78 weeks to the presidential election
The AoC 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.
If you only have 10 minutes, take our top three suggested actions:
- Senate & House Actions: Contact your Senators and House rep for a variety of pro-democracy and pro-equality actions.
- Action 5: Support incarcerated people and independent bookstores.
- Action 6: Empower yourself to oppose hate in your community.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re contacting our senators about.
- House actions: What we’re contacting our House reps about.
- Action 1: Stop the spread of election misinformation in your state.
- Action 2: Advocate for voting opportunities for people in prison.
- Action 3: Advocate for enhanced voting access for Native Americans.
- Action 4: Bolster election cybersecurity in your local district.
- Action 5: Support incarcerated people and small businesses.
- Action 6: Empower yourself to oppose hate in your community.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Contact your senators
Check the box if you made contact–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Contacting your senators’ staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you.
Join the 83 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Support S. 1354, the Childcare for Working Families Act, to increase access to affordable childcare and ensure workers are paid a living wage. [Source: Moms Rising]
- Support S. 1248, the Safer Detention Act, to expand early release opportunities for incarcerated elderly people. [Source: The Sentencing Project]
- Oppose S. 613, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would exclude transgender youth from Title IX’s discrimination protections. [Source: AoCC]
- Support the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act to provide aspiring American essential workers with a path to citizenship. [Source: AoCC]
- Pass the Afghan Adjustment Act to provide pathways to lasting safety for Afghan people building lives in the U.S. [Source: USCRI]
- Support S. 1208, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, to shift inhumane immigration policies toward community-based solutions. [Source: National Immigrant Justice Center]
- Support S. 1187, the Fairness to Freedom Act, to establish the right to federally funded legal representation for all people facing deportation. [Source: Vera]
Contact your House representative
Check the box if you made contact–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Contacting your representative’s staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you.
Look up your House representative here.
Join the 75 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Support H.R. 2976, the Childcare for Working Families Act, to increase access to affordable childcare and ensure workers are paid a living wage. [Source: Moms Rising]
- Support the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, to provide aspiring American essential workers with a path to citizenship. [Source: AoCC]
- Pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, to provide pathways to lasting safety for Afghan people building lives in the U.S. [Source: USCRI]
- Support H.R. 2760, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, to shift inhumane immigration policies toward community-based solutions. [Source: National Immigrant Justice Center]
- Support H.R. 2697, the Fairness to Freedom Act, to establish the right to federally funded legal representation for all people facing deportation. [Source: Vera]
I value democracy
With respect and collaboration, we work to create a nation that welcomes all people, expands freedoms, and upholds the Constitution. Each citizen must be able to freely and fairly elect those who represent their values.
Action 1: Stop the spread of election misinformation in your state.
Source: Brennan Center
Join the 47 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Your state legislator(s) (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m a resident of [ZIP] calling to ask you to follow three recommendations for increasing trust in voting systems in advance of the 2024 elections:
- Require local election offices to use allocated federal funds to establish .gov domains for their websites.
- Prohibit the spread of false information about polling places, deadlines, and voting methods, which can prevent voters from casting a ballot.
- Allow earlier processing and counting of mail ballots to prevent false claims about election results from circulating before official counts are released.
Can I count on you to promote legislation that addresses these recommendations? Thank you.
Action 2: Advocate for voting opportunities for people in prison.
Source: Leadership Conference on Human Rights, Brennan Center
Join the 24 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: The Honorable Colette S. Peters, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534
Script: Hi, I’m a resident of [STATE] asking you to follow the recommendations of over 100 civil rights organizations to support the voting rights of incarcerated people in the following ways:
- Ensure all eligible individuals in federal prisons can access registration and voting services.
- Provide high-quality information about voting rights both during a voter’s incarceration and upon their release.
Thank you.
Action 3: Advocate for enhanced voting access for Native Americans.
Source: Leadership Conference on Human Rights, Brennan Center
Join the 28 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: The Honorable Roselyn Tso, Director
U.S. Indian Health Services
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
Script: Hi, I’m a resident of [STATE] asking you to follow the recommendations of a coalition of more than 100 civil rights organizations to support the voting rights of Native Americans in the following ways:
- Provide high-quality voter registration services, including assistance, at Indian Health Services facilities.
- Work with interested tribes to support voter registration opportunities at tribal-run health facilities.
Thank you.
Action 4: Bolster election cybersecurity in your local district.
Source: AoCC
Join the 18 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Your local election officials (look up – you may need to scroll to the “contact us” section of your state’s elections website to find your local officials).
Script: Hi, I’m a resident of [TOWN, ZIP] asking your office to sign up for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center’s free membership, which outlines how to strengthen cybersecurity in preparation for the 2024 election cycle. Thank you for the work you do to administer free and fair elections.
I value equality
Support the dignity of your rainbow of neighbors from every religion, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, and ability. We also support policies that show welcome to aspiring Americans and decency to people seeking refuge.
Action 5: Support incarcerated people and small businesses.
Source: The Prison Book Program
Join the 47 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Books are a source of education and entertainment for incarcerated people, yet most prisons do not allow gifts, including books, to be sent in from friends or family members. The nonprofit Prison Book Program sends books to incarcerated individuals at no cost to them, which become their personal property to keep or share.
Buy a book: From an independent bookseller through The Prison Book Club’s wish list. Bonus: Purchases made by May 8th will be matched with cash donations from a partnering foundation.
Action 6: Empower yourself to oppose hate in your community.
Source: AAJC
Join the 32 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Hate crimes against Asian and Asian-American community members increased over 300% between 2021-2022 and continue to be prevalent across the nation. Support equity, justice, and opportunity by learning how to intervene effectively and safely as a bystander when our neighbors are targeted. Register in advance: space is limited.
Register: For a virtual bystander intervention training addressing Anti-Asian/Asian American harassment and bullying.
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 MT state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) for working to uphold trans and nonbinary people’s civil rights in the face of personal threats, harassment, and silencing by the MT House.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: P.O. Box 5213, Missoula, MT 59806
Thank NE state Sens. Danielle Conrad (D), Jen Day (D), John Fredrickson (D), and Megan Hunt (D) for their weeks-long filibuster to stop legislation that would ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors.(AoCC shared our gratitude for Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh in the Mar. 17 Checklist.)
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use these addresses:
DC: P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509
JD: P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509
JF: P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509
MH: P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509
Thank Gov. Laura Kelly (D–KS) for vetoing several bills detrimental to transgender people’s civil rights and wellbeing.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: Office of the Governor, Capitol, 300 SW 10th Ave., Ste. 241S, Topeka, KS 66612
Good News
If you find good news for democracy, equality, and the planet, share it with us here!
*An asterisk denotes a Good News item submitted by a subscriber!
Progress on issues previously featured in the Checklist
- Conservative former federal judge J. Michael Luttig calls on the Supreme Court to enact a code of conduct of the “highest professional and ethical standards.”
- 17 million households have signed up to receive discounted internet access through the Affordable Connectivity Program.
National
- President Biden signs an executive order to expand access to and improve the quality of child care and long-term care.
- Indigenous survivors and descendants of abusive boarding schools will record their own experiences through an oral history project funded by the U.S. Interior Dept. and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- DHS’s grant program now requires state and local governments to spend 3% of grant money on election security.
State
- CA air quality regulators approve landmark zero-emission rules for truck fleets and locomotives.
- CO air quality regulators update rules aimed at reducing pollution from truck engines and speeding the transition to electric vehicles.
- *CO passes a slate of gun control legislation in the wake of a mass shooting in Colorado Springs five months ago.
- FL’s legislature passes a bill to include AAPI history as part of the standard K-12 curriculum.
Local
- Students in Plattsmouth, NE protest the school district’s removal of certain books from the local high school library, with plans to take their protest to the district’s next board meeting.
- Phoenix, AZ designates Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official paid city holiday.
Corporate/business
- Mattel releases a Barbie doll in the likeness of Anna May Wong to honor her during AAPI Heritage Month.
Groups and organizations
- Writers Guild of America members go on strike for fair pay and structural changes in the TV and film industry.
- Strikes by workers across various industries result in the largest pay raises in labor contracts since 1990.
- Democracy Forward legally challenges the FL governor’s administration over unlawful censorship of library materials.
News with heart
- May marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, also known as AAPI Heritage Month, celebrating the histories and cultures of Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities in the U.S.
- Dr. Sara Swoboda and Dr. Marvin Alviso write an encouraging, affirming open letter to transgender youth in Idaho, where access to gender-affirmative healthcare has been restricted.
- J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) and Alex Newell (Shucked) share the distinction of being the first nonbinary actors ever nominated for Tony Awards.
Need inspiration?
- Read this week’s inspiring message from Jen: How can we respond to hateful policies?
- The Price of Eggs
- A reflection on 34 felonies
Support the Checklist
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Thanks for putting this together! Next time, can I suggest that there be some sort of action in response to the lynching of Jordan Neely in NYC? I’m not sure what form this takes — NYPD reform, letters to the mayor/gov, contributing to the GoFundMe…?