No Stamp Required – The Story of a Drop Box

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By Melissa Horste Itā€™s the day before election day. Jane has her absentee ballot in hand, but canā€™t find a stamp and the post office is closed. She has to head out of town for a work trip in the morning and doesn’t have time to vote in person. Plus, Jane isnā€™t sure what would […]

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Press Releases and Poetry – Meet VNP’s New Comms Manager

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By Melissa Horste In April, Voters Not Politicians welcomed the newest member of the team, Communications Manager, Melinda Billingsley. As VNPā€™s Communication Manager, she fills a critical role on the team. Voters Not Politicians has grown rapidly over the years into a family of organizations, including Voters Not Politicians, Voters Not Politicians Education Fund and […]

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VNP Launches Affinity Groups

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Voters Not Politicians hired Magnolia Detroit in order to assess our organization and advance our goals of making VNP a more inclusive space for all of our staff and volunteers. As a result of this work, VNP is launching Affinity Groups to create supportive spaces for volunteers and staff with shared lived experiences and identities. […]

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Kevin Deegan-Krause kneels next to his dog and holds up his scale model of the old 14th Congressional District, made entirely out of Lego.

This Board Member Seeks the Holy Grail of Free, Fair and Representative Democratic Elections

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While Kevin Deegan-Krause may be one of the newest board members of the Voters Not Politicians Education Fund, he is also one of the longest running VNP volunteers. In addition to serving on the board of the Voters Ed Fund, Kevin is also a member of the policy committee. Kevin Deegan-Krause bounced around the country […]

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Two women in brightly colored costume wear gather petition signatures

VNP Volunteers are on Track to Shatter Goals

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By Amanda Lammon, State Field Director | May 3, 2022 Ask anyone: Voters Not Politicians volunteers are the best volunteers! Since getting petitions back in hand our volunteers have braved snow and hail and collected more than 20,000 signatures.Ā  (Pictured above: Lisa Jevens and Marie Knoerl going all out to gather signatures) As soon as VNP […]

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Voters Ed Fund Receives a $300,000 Grant

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By Melissa Horste | May 3, 2022 The Voters Not Politicians Education Fund (Voters Ed Fund) started the year strong with a $300,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This grant will support the Voters Ed Fund as we share the lessons learned from Michiganā€™s historic inaugural independent redistricting process, expand […]

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The Secret to This Super Circulatorā€™s Success

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April 4, 2022 Meet Lyn Pawloski Thousands of volunteers collected more than 428,000 signatures in 110 days in 2018 to put Proposal 2 on the ballot. There are a handful of volunteers who stood out among the rest for the sheer number of signatures they collected. This elite squad of passionate volunteers have been aptly […]

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Our Evaluation Program & the UM Fellow thatā€™s helping us put it all together

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By Charlie Beall | April 4, 2022 Since late December 2021, a team of volunteers, staff, and fellows have been engaged in exhaustive retrospective work to understand the successes and shortcomings of supporting Communities of Interest and the public to engage in Michiganā€™s new redistricting process. This team has been actively working to identify attitudes, takeaways, […]

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From Artists to IT: VNP Field Teams Bring a Variety of Skills to the Table

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By Mary Brown and Laura DeLind | April 4, 2022 Democracy requires dedication, and diversity. But just as important ā€“ or maybe even more important ā€“ it requires TEAM WORK.  Here in Mid-Michigan, we have a wonderful team of VNP volunteers who bring together their individual strengths, weaving them into a dynamic, powerful, and effective whole.  […]

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VNP thwarts Republican lawmakersā€™ attempt to rewrite the redistricting amendment

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By Nancy Wang As the drafters of the constitutional amendment that created the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and the primary supporters of the ballot initiative that approved it, VNP has a distinctly strong interest in ensuring that the Commission functions as intended and that efforts to undermine its authority or undo the purpose of […]

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