As of July 31st, 1,960,566 absentee ballots had been requested from Michigan clerk offices. As of this same date, 1,169,910 ballots had been returned. That’s a return rate of 59.2%.
Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson does NOT recommend that voters put their ballots in the mail due to delays in the postal system. It’s been alleged that these delays have been engineered as a means of voter suppression by President Trump’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. For more information, click HERE to read an article from Thursday’s Washington Post.
So what if you, your friends or your family haven’t yet voted by absentee? Here are some tips:
In the middle of a COVID pandemic, that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon, all Michigan registered voters now have a right to vote by mail for the August 4th Primary and the November 3rd general elections. This year, the Secretary of State mailed absentee ballot applications to every registered voter. However, if you didn’t receive an absentee ballot application, you can request one on-line at: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/avapplication
As of July 22nd, a record number of ballots — 1,750,091 — were requested. However, only 30% of those ballots have been received by local clerks. To vote absentee, you we need to complete the ballot, (only vote for candidates from one party) and vote for non-partisan candidates, e.g., judges, insert it into the official ballot envelope. Sign the envelope and put it in the mail. You can also deliver your ballot to a drop box if one is available near you. Call you local clerk for more information.
You can check the status of your ballot application, i.e., the date application was received, the date the ballot was mailed and the date you voted through a free on-line program called: www.ballotpower.org
MUUSJN and our colleagues with our statewide “Interfaith Get Out the Vote Campaign” are working to encourage people to vote through: Unitarian Universalist congregations; the ACLU People Power Project; United Church of Christ – Michigan Conference; the National Council of Jewish Women; Restaurant Opportunity Centers of Michigan; the All Voting Is Local campaign; Inclusive Justice; and other organizations. We are reaching out to people with lower propensities to vote, including people from LGBTQ communities, students, people of color, homeless persons, etc. We offer a free on-line training and issue sessions on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. For more information, contact Sharon Pedersen at 517-740-2629 or email: sspedersen@sbcglobal.net
The City of Detroit and other communities are still looking for workers to help with voting activities at the polls on August 4th. Potential workers will be screened for COVID-19, will be trained and (in the City of Detroit) will be paid $200 – $300, depending on the job duties. To sign up for one of these jobs, click this link to the Democracy MVP initiative:https://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1633_11976_98803—,00.html
(Share this video widely via your networks and social media}
Tell Your Senators and Senators McConnell and Schumer:
Why the U.S. Post Service is an ESSENTIAL SERVICE:
The USPS projects it will run out of funds by September 2020. The White House, which has long sought to privatize the USPS, has so far blocked financial relief for the Post Office. Private mail companies were supported in the CARES COVID-19 relief bill, but not the USPS.The U.S. House approved $25 billion for the USPS in the most recent HEROES relief bill. This funding hasn’t yet been approved by the Senate. A bi-partisan, stand alone relief bill was introduced on July 2nd.MUUSJN is working with the US Postal Workers Union national office on this campaign.
Key Congressional leaders will need to approve S. 4174: Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Chuck Schumer; Rep. Nancy Pelosi; and Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Click HERE for more information on this bill. Here’s a summary of other provisions of the Postal Service Emergency Relief Act:
The USPS projects it will run out of funds by September 2020. The White House, which has long sought to privatize the USPS, has so far blocked financial relief for the Post Office. Private mail companies were supported in the CARES COVID-19 relief bill, but not the USPS. The U.S. House approved $25 billion for the USPS in the most recent HEROES relief bill. This funding hasn’t yet been approved by the Senate. A bi-partisan, stand alone relief bill was introduced on July 2nd.
Key Congressional leaders will need to approve S. 4174: Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Chuck Schumer; Rep. Nancy Pelosi; and Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Click HERE for more information on this bill. Here’s a summary of other provisions of the Postal Service Emergency Relief Act:
Please call Michigan Senators and Sen. Mitch McConnell. See talking points earlier in this alert.
TELL OUR SENATORS:
URGE SENATORS TO BE CHAMPIONS FOR THE HEROES ACTIT EXTENDS A LIFELINE TO FAMILIES IN NEED
More than 36 million U.S. workers have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis. The loss of jobs is dramatically increasing poverty and leaving families on the brink of hunger and homelessness.
The country is on the verge of a depression. Leading economist are telling our leaders that our federal government must provide trillions of additional stimulus. However, the Senate Majority seems to be stalling on taking action on this important issue. Action is not expected until after Memorial Day. Jerome Powell, a conservative Chair of the Federal Reserve, advised Congress and the White House on May 24th that the economy needs more fiscal relief to battle the country’s economic downturn.
On May 15th, the U.S. House passed H.R. 6800, the $3 trillion HEREOS (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act. This Act includes provisions that help vulnerable families:
A previous CARES Act covid relief bill included $250 billion in tax breaks for millionaire business owners. We must urge our elected officials to fight to ensure that the Senate passes a bill that delivers effective aid to people, not more tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations.
TIME FOR ACTION! PLEASE CALL our Senators after Memorial Day, the day we honor our fallen war heroes. Now we must honor the almost 100,000 Americans who have fallen from COVID-19, many of whom include our grandparents in long term care facilities. See phone number and talking points listed at the top of this action alert. Urge our Senators to fight for us!!
MAY 5TH PRIMARY COULD OPEN DOOR TO STRONGER, SAFER PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS
Michigan’s May 5th primary election, without having any candidates on the ballot, is making history!Presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) have already been chosen by their parties. What makes this primary election unique is that is being held in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. The Secretary of State (SOS) Jocelyn Benson wants to prevent voters and poll workers for catching this terrible disease. Local governments were given the option of postponing their election or holding it with a proactive approach to encourage citizens to vote absentee. After being given this option to postpone, 34 of 55 counties are moving ahead with elections for mostly school millages or local bond issues which they believe can’t wait until the fall. Click HERE to see which Michigan counties are holding primary elections and see what issues are on their ballots.
The historic change in this election is that the SOS is mailing absentee voter applications to each registered voter in the jurisdiction holding a May 5th primary. The State is providing postage paid return envelopes so people can vote from home. In an April 24th press release, the Secretary of State urged voters to cast their absentee ballots by mail as soon as possible. Approximately 740,000 voters were mailed applications for absentee ballots; 213,000 submitted their applications and already 66,355 people have mailed their ballots. Local clerks still must keep at least one polling place open for people who want to vote in person. Clerks’ offices must be available for same day registrations or ballot drop-offs.
Scott Reilly, a UU voter registration activist from Southfield, said that this experiment in absentee voting will provide a precedent for how things may go in the big 2020 election this fall. A strong turnout now can set the stage for a better voter turnout in the fall. Also, this election will test how local officials can hold live elections that may involve social distancing and using proper health precautions.
CALL TO ACTION #1: People in the 34 counties where the May 5th elections are being held (click HERE) should encourage their friends and neighbors to request a ballot and vote absentee. If the COVID-19 returns — or hasn’t fully left us in the fall — absentee voting likely will be very smart way to vote.
CALL TO ACTION #2: If you know someone who has not registered to vote (maybe a young person or a newcomer to Michigan) or if someone who has changed their address, tell them they can take care of these things on the SOS website. Click HEREto register to vote or to update their voter registration.
MUUSJN will soon be launching a statewide Get Out the Vote campaign. People from 17 UU congregations have expressed an interest in promoting the vote. We’ll be providing actions people can take from their own homes. For more information about volunteering to Get Out To Vote, contact Randy Block at 248-224-5572 (cell).
Tell Governor Whitmer:
During our current COVID-19 crisis people in Michigan prisons are at high risk of dying from the COVID-19 virus. As of April 16th, 472 people in Michigan prisons have tested positive for the deadly respiratory disease. Ten inmates and two staff have already died. The Macomb Correctional facility, where Temujin Kensu is held, has 42 known COVID cases! There are two prisoners known to be infected with the COVID- 19 virus one cell away from Mr. Kensu.Dave Sanders, a Board member of the Innocence Project, has said that “it would be an incredible and unforgiveable tragedy for Temujin to succumb to COVID-19 when he was wholly innocent and nearing freedom after 34 years”.
Temujin, who turned 56 years old in December of 2019, has been plagued with chronic health problems many of which were caused or exacerbated by life in prison. Temujin’s won a $320,000 lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections concerning his medical care or the lack of it. To learn what it’s like inside a Michigan prison, click HEREto read Temujin’s graphic description. His cell, reportedly, is next to two other men who are infected with COVID-19.
There are a whole group of people who have been appealing for Temujin Kensu’s freedom for many years. I am one of them. Another more well known advocate for Temujin’s release is Nolan Finley, editor of the Detroit News. Click HERE to read Finley’s views about why Governor Whitmer should release from prison innocent people like Temujin. If you’d like more information about the life and trying times of Temujin Kensu, click HERE listen to weekly podcasts being provided by the Innocence Project.
The U.S. is in the midst of a health and an economic crisis that resulted in passage of a $2.3 trillion economic stimulus bill called the CARES Act. This act is meant to benefit both consumers and businesses. Direct economic relief to consumers, through tax rebates, should not create a hardship forthe most poor and people with disabilities, due to a glitch in the way the program is administered.
People on SSI (a program for very low income persons) and people on VA disability assistance receive federal funding just like people on Social Security. They too should be able to benefit from direct depositelectronic benefit payments. For some people, this will require them to open a bank account. However, our national response to the COViD-19 crisis will be more humane and efficient if we extend direct deposits to the most vulnerable in our society. These are the people who most need the money and who are most likely to spend it — keeping keep our economy going.
This Friday, March 27th, the House passed and the President signed the $2.3 trillion CARE (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act), the largest financial relief bill in history. The purpose of this major economic package, which got high levels of support from both Democrats and Republicans, was meant to protect families, businesses, hospitals and states in the middle of an unprecedented coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On March 18th, the $104 billion “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” was adopted by Congress. In the last few weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared an emergency and issued several executive orders, including restoring water shutoffs; closing Michigan schools, restaurants and non-essential services. We’ve been called to stay at home and maintain a social distance from others to help control the spread of this deadly virus. Through a social justice lens, this email attempts to provide an outline of what’s in this massive bill and start to think about other policies that are needed to sustain our communities. (See pie chart at bottom of this email to see how the dollars are being allocated.)
A group of about 500 progressive organizations, including the Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible, MoveOn, SEIU, Sierra Club and the Sunrise Movement, agreed on five “Principles for Just COVID-19 Relief and Stimulus” to contribute to a just recovery. These principles are:
For more information on these principles and organizations that signed on to them, click HERE.
Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, wrote:
“The situation we are in is very grave…Congress has taken important steps, but this is only the beginning, sadly. We are all in this together– maybe socially distant, but morally and economically connected. If we cast aside any of us — whether incapacitated, homeless, immigrant, poor — it will hurt us all. Congress may have disbursed, like all of us, but we still must work together to get out of this”.
Some of the estimates for the actual cost for this massive bill are still being calculated. However, the above Roll Call article indicates that both Republican and Democratic lawmakers say that more legislative responses to the Covid-19 virus will be necessary. This means that advocates for health care workers, the unemployed, the poor, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQ persons, immigrants and the homeless will have much more work ahead of us
This weekend, Congress is negotiating a major economic package that both Democrats and Republicans agree is needed to avoid a recession and great suffering of the American people. Unfortunately, our nation’s leaders have been slow to halt the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which is now having a major impact on businesses, our health systems, our schools and the health and economic well being of people of his country. This email will providesan update on two pieces of legislation put together quickly to respond this crisis:
THANK YOU to people who responded to MUUSJN’s first email and urged their Senators to adopt the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (HR 6201) without including #45’s six month payroll “tax cut” that would have undermined funding for our Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. This Act is a first step toward supporting U.S. families by providing most workers with paid two weeks of paid sick leave for workers in companies with less than 500 workers; free testing for coronavirus; expanded unemployment benefits; expanded funding for Medicaid; and expanded food assistance. Click HERE for a summary of this Act.
Reportedly half of the $1 trillion+ CARE bill would provide financial relief for large (e.g.,airline industry and cruise ships) and small businesses being harmed by the coronavirus crisis. The other half was to put money in people’s pockets so they can take care of basic needs and stimulate the economy. An important part of those consumer benefits include cash payments from $600 – $1,200. The lowest amount of this payment is for people who are too poor to pay taxes.
Click HERE for principles drawn from the Coalition for Human Needs and other sources:
Most of you have heard this many times already, but older persons with underlying health conditions are more vulnerable to becoming infected with the coronavirus and passing it on to others. For more information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on ways to avoid becoming a victim of coronavirus, click HERE.
