Americans of Conscience Checklist: September 13, 2024

Millions of eligible Americans aren’t registered to vote. National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic event endorsed by election officials nationwide. Take part! 

• Register to vote if you aren’t yet.
• Verify your registration: Make sure your address is correct, and you haven’t been purged from the voter rolls, here.
• Engage others: Encourage five (5) friends to register to vote, especially young people who are eligible to vote for the first time.
• Make a voting plan: Find out when and how to vote early, find your polling place, and find out what ID you need to vote: https://866ourvote.org/

This November, Americans will be voting for more than our next president. 

• Eleven states will choose governors.
• 44 states will choose 80% of the country’s state legislators. 
• 10 state and local ballot measures will ask voters whether to codify the right to abortion (AZ, CO, FL, MD, MO, MT, NE, NY, NV, SD).
• Six states will enact or repeal ranked-choice voting (AK, CO, DC, ID, NV, OR)
• Four states could raise the minimum wage (AK, CA, MA, MO)
• At least one might end partisan gerrymandering.

You can choose a president, but have you decided how you’ll vote on the rest of the ticket?

Take action: Preview your state’s ballot and check out candidate statements in the non-partisan Vote411 Voters’ Guide.

Contact: Your state legislators (look up).

Script: Hi, I’m a constituent from [ZIP], contacting you regarding a recent increase in violent abuse directed at elected officials. Over 40% of officeholders in a recent nationwide survey said that threats and intimidation made them less willing to run for reelection. I am asking you to implement the Brennan Center’s recommendations, which include:

• Providing bystander training and mental health services to officeholders.
• Restricting guns at campaign events. 
• Protecting the private information of officeholders.

Contact: Your two senators (Write, call, or email).

Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [ZIP] in support of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 4638) called the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act. Three years after our withdrawal from Afghanistan, our Afghan allies who were evacuated to the U.S. still have not been granted refugee status here, and over 250,000 remain stranded in Afghanistan and other countries. I’m counting on [NAME] to establish pathways to permanent U.S. status and protect those stranded outside the U.S. by supporting this crucial amendment to the NDAA. Thank you.

Contact: Your local newspapers and television stations (look up).

Script: Hi, I’m a [reader/viewer] from [ZIP] urging you to commit to fact-checking the claims of politicians and their campaign materials. While politicians’ false claims may be newsworthy, they must be clearly labeled as false instead of merely reporting what was said. Voters require factual information free of half-truths and foreign misinformation. Could you reply to share what steps your organization takes to ensure truth and accuracy?

Bonus action: Learn how to spot misinformation and disinformation, and be sure to fact-check claims on your own.

Every August, school districts provide families with a list of school supplies to purchase. These back-to-school supplies cost $100-300 per child, but even up to $900. Especially with recent rent and utility hikes, not every family can come up with the resources for back-to-school, much less new clothing and tech tools. Education is the key to a bright future. You can help.

Contact your school district: Search here to find your school district, then contact and ask how you can contribute to back-to-school supplies. (If you do this, will you email us about it?)

Thank Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy for declaring firearm violence to be a public health crisis in the U.S.

If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Humphrey Bldg., Suite 701H, Washington, DC 20201

Thank you to the 107 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!