Voters Not Politicians knows the power of collective grassroots action. That’s why we launched a unique citizen lobbying program that fuels a growing, engaged volunteer base, giving volunteers the training, information, and tools they need to directly lobby their own lawmakers. We also deploy our Legislative Liaisons to engage and educate state representatives and state senators on pro-democracy policy priorities.
Citizen lobbying is exactly what it sounds like: we turn citizens into effective grassroots lobbyists.
We empower Michiganders across the state to advocate for Voters Not Politicians’ legislative priorities by providing them with training, scripts, policy one-pagers, and action alerts to ensure they can effectively discuss policies.
Through citizen lobbying, volunteers have the opportunity to learn more about the work the legislator is doing and get the inside scoop on democracy-related bills moving through the legislature.
We think so. But see for yourself. Here’s a list of just some of the legislation Voters Not Politicians volunteers have helped get passed.
Scroll to read how Voters Not Politicians has used Citizen Lobbying to engage Michiganders and strengthen our state’s democracy.
In 2022, Voters Not Politicians conducted a candidate questionnaire and identified pro-democracy candidates running for state office who supported protecting and expanding voting rights. After the 2022 election, we determined that Michigan voters elected a pro-democracy majority in both chambers of the state legislature.
This presented a unique opportunity for our people-powered organization and one that we could not let slip by.
Voters Not Politicians knows the power of collective grassroots action, so we got to work developing a program that could connect volunteers with their lawmakers to advance pro-democracy policies in the state legislature.
We designed a unique citizen lobbying program to push for the passage of pro-democracy legislation.
The foundation of the program was educating, training, and empowering Michiganders so they could effectively communicate with their lawmakers in support or in opposition of bills.
Over the course of our citizen lobbying progam, Voters Not Politicians has worked to pass several pieces of legislation to strengthen Michigan’s democracy.
From protecting local election workers from intimidation to allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote, we’ve proven that collective grassroots action works.
Sometimes, legislation moves quickly through the legislature (and sometimes, it doesn’t move at all).
Voters Not Politicians needed a way to nimbly mobilize volunteers across the state, especially in moments of breaking news or legislative developments.
The Dial for Democracy program quickly became a large part of our Citizen Lobbying program.
Here’s how it works:
Dial for Democracy has proven to help everyday citizens have an easy and productive call to their local lawmaker.
Interested in signing up?
Join our Dial for Democracy program here and make sure you receive the next action alert!
We quickly learned that several volunteers wanted to do more when it came to advocating for pro-democracy legislation.
These volunteers wanted to attend office hours and have face-to-face conversations with their lawmakers.
Voters Not Politicians developed our Legislative Liaison program to meet the need.
Legislative Liaison volunteers meet directly with their elected officials in the Michigan House and Senate to advocate for Voters Not Politicians’ legislative priorities, such as election funding and ethics reform.
Legislative Liaisons commit to additional education and training, attend coffee hours or other in-district events at least monthly, and attend a monthly meeting with Voters Not Politicians staff for legislative updates.
These volunteers are true champions of pro-democracy policies.
Voters Not Politicians is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to strengthening democracy in Michigan by engaging citizens in projects and initiatives across the state. Contributions made to Voters Not Politicians are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.
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