Media Invited to Attend Jackson, MS Event
September 29, 2017 – The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a 50-state campaign to restore Americans’ voting rights through its People Power grassroots platform. The campaign will be launched at an in-person event in Lawrence, Kansas and livestreamed to hundreds of watch parties in all fifty states.
The campaign will involve initiatives individually-tailored to each state and taken up by grassroots activists, working in concert with ACLU state affiliate offices. The focus of the Mississippi campaign will be early voting and online voter registration. Media are invited to attend the local event in Jackson, MS:
WHAT: ACLU of Mississippi Launch of the “Let People Vote” campaign watch party: livestreamed voting rights issue briefing and advocacy training, followed by local initiatives planning
WHO: ACLU experts via livestream, local ACLU supporters in attendance
WHEN: Sunday, October 1. Livestream starts at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: 233 E. Capitol Street, Jackson, MS
“The right to vote is at the core of our democracy and we are ready to work alongside allies across the country to make it even easier for people to vote,” said Jennifer Riley-Collins, ACLU of Mississippi executive director. “Our newest People Power campaign will activate people in every state and will bring together many types of organizing and advocacy so that more people can participate in our democracy.”
The launch event will take place in Kansas, home state to Kris Kobach, chair of President Trump’s so-called “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.” Kobach has attempted to enact numerous voting restriction measures and has faced legal action from the ACLU each time. ACLU experts will explain the current state of play nationally on voting rights and offer brief training on voting rights advocacy. Following the program, those gathered at local watch parties will work together to create local voting rights campaigns, which will then be coordinated and tracked through ACLU state affiliates.
The Let People Vote campaign will consist of location-specific calls to action in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These calls to action fall within four themes: election reforms to update our voting system and make voting easier; countering voter suppression schemes designed to keep people away from ballot boxes; voter restoration policies that give voting rights back to people who have served their time and are returning to their communities and want the chance to fully participate in society; and redistricting reforms to stop corrosive partisan gerrymandering.
Visit https://peoplepower.org/ to find other watch parties in Mississippi. The ACLU of Mississippi will also host a Voting Rights Workshop in Brookhaven, MS on October 10, 2017.
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