All of us are processing the results of the 2024 Presidential Election, but we need to take the time to celebrate the efforts of many UUs who participated in outreach to voters in Maryland as well as other states.
In prior elections, very few UUs were interested in contacting Maryland voters, even in 2022 when the state elected a new Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller while filling every seat in the Senate and House of Delegates. But 2024 was different. Not only were UUs motivated to get out the vote for the Presidential race, but our state also had a contested election for US Senate to replace the retiring Ben Cardin and a very close race for House of Representatives in Western Maryland’s 6th District. In addition, several counties had contested elections for School Board where book banning and diversity curricula were debated. Finally, voters had to affirm the vote of the General Assembly to incorporate reproductive rights into the State Constitution.
As a nonprofit faith group, UULM-MD could not support or oppose parties or candidates, but we could (and did) support the ballot measure on Reproductive Rights. While many of us also engaged in partisan electioneering, UULM-MD strictly adhered to the IRS rules that limited our work to voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts.
Working in coalition with many Maryland congregations, we got many people involved including:
Voter Registration
The Baltimore congregation’s Page Bacon (an approved instructor) trained and certified 29 UUs to assist residents file paper registration forms.
Voter registration tables were set up at various locations around the state by several congregations and over twenty UUs helped many to become new voters
UULM-MD printed 10,000 postcards designed by Ashley Egan with help from others. These postcards included QR codes that directed people to voter resources including: where they could register to vote, or to request mail-in ballots, identify their polling place, and other services. These postcards were distributed at University of Maryland, College of Southern Maryland, and St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Voter Education & Outreach
We designed an distrubuted 10,000 Voting Postcards and 5,000 Reproductive Rights Postcards.
With the assistance of members of Rockville, River Road, Columbia, Channing, Davies, and Baltimore, we sent targeted postcard messages to over 3,400 registered voters who were too young to have votes in the 2020 Presidential Election.
Additional postcards were sent to voters by UUs in Frederick, Silver Spring, Cedar Lane, Paint Branch, Annapolis, and Goodloe Learning Center, as well as a smaller mailing of Reproductive Rights Amendment to young women voters in Calvert County.
Helped distribute 200 yard signs with a Thurgood Marshall quote: "This is OUR democracy. Protect it. Pass it on."
Created and Distributed 40 yard signs to “Vote Yes” on the Reproductive Rights Amendment
Ursula Scott of River Road wrote articles about early voting and checking your voter registration these articles were available to any congregation for their publications.
Canvassing
Eastern Shore: Joyce Dowling of the Easton congregation canvassed in Cambridge with lists we supplied for areas with new home construction
Maryland Poor People's Campaign (MD PPC): UULM-MD partnered with MD PPC to canvass low-income, infrequent voters. (We will be working with MD PPC to partner on legislation in the upcoming General Assembly Session)
Western Maryland-- Led by Steve Buckingham and the MD PPC, five UUs from Frederick canvassed in Hagerstown, MD.
The Maryland work was managed by a team of leaders from multiple congregations:
Emily Untermeyer, Rockville – overall leader of the group
Paige Bacon – Baltimore – our voter registration instructor
Kari Alperovitz-Bichell – Annapolis – our link to the Reproductive Rights group
Ursula Scott – River Road
Shira Ehrlich & Andrew Batcher – Cedar Lane
Ken Rock - Columbia
Jim Caldiero – Channing
Bob Cornet, Kathleen Rall, Carol Fisher – Frederick
Kathi Yu – Paint Branch
Ron Verdonk – Davies
Joyce Dowling – Easton
Rev. Katherine Adams – Chester River
Florence Fultz - Silver Spring
Betty McGarvie Crowley - Riderwood
Kellie Rolstad – Goodloe Learning Center
Special thanks goes to our Coordinator, Ashley Egan, for supporting this effort!
This just scratches the surface of what Maryland congregations and their members did, especially since they also send letters and postcards and did phone- and text-banking to voters in other states under the auspices of the regional UU the Vote group that included the Virginia UU State Action Network and All Souls DC’s Reeb Project. In addition, many UUs worked in support of parties and candidates as individuals or with other groups.
In the end, Maryland elected its first African American woman to the U.S. Senate, added two women to the House of Representatives (replacing men who had chosen not to run again), and the Reproductive Rights Amendment passed, adding these rights to the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Please join us in thanking all of those who participated!
In the end, Maryland elected its first African American woman to the U.S. Senate, added two women to the House of Representatives (replacing men who had chosen not to run again), and the Reproductive Rights Amendment passed, adding these rights to the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
Please join us in thanking all of those who participated!
Commentaires