The Headlines
Collaboration is integral to the work of strengthening our democracy, and in recent weeks Voters Not Politicians and Voters Ed Fund have been marshalling groups of democracy supporters to help us in our work.
The Details
Voters Ed Fund Meets with Lansing Faith Leaders
This month Voters Ed Fund launched a groundbreaking initiative as part of our flagship My City Votes program. Through partnerships with faith leaders in regional groups around the state, we aim to galvanize nonpartisan, faith-inspired civic engagement across congregations.
This effort began with a Faith Leader Summit in Lansing where clergy and community leaders met and discussed the relationship between democratic participation and their faiths. The summit—anchored by shared values of justice, service, and participatory democracy — included reflections, action planning, and commitments to voter education, and congregation-based mobilization. Facilitated by Voters Ed Fund staff and faith representatives, this new initiative within My City Votes intentionally centers theological grounding and community trust to frame civic duty as a moral imperative.
Building on the momentum in Lansing, My City Votes plans to expand this faith-based organizing model into all six My City Votes municipalities within the next several months, cultivating regional Faith & Democracy Working Groups to support voter turnout, redistricting awareness, and post-election democracy protection strategies. This growing coalition of faith leaders marks a vital pillar in My City Votes’ effort to safeguard democracy through trusted, values-driven community partnerships.
VNP Ballot Committee Meets to Combat Voter Suppression Initiatives
Voters Not Politicians Ballot Committee is continuing to lead the charge against the two voter suppression ballot initiatives that are being pushed by politicians and national special interest groups. We are hosting regular training sessions to educate our growing volunteer force around the threats of the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights and the Americans for Citizen Voting ballot initiatives. We are also adding additional trainings on how to disrupt circulators in the field, how to give presentations to warn local groups, and how to write letters to the editor to local outlets.
In addition to organizing volunteers and facilitating direct voter contact, Voters Not Politicians has also convened a partner table with other pro-democracy organizations to share the resources we have developed and to help coordinate resistance across the state. Over a dozen organizations have joined these convenings so far.
One major takeaway from these conversations is that even for the most educated voters and democracy advocates, there are still many questions about the consequences of these proposals. It’s clear that these voter suppression ballot initiatives, if passed, will cause mass confusion among voters and make the work of election administration much more difficult for local clerks.
What’s Next
Voters Not Politicians is continuing to grow the grassroots resistance to these ballot initiatives, which puts us up against well-funded politicians and special interest groups. Stopping these efforts before they reach the ballot will not be easy, but it is necessary to protect the constitutional rights that Michigan voters have chosen.
Voters Ed Fund will continue expanding our partnership and outreach efforts with faith leaders and bringing their important constituencies into our work to promote year-round civic engagement at all levels of our democracy.
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