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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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.