, and the legal team directed the most urgent posts to local Election Protector partners.
- Give a Ride is ROV’s ‘Souls to the Polls’ app: Volunteer drivers were organized to provide transportation for voters who didn’t have transportation to voting locations. This is especially important in rural areas.
- Community Engagement:
– In the Notorious RVG (Ruthless Vote Getter) CFCG/ROV embarked on a tour of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. CFCG/ROV meet voters in low-investment communities (communities that don’t receive organizing dollars, have no progressive organizations and often no political parties) and rural communities. They held fish fries, registration check-ins, and distributed information about the upcoming election.
– Through the Democracy Centers Program, CFCG/ROV bring the resources and support needed (laptops, tablets, organizing training, digital tools, etc.) to expand the capacity of local organizations to influence and direct public policies and decision-making for their benefit.
- Students for Justice Internship Program (SFJ) is a non-partisan initiative for which the Center for Common Ground serves as both fiscal sponsor and partner. It is a paid internship program developed in 2020 to engage college students in work related CFCG’s mission, especially the struggle to fight systemic voter suppression, voter apathy and the need to engage young people in the electoral process.
To read more of the work of the Center for Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote, view their full 2020 Annual Report.