Melinda Billingsley - Voters Not Politicians Education Fund

Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall is part of the larger 2024 My City Votes Campaign

Grand Rapids’ LINK UP hosted a town hall Wednesday evening devoted to educating the public about new Michigan voting laws.

The Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall is bringing together community leaders along with Kent County and Grand Rapids government officials focused on helping community members navigate new voting laws. In particular, new voting rights enacted with the passages of Proposal 2. That includes early voting of up to nine days before election day and absentee voting.

“Once you sign up to be absentee, that is going to be forever.”

Erica Bouldin is a Climate Justice Organizers at Urban Core Collective.

“So, you don’t have to go back every single year and update that. And you don’t have to be disabled or out of the country or anything like that.”

“We’re also going to be expanding the requirements for absentee ballot drop boxes across the state.”

Charlie Beall is Director of Education Programs at Voters Not Politicians Education Fund. He explained seamless and secure access for voters is the goal.

“These new rights need a lot of education across the state so that voters know what their menu of options looks like.”

Melinda Billingsley explained the Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall is part of the larger 2024 My City Votes Campaign sponsored by Voters Not Politicians Education Fund.

“It’s just really important that voters in every community, but especially in communities that have been historically marginalized in our democracy get access to this information.”

This story was originally published by WGVU Public Media. Read more here: https://www.wgvunews.org/news/2023-12-07/grand-rapids-voter-access-town-hall-is-part-of-the-larger-2024-my-city-votes-campaign

Press Release: VOTERS ED FUND TO HOST VOTER ACCESS TOWN HALL WITH LOCAL GRAND RAPIDS LEADERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Melinda Billingsley
melinda@votersnotpoliticians.com
626-346-8460

Voters Not Politicians Education Fund To Host Voter Access Town Hall With Local Grand Rapids Leaders

Town Hall will provide community with opportunity to hear about new voting laws and engage with various local leaders on voter engagement and ballot access

Grand Rapids – On Wednesday, December 6th at 6pm, Voters Not Politicians Education Fund (Voters Ed Fund), in partnership with the Urban Core Collective, Community Collaboration on Climate Change, LINC UP, NAACP Greater Grand Rapids, and Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities will host the “Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall” with local elected leaders to discuss how to navigate new changes to Michigan’s voting laws, address expectations of voter turnout, and answer questions from the community.

With less than three months before Michigan’s first election with new statewide voting laws takes place, Voters Not Politicians Education Fund is conducting a statewide education campaign to allow voters to hear directly from their elected officials and learn what has changed as a result of the passage of Prop 22-2. This civic engagement event will equip voters with the proper information to navigate the changes to ballot access and provide an opportunity to discuss voter turnout with various leaders in Grand Rapids. As the state’s second largest city, Grand Rapids serves a wide voter community, and this town hall is another means for Voters Ed Fund to improve voter education and ensure equal access for residents to vote in 2024 and beyond.

“Voters Not Politicians is committed to removing as many unnecessary barriers to voting as possible,” said Lyndon DeFoe, Deputy Education Campaign Manager for Voters Not Politician Education Fund. “This is why we spearheaded the passage of Prop 22-2, worked hard with the State Legislature this year to ensure resources were distributed across Michigan to improve voting access, and are now bringing educational events to local communities across our state. We are proud to hold this event in Grand Rapids – which has a significant Black and Hispanic population – and concentrate our efforts on groups that have had to overcome various barriers to vote. The Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall will allow city leaders to speak directly to their constituents about the importance of voting, and constituents to be critically engaged with their local government. We are extremely grateful to the various partners in Grand Rapids who helped to make this event possible, especially the Urban Core Collective team.” –

“The Urban Core Collective is committed to strengthening and protecting the democratic process as one of the ways that the community is able to leverage our collective power for change. This is why we partnered with Voters Not Politicians to create an opportunity for the public to learn about the voting process and how decisions made by elected officials affect their daily lives.” -Urban Core Collective

Speakers for this event will include Ivan Diaz (Kent County Commissioner), Jose Rodriguez (Grand Rapids Public School Board Member), Lisa Knight (2nd ward City Commissioner), and Joel Hondorp (Grand Rapids City Clerk). The event will be moderated by Kathi Harris (Executive Director of PROACTIVE). Following each speaker’s time allotted remarks, questions will be asked by moderator and attendees.
The Grand Rapids Voter Access Town Hall is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided and attendees are encouraged to register for the event to give event planners an approximate headcount. You can register here or at mobilize.us/vnp.

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Democracy Academy Empowering Civic Engagement: Volunteer Spotlight on Sheila Moore and Our Lansing Workshop

On October 24th, in Lansing, Voters Ed Fund hosted a Democracy Academy workshop that kindled a passion for civic engagement in our attendees. We asked Sheila Moore, an inspiring local democracy advocate who played a pivotal role in facilitating the event, about her experience helping launch Democracy Academy in Lansing.

About the event: Democracy begins at the local level, but many voters are not making their voices heard. Local elections in the odd years barely reach more than 20% voter participation. Democracy Academy’s first class, “Making the Case for GOTV in Local Elections,” seeks to increase voter participation at the local level. The classroom-style workshop focuses on 4 key topics: how our current system encourages low turnout at the local level, the consequences of low voter participation, our recommended techniques to create positive change, and how to encourage others to make local elections a priority.

*Voters Ed Fund volunteer*
*Shelia Moore*

About Sheila: Sheila Moore is an integral member of our volunteer team who helped make the Lansing workshop successful. She informed the class curriculum, performed extensive research to custom-tailor the class, and conducted exhaustive outreach efforts throughout the Lansing area to recruit attendees. We asked her a few questions about her experience helping launch Democracy Academy in Lansing.

What inspired you to volunteer for the Democracy Academy workshop in Lansing? “I wanted to be a part of civic education. Voter registration is essential, however, voter education is vital to elevate voter participation by emphasizing why voting matters.”

What advice or encouragement would you offer to someone considering volunteering for a similar event in the future? “They should jump in and learn about Voters Not Politicians overall and then determine where they would like to target their efforts. There are many ways to get involved.”

Can you share your most memorable moment from the event? “When the participants were made aware of the ballot proposal to amend the Lansing City Charter. I felt it was a light bulb-shining experience because little has been said about it.“

What professional skills or life experiences do you feel served you well in volunteering for this event? “In my career as a researcher with the state legislature, I would be involved in conducting new member orientations where we helped newly elected legislators understand the services we provide and helped them to navigate the landscape of state government and the legislative process. That experience helped me to explain to members how staff services can help them to serve their constituents and to develop policy.”

Do you plan to volunteer with VNP in the future? “I plan to continue to be involved in Voters Not Politicians, Democracy Academy, and the work we plan to do for the 2024 election.”

Would you like to share special thanks or shout-outs to individuals or teams you worked with during the event? “Working with VNP staff Charlie Beall and Alyson Grigsby, and volunteer Verlecia Kelley has been such an enriching experience. Being around people who have a shared passion to empower voters and to strengthen democracy is the fulfillment of something I’ve wanted to be a part of for a long time.”

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? “Our votes matter. The true power is in the collective participation of voters. If that were not true, there wouldn’t be such a battle to keep it!”

Blog: Gearing up to Protect Our Elections – Again!

In partnership with Promote the Vote’s Election Protection Program, Voters Ed Fund is re-launching our Nonpartisan Election Challenger and Observer Recruitment Program for local elections on November 7th.

We are committed to recruiting and training volunteers to protect voters’ rights and help keep Michigan’s elections safe, free, fair, and transparent.

Become an Election Challenger Today!

Voters Ed Fund’s goal is to recruit 250 volunteers who will observe election administrators and poll workers and advocate for voters at risk of voter disenfranchisement at the polls. We are also recruiting volunteers interested in serving as election challengers at early voting sites piloted in select cities throughout the state.

Why do we need nonpartisan election challengers?

Nonpartisan election challengers are crucial to protecting voters from being disenfranchised at their polling place by…

Being the voter’s advocate. A nonpartisan election challenger’s only priority is protecting the rights of the individual voter – not the party or candidates on the ballot.
Monitoring the election process at polling locations, satellite offices, and absent voter counting boards.
Raising an official objection, called a “challenge,” if the challenger does not believe that the poll worker is following Michigan’s election law.

What are the expectations for volunteer election challengers?

Commitment to nonpartisan volunteerism while serving as an election challenger.
Interested in learning about voting rights and how to protect voters from being disenfranchised.
Complete training and assessment before Election Day (appx. 2 hours)
Available on Election Day or during the Early Voting period – We encourage Election Day volunteers to be available the entire day. Still, shorter shifts will be available for those with work and family obligations. Early vote center poll challengers do not need to be available for the whole day.

If you’re ready to observe elections and help protect the fundamental right to vote this Election Day, sign up to be a nonpartisan election challenger today!

See the Summer Success from Voters Ed Fund

During 2023, we at the Voters Ed Fund have been working on three main projects to increase voter education statewide and inform voters about their expanded voting rights:

Proposal 22-2 Implementation: Also known as our Clerk Engagement program, volunteers across the state are working with their local city and township clerks to identify gaps in implementing Proposal 22-2 and provide grassroots support to ensure that Michigan voters can benefit from expanded voting access in next year’s primary elections. In total, we have recruited 222 clerk engagement volunteers across 45 counties, and have received 70 reports from interviews with municipal and county clerks, representing a total of 1,764,110 registered voters.

*Facilitator from APIA Vote leads workshop in Warren.*

Democracy Academy: In 2023, the Voters Ed Fund launched Democracy Academy, a series of in-person workshops to identify short-term and long-term solutions to low voter turnout in municipal elections statewide and expand local civic engagement. Our volunteer-led team has been hard at work over the summer to roll out our pilot workshops featuring our first learning module, Making the Case for Local Election Voter Turnout. We are pleased to announce that we have hosted three workshops in Kalamazoo, Warren, and Monroe, garnering 65 attendees total. Throughout this workshop series, we have partnered with local community organizations including the Kalamazoo NAACP, APIA Vote, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters. We are continuing our statewide tour throughout September with workshops in Lansing on September 9th and in Marquette on September 12th.

My City Votes (MCV): The Voters Ed Fund is working hand-in-hand with local clerks, mayors, and other trusted community leaders across the state to make sure that voters, especially those in underrepresented communities, know their voting options and have confidence in local and state election systems. My City Votes is a strategic collaboration with city officials and community partners to maximize voter education of expanded voting services and critical voting deadlines, prioritizing voters with the lowest propensity to vote. MCV will collaborate with city officials in six communities during the 2023-2024 election cycle: Flint, Pontiac, Grand Rapids, Inkster, Benton Harbor, and Muskegon Heights.

Interested in learning more or getting involved in our education fund programs? Please reach out to Education Programs Manager Alyson Grigsby at alyson@votersnotpoliticians.com.

Blog: Sharing What We Love About Our Democracy (And What We’re Taking on Next)

“Would you like information about your new voting rights, courtesy of Voters Not Politicians? We ended gerrymandering in 2018, expanding voting rights in 2022, and now we’re working on bringing ethics and transparency reforms to our state government.”

This might sound familiar to you if you happened to walk by the nonprofits section of the Ann Arbor Art Fair last month. Organized by the Ann Arbor team of Voters Not Politicians volunteers, the VNP table was a space to share information about the pro-democracy success Voters Not Politicians has achieved in our state. Volunteers passed out flyers that detailed new voting options that are available in Michigan, thanks in part to the thousands of VNP volunteers who gathered over 171,000 signatures to put Proposal 2 on the ballot in 2022.

Volunteers also shared the pro-democracy priorities that Voters Not Politicians is working on right now, including explaining how we can bring ethics and transparency reforms to the legislature and governor’s office, and introducing the problem of, and solutions to, prison gerrymandering. Many attendees were excited and curious to hear about these new avenues of democracy reform, and we look forward to sharing more information and mobilizing the public to enact these changes.

We also had an incredible opportunity to get feedback from everyday Michigan voters on their thoughts of the current state of democracy in Michigan and in the country as a whole. Several attendees took the time to share their thoughts on our democracy and on Voters Not Politicians’ growing pro-democracy movement, including a mother interviewing her young son on what democracy in America means to him. Volunteers at the table also shared why they take the time to work with Voters Not Politicians and the value they feel our organization brings to Michigan’s democracy.

While every Michigan voter has benefited from the pro-democracy successes of Voters Not Politicians and Voters Ed Fund, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and other tabling events this summer, have given us the opportunity to remind the public of the value of Voters Not Politicians’ grassroots pro-democracy movement: from ending gerrymandering, to expanding voting rights, to launching innovative voter outreach and education programs.

Even our staff here at VNP got the opportunity to come out and enjoy the weather and the work of our dedicated volunteers! We’d like to thank the entire Ann Arbor volunteer leadership team, especially Lisa, Rita, and Marie for their work in organizing this opportunity, as well as every volunteer who took the time to staff the VNP table and share their passion for VNP and voting rights with their fellow Michiganders. And an extra special thank you to Chris for filming and editing the attendee and volunteer interviews into a powerful profile of Voters Not Politicians’ impact on our strengthening democracy. Look out for that video on our website and socials this month!