102 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:
- Action 3: Support LGBTQ+ Americans’ equality under the Constitution.
- Action 1: Encourage young Georgians to vote (act by Nov. 20).
- Senate actions: Urge your Senators to confirm all judicial nominees to continue building a diverse judiciary.
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: Encourage young Georgians to vote (act by Nov. 20).
- Action 2: Stay informed about official election results in your state.
- Action 3: Support LGBTQ+ Americans’ equality under the Constitution.
- Action 4: Advocate for inclusive marijuana policy reform.
- 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:
- Confirm all judicial nominees before the end of this Congress and continue to build a diverse judiciary that lives up to its promise of equal justice under the law. [Source: National Women’s Law Center]
- Support S. 3972, the bipartisan SHINE for Autumn Act of 2022, to use enhanced data collection to reduce the risk of stillbirth that disproportionately affects Black families. [Source: MomsRising]
- Pass the Senate version of H.R. 7910 to protect children and teens from gun violence through amendments to Title 18, U.S.C.. [Source: AoCC]
- Pass legislation to ensure permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and undocumented youth. [Source: Children Thrive Action Network]
- Pass the bipartisan S. 673, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021, to enrich “news deserts” with local news organizations that are crucial to democracy and require big tech to pay their fair share for news reporting.
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:
- Pass legislation to ensure permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and undocumented youth. [Source: Children Thrive Action Network]
- Pass the bipartisan H.R. 1735, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021, to enrich “news deserts” with local news organizations that are crucial to democracy and require big tech to pay their fair share for news reporting.
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: Encourage young Georgians to vote (act by Nov. 20).
Source: The Civics Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Georgia’s Senate race is heading to a Dec. 6 runoff election, with early voting available Nov. 28-Dec. 2, and although the deadline for new voter registration has passed, it’s not too late to encourage registered Georgians to cast their ballots. Write non-partisan postcards to young Georgia voters to encourage them to vote, help them find their polling place, and remind them that their votes matter.
Order your postcards no later than November 20.
Bonus: Donate to The Civics Center to support their nonpartisan GOTV and education work.
Action 2: Stay informed about official election results in your state.
Source: Brennan Center/Ballotpedia
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Midterm election day has come and gone, but ballots are still being counted, results are still being tallied, and each state has its own deadline for certifying its election results. While our election officials are hard at work ensuring the accuracy of the count, share the facts about how robust and safe our elections are.
Bonus: Support unbiased reporting on elections and politics. [Source: AoCC] Ballotpedia provides comprehensive, nonpartisan information on elections, candidates, and results nationwide. Support their work with a donation.
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 3: Support LGBTQ+ Americans’ equality under the Constitution.
Source: AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Your two Senators (look up).
Note: This legislation passed in the House last year and is stuck in several Senate committees.
Script: Hi. I’m from [ZIP] asking [NAME] to bring the Equality Act (H.R. 5) to the Senate floor for a vote. While the Respect for Marriage Act is getting bipartisan support, Federal law does not protect LGBTQ+ people from discriminatory eviction by landlords. Also, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that LGBTQ+ people cannot be fired due to their identity, [they/we] are not a protected class under the Constitution. H.R. 5 would codify [their/our] equality.
Action 4: Advocate for inclusive marijuana policy reform.
Source: NIPNLG
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: President Biden via the White House contact form, via phone at (202) 456-1111, or by mail at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20500.
Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [STATE] in support of expanding marijuana conviction pardons to immigrant communities. You have acknowledged that “Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates,” and that includes aspiring Americans, who often face the harsh consequences of detention, deportation, or denial of entry for any connections to marijuana. I am joining over 130 organizations in imploring you to extend your pardon to all aspiring Americans and issue immigration agency guidance regarding pardoned convictions, as you continue your commendable efforts to end the racist, damaging “war on drugs.”
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. Your information will be removed from this website no later than 4 weeks after the Checklist’s publication date.
Thank the City of Philadelphia for welcoming and assisting people seeking refuge and asylum after they were bussed to the city from TX.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: Mayor Jim Kenney, City Hall, Office 215, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Thank the following Republican senators for voting to support the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404). Tell them why this is an important issue to you and/or why bipartisanship matters to you.
Note: If you’re a constituent, call. If you’re not a constituent, only send a postcard.
Addresses:
Dan Sullivan (Alaska) 510 L Street, Suite 750, Anchorage, AK 99501; 907-271-5915
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) 800 Glacier Ave, Suite 101, Juneau, AK 99801; 907-586-7277
Todd Young (Indiana) 251 North Illinois Street, Suite 120, Indianapolis, IN 46204; 317-226-6700
Joni Ernst (Iowa) 733 Federal Building, 210 Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309; 515-284-4574
Susan Collins (Maine) One Canal Plaza Suite 802, Portland, ME 04101; 207-780-3575
Roy Blunt (Montana) 2740 B East Sunshine, Springfield, MO 65804; 417-877-7814
Thom Tillis (North Carolina) 10150 Mallard Creek Rd, Suite 508, Charlotte, NC 28262; 704-509-9087
Richard Burr (North Carolina) 151 Patton Avenue, Suite 204, Asheville, NC, 28801; 828-350-2437
Rob Portman (Ohio) 312 Walnut Street, Room 3425, Cincinnati, OH 45202; 513-684-3265
Mitt Romney (Utah) 125 S. State St, Suite 8402, Salt Lake City, UT 84138; 801-524-4380
Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) 500 Virginia Street East, Suite 950, Charleston, WV 25301; 304-347-5372
Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming) 2120 Capitol Avenue, Suite 2007, Cheyenne, WY 82001; 307-772-2477
Good News
If you find good news for democracy, equality, and the planet, share it with us here!
Progress on issues previously featured in the Checklist
- Young voters across the country voted in record numbers in the midterms–their group’s second highest turnout in almost 30 years.
- SD voters opt to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
- MA voters endorse a law passed earlier this year that authorizes certain aspiring Americans to receive driver’s licenses.
- Federal court blocks the Title 42 order that has allowed border officials to immediately expel people seeking asylum.
- DHS automatically extends Temporary Protected Status for several countries including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Nepal, Haiti, and Sudan.
Tribal
- The Oneida Indian Nation regains rightful control of more than 1,500 funerary objects and cultural artifacts, and receives a long overdue apology, from Colgate University.
- Through funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, remote locations on the Navajo Nation reservation receive electricity for the first time ever.
National
- Election Day 2022 proceeded smoothly.
- The EPA will test the groundwater and air in Puerto Rico for the first time in an effort to address the disproportionate impacts of pollution in many low-income communities and communities of color.
- The Infrastructure Act creates an opportunity to institute clean energy in U.S. territories Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- American Heritage Month is honored with a first-ever reception at the White House.
- The National Native American Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
State
- AZ voters pass a ballot initiative ensuring fair and equal college tuition rates for DACA recipients.
- CA voters ensure abortion rights will be enshrined in the state constitution.
- CA voters protect kids’ and teens’ health by voting to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.
- CA: Congressman-elect Robert Garcia will be the first LGBTQ first-generation American from the state to serve in Congress.
- GA: Court overturns a ban on certain abortions, finding the ban in violated the Constitution.
- KY voters reject an amendment that would have explicitly excluded any right to abortion from the state constitution.
- MA: Andrea Campbell will be the state’s first Black woman Attorney General.
- MD: Governor-elect Wes Moore will be the first Black governor in MD history.
- MI voters ensure abortion rights will be enshrined in the state constitution.
- MN: Leigh Finke becomes the state’s first transgender legislator.
- MN: Alicia Kozlowski (Ojibwe) will be the first non-binary person to serve in the state legislature.
- MT voters reject an unscientific anti-abortion ballot initiative.
- NH: James Roesener is elected to the NH House, becoming the first openly transgender man to be elected to a state legislature in U.S. history.
- NM voters approve a permanent child care fund.
- OR voters pass a ballot measure making healthcare an explicitly constitutional right.
- PA: Congresswoman-elect Summer Lee is first Black woman elected to Congress from PA.
- VT voters ensure abortion rights will be enshrined in the state constitution.
- VT: Congresswoman-elect Becca Balint will be the state’s first woman and first openly LGBTQ person to serve in Congress.
- Governors-elect Maura Healey (MA) and Tina Kotek (OR) will be the first openly lesbian governors in U.S. history.
- Voters in AL, OR, TN, and VT vote to eliminate state constitutional clauses that allow slavery or indentured servitude as a form of punishment.
- Voters pass 17 ballot initiatives across 14 states that will secure public funding and green policies to protect the environment.
Local
- People seeking refuge and asylum who were bussed by TX’s governor to Philadelphia find welcome and assistance through city programs.
- Rebecca Blankenship becomes KY’s first ever openly transgender public official.
- Helen Tran becomes the first Asian American (and only the third woman) elected to serve as Mayor of San Bernardino.
- Karen Bass becomes the first woman elected as mayor of Los Angeles.
- A memorial honoring the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook shooting opens to the public.
Corporate/business
- The Grow with Google Digital Coaches program expands to train Indigenous businesses with the help of a new Indigenous Community Digital Coach.
- Shake ’N Bake retires their plastic shaker bags, which will save 900,000 pounds of plastic waste annually.
- The latest edition of Scrabble’s official dictionary does not include 200 slurs and other offensive words.
Groups and organizations
- Moms Rising offers a free workshop on how to get health insurance coverage.
- The National Women’s Law Center provides information on what to do when health insurance companies refuse to cover contraception.
News with heart
- Indigenous leaders offer a webinar, Rethinking Thanksgiving: From Land Acknowledgement to LANDBACK, this Sunday, November 20.
- A record number of LGBTQ candidates win their elections in November’s midterms.
- Voters nationwide did not elect candidates who questioned the security of the 2020 election, particularly in races that would have given those candidates authority over future elections.
- Over the last six years, orchestras across the U.S. performed music written by women of color at an increase of 1,425% and music by women of all races at an increase of 638%.
- Folk musician Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten is posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
- Science-fiction author Octavia Butler’s former middle school is renamed in her honor.
- Mariana Varela (Miss Argentina) and Fabiola Valentin (Miss Puerto Rico) get married.
To Support the Checklist
The AoC Checklist helps you speak up to create a better democracy for all and is always ad-free and no-cost. Share the Checklist with like-hearted friends and consider becoming a patron.
A special welcome!
Two new volunteers have joined the AoCC team! Zoe is researching actions for the Equality Team and making graphics for our Social Media Team. Julie M is writing Equality actions from our team’s research. We’re thrilled they’ve joined us!
Want to join our team of volunteers? New positions will open up in January. Learn more and apply here.
Hi Jen and all the AoCC activists,
Would you please research what is the current status of the Equal Rights Amendment? Who is responsible for changing the date of ratification? Where is it stuck and what could we do to get it unstuck and passed?
Thank you!