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Temple Beth El Blog

Voter Engagement Efforts Step Up in Advance of Midterm Elections

06/13/2022 01:13:55 PM

Jun13

The TBE Civic Engagement Action Team is gearing up now for the summer and fall, making sure voters are registered for the August primaries and the November general election.

At the state level, we are active participants in the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign (WIVEC), a project of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. WIVEC has an important Call to Action Webinar on Thursday, June 16, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. Hear from WIVEC partner organizations such as Souls to the Polls, Supermarket Legends, VoteRiders, and others. These nonpartisan partner organizations will present their overall goals and specific plans and needs for volunteers. WIVEC is 400+ strong in faith leaders and congregational lay leaders. Join us as we come together to support voting rights right here in Wisconsin! Please click here to register. 

Nationally, we participate in the Every Voice, Every Vote campaign of the Union of Reform Judaism. This campaign is a nonpartisan effort, grounded in our Jewish values and commitment to racial justice, to strengthen our democracy by encouraging and protecting voter participation. As Reform Jews, we believe democracy is strongest when the electorate reflects the population—and it suffers when citizens are shut out from the democratic process. When we choose the people who act on our behalf, essentially every issue of importance to our movement is on the ballot! Now is the time to use our voices and our votes to protect the issues that are core to our Reform Jewish values.

In May, nearly 700 people joined together to learn about what’s at stake in this election and made commitments to act through this nonpartisan voter mobilization effort between now and November. If you were not able to join us live, we invite you to watch the inspirational launch recording. 

The next step in this campaign is their Foundational Training: Moving into Action. This will be held on June 15 at 7:00 pm CDT, or alternatively on June 16 at 2:00 pm CDT. This training will be recorded and available for later viewing. Contact Marcia Vandercook if you would like to see it at a later date. 

Locally, we support our local clerks of court by serving as poll workers. Poll workers check in voters, help people register to vote, check photo IDs, and process absentee ballots. Students aged 16 or 17 and enrolled in secondary school with a GPA of at least 3.0 may be appointed as poll workers if they have parent and principal approval. Areas across Wisconsin are looking for poll workers for the August and November elections, so click here to see how you can help!

We also work with the League of Women Voters of Dane County to provide voter outreach. The League offers regular training for beginners and refresher training for experienced volunteers. They have a number of video training modules available online. After training, volunteers provide voter registration and information at libraries, food pantries, senior centers, farmers markets, and colleges. See scheduled volunteer events.

More action opportunities will be available this summer and fall for training, postcarding, and voter mobilization. Contact Marcia Vandercook if you would like to join this important team!

April 24, 2024 16 Nisan 5784