This Week’s Actions
Action 1: Keep the census accurate.
Time to complete: Less than 10-15 minutes to submit a comment
Join the 152 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
The Census Bureau is proposing major unconstitutional changes to the way the census counts people in order to exclude immigrants from the population count, which would distort the reapportionment and redistricting processes. Additionally, information on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity will no longer be collected, removing a vital source of data that states and cities use to make crucial decisions about education, public health, and more.
Submit a unique public comment: on the Federal Register by November 2, 2026 telling the Census Bureau to reject the proposed changes. Include the docket number [Docket No. 260903-0005] and RIN number [RIN 0607-AA75] in your comment. Modify the points below in your own words:
- The census is supposed to accurately count the number of residents, not citizens or eligible voters.
- Excluding immigrants from the population count will result in inaccurate data being used for funding decisions for an entire decade.
- Congressional redistricting based on this inaccurate data would mean states with large immigrant populations would lose seats to states with lower numbers of immigrants.
- The proposed changes are unconstitutional and harmful.
Bonus: Sign the League of Women Voters’ petition to urge the Census Bureau to reject these proposed changes.
Source: League of Women Voters, Brennan Center
Action 2: Maintain the right to vote for U.S. citizens abroad.
Time to complete: Less than 10-15 minutes to submit a comment
Join the 94 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Eligible voters who live outside the U.S. may be blocked from voting because the Pentagon changed the voter registration form used by overseas voters, bypassing the normal process for changing these forms.
Submit a unique public comment: on the Federal Register by November 9, 2026 telling the Pentagon to withdraw the changes to the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA). Include the docket number [Docket ID: DOD-2026-OS-1982] in your comment. Modify the points below in your own words:
- American citizens have the right to vote, even if they were born outside the U.S.
- Removing the checkbox for American citizens who were born outside the U.S. prevents eligible voters from being able to complete the FPCA truthfully.
- These changes will cause confusion and may stop some eligible voters from registering and voting.
- These changes were rushed through immediately before a federal election without accounting for crucial voter education and outreach.
If you are an overseas voter: You can still legally register and vote by following advice provided by the Campaign Legal Center.
Source: Voter Participation Center
Action 3: Advocate for the American Dream and Promise Act.
Time to complete: Less than 5 minutes
Join the 79 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Your House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], urging you to support H.R. 1589, which would offer a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. Since DACA’s creation in 2012, recipients have been required to renew every two years. Renewal processing times have increased dramatically, leading to lapsed DACA protections and the threat of deportation. Some of our neighbors, including teachers and police officers, have lost work authorization while awaiting renewals. Please sign the discharge petition to force a vote on H.R. 1589.
Source: United We Dream
Action 4: Participate in a national day of early voting awareness.
Time to complete: Variable based on options. Less than 10 minutes to 1 day
Join the 48 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
October 17 will be a national nonpartisan day of action centered around voting early. There are many ways to participate and spread the message that power belongs to the people, even if you can’t host or attend a live event:
- In the weeks leading up to October 17, join one of the many online training sessions (or watch recorded sessions [scroll down]) on getting out the vote, understanding voting rights, poll watching, and more.
- Make a plan to vote.
- Share No Kings: Vote Early graphics on social media.
Source: No Kings, 50501, Black Voters Matter Fund
Action 5: Protect the EPA’s power to regulate climate pollution.
Join the 48 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
The EPA has finalized a partial repeal of greenhouse gas standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants that could have prevented up to 1.38 billion metric tons of CO₂ emissions through 2047. The electric power sector accounted for about 24% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, yet a broader proposal could prevent future administrations from regulating climate pollution from power plants at all. Act now to protect the EPA’s ability to curb power sector greenhouse gases at this critical time in the global climate crisis.
Express your opposition: Submit a public comment by November 2 opposing the supplemental proposal in your own words on the Federal Register.
Source: Energy Network Media Group
Action 6: Increase voter turnout this November.
Time to complete: Variable, probably at least a 1-hour commitment
Join the 40 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
If you want to help encourage eligible voters to cast a ballot in the upcoming elections, you can participate in a phone or text bank from home, or a letter- or postcard-writing campaign. Nonpartisan organizations that offer free trainings and get-out-the-vote opportunities include VoteRiders, which has letter-writing and text-banking campaigns, and the Environmental Voter Project, which has phone-banking and postcard-writing campaigns.
Source: VoteRiders, Environmental Voter Project
Action 7: Prevent voter suppression on November 3.
Time to complete: Less than 10 minutes
Join the 58 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Voter suppression looms large, but you have some control. Take a moment today to ensure that you can vote in the general election on November 3.
- Confirm that your voter registration is still valid (or register to vote by your state’s deadline; if you’re turning 18 before November 3, you may be able to pre-register).
- Update your address or re-register if you’ve recently moved.
- Make a plan to vote by mail or in person, whether early or on Election Day.
- If you plan to vote by mail, check your state’s ballot return deadline.
- If you plan to vote in person, check your state’s requirements for voter ID (these may have changed).
- Find out who and what is on your ballot.
- Text this link to three friends to ask them to register to vote: https://www.voterparticipation.org/my-voter-info. Studies show that people are more likely to vote if they are encouraged by someone they know.
Source: 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Action 8: Practice essential democracy skills.
Join the 7 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Polarization makes it easier for authoritarian leaders to divide us and harder for our democracy to function. We don’t need to agree with the “other side,” but open conversations help all of us build mutual understanding. Some Americans are withdrawing their support from the current administration and its harmful policies, and we can play a role in that shift. Our democracy has a better chance when we practice civil debate, active listening, and mutual respect. With better skills we can reunite our nation, one conversation at a time.
Will you practice better democracy? Participate in groups like Braver Angels, Crossing Party Lines, and Make America Dinner Again.
Source: AoCC
Action 9: Take credit for showing up in your own community.
Join the 53 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
It’s our hope that using the Checklist inspires you to become more involved in specific issues and/or local action. In the last two weeks, did you volunteer, do service, advocate, or support a local or state cause? Check the box to let us know!
Source: AoCC
Acts of Gratitude
We believe in gratitude as a tool for change. We will print a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience with your signature and mail it to the recipient. Your information will be removed from this website no later than four weeks after the Checklist’s publication date.
Thank Gov. Kathy Hochul (D–NY) for proactively addressing the ongoing measles outbreak in New York by declaring a statewide emergency and increasing access to measles testing and vaccinations.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: NYS State Capitol Building, Albany, NY 12224
Results
| Name | City | State |
|---|---|---|
| J | Urbana | IL |
| Pat | Chicago | IL |
| Susan | Columbia | MT |
| Antoinette | Palo Alto | CA |
| Diane | Carlton | MN |
| Name | City | State |
Thank Sen. Ed Markey (D–MA) for his stalwart support of the rights and well-being of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people through his work in the Senate and his public advocacy.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: 255 Dirksen SOB, Washington, DC 20510
Results
| Name | City | State |
|---|---|---|
| J | Urbana | IL |
| Susan | Columbia | MO |
| Antoinette | Palo Alto | CA |
| Rebecca | Athens | GA |
| Carol | TOLEDO | OR |
| Name | City | State |
Good News
If you find good news for democracy, equality, and the planet, share it with us here!
Good news: Wins for democracy, equality, kindness, and planet.
- The Penobscot Nation regains rightful control over 11,000 acres of their ancestral lands.
- A federal court orders the White House to restore the press credentials of three news organizations for at least two weeks, citing the urgent need of a free press.
- For the third time, SCOTUS declines to allow Missouri to use a gerrymandered congressional map in November’s election.
- A U.S. District Court blocks the administration from withholding federal counterterrorism funds from states that refuse to submit to unlawful and unnecessary demands regarding the state-run administration of elections.
- The U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejects the administration’s attempt to send a lawsuit over transgender troops’ revoked retirements to an Air Force records board, keeping the dispute in court as 17 service members pursue the pensions and healthcare coverage they were promised.
- Washington, DC’s Superior Court permanently dismisses unfounded, politically motivated vandalism charges against Olympian David Hearn regarding the Capitol Reflecting Pool.
- IL increases access to hormone replacement and gender-affirming therapies by removing testosterone from its controlled substances list and mandating private health insurance coverage of hormone treatments.
- Sam O’Hara receives a settlement payment from the District of Columbia after being unlawfully detained for exercising his right to free speech while protesting a National Guard patrol.
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration conducts oversight into the NYPD’s contracts with a private company that supplied the police department and ICE with surveillance technology.
- New York City raises the minimum wage for emergency snow shovelers to $30 an hour.
- 10,000 NYC families on the state Child Care Assistance Program waitlist will receive child care vouchers.
- The Milwaukee County Board unanimously passes a resolution to remove Flock surveillance cameras from county park property.
- Two workers in Oswego, NY find support from neighbors who prevented their attempted arrests by Border Patrol.
- 550,000 people registered or updated their voter registration as a result of National Voter Registration Day.
- The United Nations Human Rights Council adopts the first negotiated resolution acknowledging reproductive violence as a distinct form of gender-based violence.
- Girls’ flag football becomes the fastest-growing high school sport in the U.S., with participation quadrupling since the 2021-2022 school year.
- Two years after the largest dam removal in U.S. history, more than 20,000 salmon return to California’s Klamath River, reaching waters that had been blocked for more than a century.
Need inspiration?
- Read the latest message from AoCC’s Founder and Director, Jennifer Hofmann: Choosing Democracy Series: In Sickness and in Health, Part 2: Remember What You Love: Cultivating Fondness and Affection
- Choosing Democracy Series: In Sickness and in Health, Part 1
- When You’ve Had Enough, Start Here.
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You’re invited
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The Americans of Conscience Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We are a big tent for all people who want a kinder, flourishing nation.
