We have activated our Democracy Team to lead Maryland UUs in defending our electoral process and our democratic institutions. This means we are looking for people interested in working to register people to vote ahead of the 2024 elections, educate voters and candidates about our priority issues, and help get out the vote on primary and general election days. Many Maryland congregations already have their efforts up and running!
We are doing this as part of the national UU the Vote campaign of the UUA, and we are part of a coalition of UU groups in the Maryland, DC and Virginia region. For those interested in reaching out to voters in other states, we will be linking them to events and activities providing phone banks, text banks, post card writing and letter writing. For those interested in contacting Maryland voters, we have the technology and voting lists to organize the same kinds of activities as well as door-to-door canvassing. We need input and participation from Maryland UU congregations in order to direct our outreach to the best areas to make an impact.
The Team is helping to coordinate activity among UUs and their congregations and with other groups to:
Phase I: Register voters in Maryland communities underrepresented in previous elections, including:
Communities of color (e.g. Latinx, African-American, Native American)
Working-class and poorer communities
New American citizens (immigrants)
People in areas where their values are in a minority and may feel that their votes do not make a difference, and
Youth (only now eligible to vote)
Parents concerned about school Board races due to efforts to censor diversity and historical inequities
Women and others affected by the Reproductive Rights State Constitutional Amendment ballot measure
Phase II: Provide effective educational information supporting our issues, and
Phase III: Run an effective get-out-the-vote (GOTV) operation on and before election day.
To accomplish this, we need UUs willing to work with and support local groups engaged in the same kind of effort. We are hoping that Maryland congregations will establish or continue relationships with groups representing target populations, and their members can join our Democracy Team to share information and coordinate these outreach efforts. Our issue task forces are already working with groups focused on state legislation important to some of our target communities, and they will help us get linked in as well as providing educational material for our second phase.
Since some of our congregations also have members in other states, we will provide information and support for voting in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and West Virginia. If you live outside of Maryland, we also need your participation!
So that we can have a meaningful impact on the 2024 elections, please let us know how you would like to participate, or contact the UU the Vote coordinator at your congregation.
Steve Buckingham
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