9 weeks to Midterm Elections
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:
- Action 3: Encourage election officials to recruit poll workers.
- Action 6: Until required ID is banned, help your neighbors vote.
- Action 11: Oppose electrification incentives for factory farms.
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: Safeguard your vote.
- Action 2: Prevent voting equipment security breaches.
- Action 3: Encourage election officials to recruit poll workers.
- Action 4: Empower disabled voters to participate in elections.
- Action 5: Empower high school-age voters to participate in elections.
- Action 6: Until required ID is banned, help your neighbors vote.
- Action 7: Be a part of democracy: Help America vote.
- Action 8: Call for the commutation of an impending death sentence.
- Action 9: Advocate for an end to the tree-to-toilet pipeline.
- Action 10: Demand justice for the murder of an Indigenous teen.
- Action 11: Oppose electrification incentives for factory farms.
- Action 12: Support protection from discrimination for transgender and non-binary people.
- Action 13: Support the closure of child detention and end family separation.
- Action 14: Support a pathway to permanent resident status for our Afghan allies.
- Action 15: Offer refuge to people from Mali.
- 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. They don’t mind, but be sure to contact both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Join the 0 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:
- Protect our communities and climate by opposing any legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects. [Source: Climate Justice Alliance (CJA)]
- Support disabled voters by opposing cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). [Source: REV UP Voting Campaign at AAPD]
- Empower the health and economic well-being of people with disabilities by supporting a National Paid Family Medical Leave Plan and safeguarding the ongoing federal funding for independent living programs and centers. [Source: REV UP Voting Campaign at AAPD]
- Pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (S. 4431) and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to support pregnant and postpartum workers. [Source: NETWORK]
- Support due process and access to high-quality legal representation for people in the U.S. immigration system. [Source: Vera Institute of Justice]
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. They don’t mind, but be sure to contact both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Look up your House representative here.
Join the 0 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:
- Protect our communities and climate by opposing any legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects. [Source: Climate Justice Alliance (CJA)]
- Support disabled voters by opposing cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). [Source: REV UP Voting Campaign at AAPD]
- Empower the health and economic well-being of people with disabilities by supporting a National Paid Family Medical Leave Plan and safeguarding the ongoing federal funding for independent living programs and centers. [Source: REV UP Voting Campaign at AAPD]
- Support due process and access to high-quality legal representation for people in the U.S. immigration system. [Source: Vera Institute of Justice]
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.
See our complete list of fall 2022 voting actions here.
Action 1: Safeguard your vote.
Source: League of Women Voters
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Midterm elections are nine weeks away and democracy is on the ballot. Because voter purges are a real risk, confirm today that you’re still registered. Then visit vote411.org and ballotpedia.org to find nonpartisan information about who and what is on your ballot this November.
Action 2: Prevent voting equipment security breaches.
Source: Brennan Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: Your state, tribal, or territory election official (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m from [TOWN, ZIP], urging you to take measures to prevent, detect, and remediate voting equipment security breaches. The insider threats posed by anti-democracy election deniers participating in elections puts voting equipment security at risk. Please follow the Brennan Center’s recommendations and prevent security threats by:
- Following best practices (e.g., restricting access, use of keycard systems, video surveillance to track access to equipment) for preventing and detecting breaches.
- Creating a plan for how to respond to breaches promptly and decisively.
- Communicating remedial steps to the public.
Action 3: Encourage election officials to recruit poll workers.
Sources: Center for Civic Design, Common Cause
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: Your local or county elections office (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m writing from [ZIP] to ask you to recruit additional poll workers for November’s election. Having too few poll workers discourages voting through long lines and closed polling places. Please take action by reaching out and offering poll work information to:
- Current poll workers, who can recruit friends and family to join them.
- Former county workers with relevant skills.
- Local businesses.
- Local Medical Reserve Corps.
- High school principals, who can pass information on to their students.
- College civics clubs, residence hall associations, work programs, and/or offices of student affairs.
Thank you.
Action 4: Empower disabled voters to participate in elections.
Source: AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: Your state, tribal, or territory election official (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m from [TOWN], requesting information about how our district is addressing the barriers faced by disabled voters. May I ask a few questions?
- Are polling locations accessible to disabled voters?
- Are poll workers trained to help voters with all types of disability?
- Is there a ballot-marking device available for disabled voters to use?
- Are accessible voting machines tested?
If any of the answers are NO: Voting accessibility is a crucial issue because one-quarter of all Americans live with a disability. Can you tell me what [NAME] is doing to resolve this before the November elections?
If all answers are YES: Thank you for your hard work to ensure that every voter can cast a ballot.
Action 5: Empower high school-age voters to participate in elections.
Source: The Civics Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write or call: Your local high school principal or school administrator (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m writing/calling from [TOWN] to ask what you are doing for High School Voter Registration Week, September 19-23. Young people in the U.S. generally have a low rate of election participation, and the youth vote could be decisive in the 2022 midterms. That’s why I am asking you to invest even more fully in your students’ futures and voices and host a voter registration drive before the November election. Thank you.
Action 6: Until required ID is banned, help your neighbors vote.
Source: Spread the Vote
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Spread the Vote assists people in obtaining ID cards in states that suppress voting by requiring ID to vote. Just $40 gets an ID today and makes a voter in November.
Donate: https://www.kindest.com/donate/spread-the-vote (Mention that you’re from AoCC!)
Action 7: Be a part of democracy: Help America vote.
Sources: Common Cause and National Congress of American Indians
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Sign up today to work the polls and protect every citizen’s right to vote. Adults and students are needed to oversee your local elections. Requirements, training, and pay rates vary. Sign up with the nonpartisan Power the Polls initiative, or use the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s lookup tool for your community.
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.
Action 8: Call for the commutation of an impending death sentence.
Source: MADP
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: Call Missouri Governor Mike Parson (573) 751-3222
Script: “Hi, my name is _____. [If you live in Missouri, share town and zip code.] I am calling to ask that Governor Parson grant clemency to Kevin Johnson who is scheduled to be executed on November 29th, 2022. In solidarity with the many people who oppose the death penalty, I am asking Governor Parson to stop this execution and commute Kevin’s sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Thank you.
Action 9: Advocate for an end to the tree-to-toilet pipeline.
Source: NRDC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: Jon Moeller, President and CEO, The Procter & Gamble Company, 1 P&G Plaza, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Script: I’m writing to you from [STATE] to oppose P&G’s use of old-growth forests to produce Charmin toilet paper. Clearcutting millions of acres of Canada’s climate-critical boreal forest has a lasting negative impact on Indigenous communities, local wildlife and ecosystems, and the well-being of our planet. I join your stakeholders in imploring you to end the tree-to-toilet pipeline, and focus on a sustainable way to produce this product.
Alternate: Sign the NRDC petition. [Note: You will be automatically signed up for the NRDC email distribution list.]
Action 10: Demand justice for the murder of an Indigenous teen.
Source: National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Big Horn County Sheriff Lawrence Big Hair at P.O. Box 905, Hardin, MT 59034 or lbighair@bighorncountymt.gov
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen at 215 N Sanders, Third Floor, PO Box 201401, Helena, MT 59620-1401 or contactdoj@mt.gov
Director Christopher Wray, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 935 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Script: Hello, I’m from [STATE] urging you to open a long-overdue investigation into the 2019 disappearance and murder of Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, an 18-year-old Indigenous woman in Big Horn County, MT. The gross mishandling and suspicious circumstances of this case have been ignored by local and federal law enforcement, leaving Kaysera’s family without justice or closure for more than three years. I join Kaysera’s community in calling for an immediate investigation to ensure this miscarriage of justice comes to an end.
Action 11: Oppose electrification incentives for factory farms.
Source: Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP)
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: Michael S. Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460
Script: Hello, I’m writing from [STATE] to oppose the implementation of electrification pathways from factory farms under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). While providing new electricity sources is commendable, incentivizing methane emissions will further entrench a highly-polluting industry that disproportionately harms workers and nearby low-income communities. I join several U.S. Senators in urging you to protect our environment and communities by withholding RFS electrification pathways for biogas.
Action 12: Support protection from discrimination for transgender and non-binary people.
Source: National Center for Transgender Equality
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Submit a PERSONAL comment: To the Department of Health and Human Services through the Protect Trans Health collaborative project.
Or
Contact: President Biden and Vice President Harris at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or via the White House contact form.
Script: I’m a resident of [STATE] and I strongly support Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Care Rights Law, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of prohibited discriminations in covered health programs or activities. [Share your personal connection to this proposed rule.] I look forward to the passage of Section 1557, ensuring transgender and non-binary people can live authentically without facing restriction, discrimination, or harm when they seek healthcare.
Action 13: Support the closure of child detention and end family separation.
Source: Detention Watch Network
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Email: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at xavier.becerra@hhs.gov and ORR Chief of Staff Jenifer Smyers at Jenifer.Smyers@acf.hhs.gov.
Script: Hello, I’m reaching out from [STATE], urging you to fulfill the Biden Administration’s promise to end child detention and family separation. New contracts for “influx care facilities” have recently been introduced, despite both the history of abuse and neglect at these large-scale child detention centers, and the fact that family separation creates long-lasting psychological trauma. I’m asking you to dismantle the historic system of child detention and family separation by
- Immediately halting all plans to open new child detention centers,
- Closing existing child detention facilities, and
- Establishing immigration policies that keep families together and free.
Thank you.
Action 14: Support a pathway to permanent resident status for our Afghan allies.
Sources: AILA and Human Rights First
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
It’s been one year since the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, and an estimated 76,000 Afghan evacuees in the U.S. still lack permanent protection. Congress can provide a pathway to lasting safety for newly-arrived Afghans by passing the Afghan Adjustment Act (S. 4787 / H.R. 8685).
Sign: The AILA petition (uncheck “Yes, I would like to receive emails in the future” box if you don’t want to receive emails).
Bonus: If you are an attorney, sign up to help Human Rights First process Afghan evacuees in the U.S.
Action 15: Offer refuge to people from Mali.
Source: National Immigration Law Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: President Biden at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or via the White House contact form and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at (202) 282-8495 or DHSSecrectary@HQ.DHS.gov.
Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [STATE] to support extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to people from Mali. The Republic has been experiencing a humanitarian crisis since its civil war began in 2012, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and causing extreme poverty, political instability, food and water insecurity, and limited access to healthcare and other resources. I’m asking you to immediately designate TPS to Malians seeking asylum or living in the U.S.
Acts of Gratitude
Signatures to the forms below will be printed with a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience, and mailed to the recipient 2 weeks after the Checklist publication date. Your information will not be stored after that date.
Thank Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) for introducing the Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act to ensure disabled women and others with disabilities can access reproductive services and the informed care they need for reproductive autonomy.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use these addresses:
PM: 154 Russell SOB, Washington, D.C. 20510
TD: 524 Hart SOB, Washington, DC 20510
Thank Gov. Tom Wolf (D–PA) for banning so-called “conversion therapy” via executive order, sparing LGBTQ people lasting emotional harm.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address:
Office of the Governor, 508 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120
Good News
As Americans of Conscience, we celebrate!
Tribal
- Mary Peltola becomes the first Alaska Native to represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- The Ojibwe people regain rightful control of two parcels of their land.
- Diné and Taos Pueblo people practice food sovereignty via reclaiming time-honored farming techniques, feeding their communities, and providing sacred foods for ceremony.
- The Fort Peck Cultural Resources Dept. repatriates Native cultural items from the University of Montana.
National
- Congress passes and the president signs the Inflation Reduction Act, which:
- Includes the largest climate investment in U.S. history.
- Enables Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs.
- Extends expiring health care subsidies for three years.
- Includes a 15% minimum tax on large corporations and a tax on stock buybacks, revenue from which will be used to lower the national budget deficit.
- Congress passes and the president signs the PACT Act, which expands healthcare benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
- The president signs the CHIPS and Science Act which will invest $200B in U.S.-based semiconductor chip manufacturing to lower costs and mitigate supply chain disruptions.
- The Biden administration takes steps to address student loan debt by:
- Canceling up to $10K-$20K in federal student loan debt for certain borrowers.
- Decreasing income-based repayment for undergraduate loans to 5% of a borrower’s income (down from 10%).
- Extending the pandemic-related pause on student loan payments through Dec. 31.
- The Biden administration moves to reinstate health protections for LGBTQ individuals.
- Federal court reinstates a ban on new coal sales on public land.
- The FDA allows hearing aids to be sold over the counter without a prescription.
State
- AR: A federal appeals court upholds an injunction on the state’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, ensuring that such healthcare is available for now.
- CA will ban new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
- CO ends sales tax for period products and diapers.
- HI receives its last-ever shipment of coal ahead of the state’s last remaining coal-fired power plant’s closing in September.
- ID: Court rules that doctors can’t be punished for terminating pregnancies that pose significant health risks to the pregnant person.
- KS voters reject a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state.
- MA: A new law allows some cities and towns to ban the use of fossil fuels in new buildings and major renovations.
- MI: Court orders a preliminary injunction against enforcement of a 1931 abortion law that banned abortion across the board and criminalized healthcare practitioners for performing abortions.
- NY: A conspiracy theorist must pay $4 million in compensatory damages to two Sandy Hook parents.
- PA: Gov. Tom Wolf bans so-called “conversion therapy” of LGBTQ people via executive order.
- RI opens its first green utility-scale battery storage system.
- RI introduces legislative initiatives and budget investments to improve the state’s Behavioral Health Care System.
- TX will plug 800 abandoned oil and gas wells.
- VA: Voter registration among Virginians aged 18-22 increases drastically.
Local
- Vincent, AL disbands the city’s police force following the revelation of racist text messages between officers.
- Sacramento students of color find their voice through civics education.
Groups and organizations
- ACLU calls for an investigation into the TX governor’s policy of transporting aspiring Americans back to the U.S.-Mexico border.
- American Association for People with Disabilities launches REV UP, a voting hub for disabled people with info on how, when, and why to vote.
- The NBA will not hold any games on election day, and teams will use their games the day before to share election and voting information.
News with heart
- An all-Black, all-female American Airlines crew flies from Dallas to honor Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to earn a pilot’s license.
- Solange Knowles composes a score for the New York City Ballet, becoming only the third woman and the second Black woman in history to do so.
- Jared Mauch starts his own internet service provider to better serve his community’s internet access needs.
- Twin pandas are born in China.
- North Carolina celebrates a litter of red wolf pups born in the wild for the first time in four years.
- World’s smallest and most endangered sea turtles nest in Louisiana for first time in 75 years.
- In the Cincinatti Zoo, Fiona the hippo meets her baby brother Fritz.
- Certain areas of the Great Barrier Reef show the highest coral cover in 36 years.
Save the Dates
We’re offering several classes this fall as part of our mission to provide tools that encourage engagement to strengthen American democracy and social justice. Save the dates, details are coming soon!
- Sustainable Activism: Sat, 9/24 at 11:30am Eastern/8:30am Pacific
–or– Mon, 9/26 at 8:30pm Eastern/5:30pm Pacific for one hour; Cost: Donation - Activist Self-Care: Sat, 10/1 at 11:30am Eastern/8:30am Pacific
–or– Mon, 10/3 at 8:30pm Eastern/5:30pm Pacific for one hour; Cost: Donation - Writing Courageous Stories: Six Mondays, Oct. 10 through Nov 14 at 8:30 Eastern/5:30pm Pacific for 75 minutes; Cost: $89
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Housekeeping
- Gratitude: A special thanks to our amazing patrons and donors who make creating the Checklist sustainable.
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- Schedule: There’s a new Americans of Conscience Checklist every first and third Friday of each month.
We all choose-daily-what we value, who we value, how we value, and and why we believe in the values we build our lives and ways on are critical to our communities.
To be Pro-Life nowadays is to be characterized as monstrous; people eager to throw away any and all sensibilities of human decency for power or some twisted maniacal sense of gain. Pro-Life beliefs and values are rooted in the simple statement, “First, do no harm.” Yet, we find ourselves stepping into camps ready to shout down the Other as if that benefits those generations to come. It serves to deepen and widen connections in communities that close all possibilities for conversation. And, here we are-again. Scapegoating and name-calling.
Where is the responsible common sense legislation that honors life, with all its complications and uncertainties? Perhaps working on that may be an effective use of time. Maybe.