Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Not all heroes wear capes.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

So many bastards, so little time.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Targeted Political Fundraising 2023-24 / It’s Up To Us Now, Next Up: Michigan!

It’s Up To Us Now, Next Up: Michigan!

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It’s up to us now, as it always was.

Next up: Michigan, with Voting Access for All (VAAC)

We’ve been out West with states like Montana (Jon Tester is crucial!) and swing states like Arizona and Nevada, but now we are moving north and east to the Michigan, with its 15 electoral votes!

Remember VAAC?  Remember this video?

It was this video that led us to first support VAAC in 2022.  I urge you to watch it, even if you watched it 2 years ago.  It’s just over 1 minute long, and it tells you everything you need to know.

VAAC is working to educate, register and turnout voters who are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, homeless, or “justice impacted” (referring to friends and family of the current and formerly incarcerated).

Michigan passed a law a few months ago – everyone who is released from prison is automatically registered to vote.  But the law doesn’t take effect until 2025, so it doesn’t help in November.

Short sidebar: Let’s talk about the difference between prison and jail.  If you’ve been convicted and sentenced, we are most likely talking PRISON.  If you are serving a relatively short term or are being held without bail before your court hearing, or as you are being processed, we’re talking JAIL.  Prison and jail are only interchangeable to people who have no contact with the criminal justice system.

Okay, sidebar over.  Back to the subject at hand!

The formerly incarcerated have had the right to vote in Michigan for at least 15 years.  But most are unaware of their rights, or are intimidated by stories of voters who have been fined or incarcerated in other states.   If you watched the video, you’ll know that sometimes being unaware of your rights is not accidental.  Some parole officers or folks who work in jail or prisons will tell you that you can’t vote even after you get out of jail.  Yep.  Disinformation strikes again.

VAAC is working to change that.

Okay, another sidebar.  This time, for some really sad news.  I didn’t tell you all before, because it never felt like the right time, but Danny – the really compelling guy who narrates much of the video – was killed a year ago in November. It was really quite shocking; he we shot and killed when he stopped for gas at a well-lit gas station at night.  Danny was one of the founding members of VAAC, and his loss left them reeling.  Where do they go from here?  Could they carry on without Danny?  Did they want to?  But VAAC was his vision, too, so they got back on the horse and are working their collective asses off in support of their mission.

If you want to read about Danny Jones and Earl Burton (who died of natural causes shortly after they lost Danny) you can read about their lives and their incredible impact on voting rights here.

So VAAC is back at work, and they have found us a $25,000 match.  $15k from the East Bay Community Foundation, and $10k from a private donor.  That $25,000 is being donated to VAAC specifically because we want to raise $25k for VAAC, and the donors were inspired by our offer.

What are we funding?  Just like last time, we are paying for teams who are doing direct work with the formerly incarcerated, not just to let them know they are eligible to vote, not just to get them registered to vote, but also to get them out to vote.

What, specifically, are these voting ambassadors up to?  They are:

  • Going to prisons and jails to educate the incarcerated on their right to vote (and get them registered and out to vote in the Fall).
  • Educating County clerks on the law and providing them with written materials regarding voting rights to distribute to the incarcerated and the released.
  • Going to High Schools schools, mostly in the Detroit area, to put on assemblies regarding the importance of voting and voting rights and getting students registered.
  • Going to “expungement fairs” (legal clinics with volunteer lawyers) to register and motivate voters.
  • Going to homeless shelters to educate the unhoused on their right to vote, even without a permanent address.
  • Motivating voters to participate by emphasizing the state and local elections that have an impact on the criminal justice system.

The VAAC team is fired up and ready to go in Danny and Earl’s memory.

You may recall the zoom we had with VAAC in 2022; well, we’re having another one in less than 2 weeks.  It looks like our zoom with VAAC will be on May 14, 15, or 16, so please pencil that in on your calendar.  I think it’s fair to say that all of us who attended the zoom with VAAC in 2022 felt a real connection with them.  Kindred spirits.  We all felt it, even though the demographics and life experiences between BJ peeps and the VAAC peeps probably couldn’t be more different.

I’ll be putting up the thermometer today, as soon as I can get it made!

We do have a BJ Angel to get us started on meeting this match, so the initial donations will be double-matched, so donations up to $50 per person will be 4x the donation amount.

Out-raise them.  Out-organize them.  Out-strategize them.  Out vote them.

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    brantl

    If I thought there were a Lord, I would say these guys are doing the Lord’s work.

  2. 2.

    caphilldcne

    Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear about Danny and Earl.  I’m in for $50 4x match for my home state.

     

    edit: I’m not seeing the donation link. Usually there’s an Act Blue thermometer or something?

     

    edit to my edit: cool, I’ll keep an eye out and donate when it shows up.

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    @caphilldcne: Okay, i just got the thermometer up in the sidebar and added to the post.

    I also added a link to the thermometer in the hamburger menu on mobile devices.

    Thank you!

  7. 7.

    caphilldcne

    You’re fast. thank you!

    @WaterGirl: thank you. I donated twice. Once for Danny, once for Earl!  RIP and thank you for your work saving Michigan here on earth, guys. I so appreciate this.

  9. 9.

    Marcopolo

    OT but in MO news I just got word from the organizers that we’ve collected enough signatures to put the Pro-Choice, Pro-Freedom, make abortion legal again ballot initiative on the actual ballot here.  It has been a long, drawn out process so yay!

    Governor will decide if it’s the primary ballot in Aug or general election in November but fingers crossed 🤞 we pass this into law!

    Glad to be joining AZ, FL, CO in voting on this this year.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @Marcopolo: That’s great news!

    I assume they collected WAY MORE signatures than required, so if the other side pulls some shenanigans, they will still have enough signatures?

  14. 14.

    Jim Appleton

    @WaterGirl: in for another 50, thanks.

    The thermometer wasn’t up when I made the first donation.

     

    Please delete the link from my comment if it helps.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @Jim Appleton: I’m sorry about that.  I mentioned in the post that I would get the thermometer up shortly, but it was a LONG post so I can totally see how people could have missed that.

    thanks for both donations!

  19. 19.

    TerryC

    In my little quite historically conservative township, Lodi, in Michigan, we have a township council, clerk, and supervisor who are facing this year their first Democratic challenge in decades. I’m all in on it and helped persuade my neighbor to run for the supervisor position. Wish us luck.

  20. 20.

    Joy in FL

    I just donated $25 on the thermometer.

    Thanks to the matching donors and everybody at VAAC for giving us such a good reason to donate.

  23. 23.

    Marcopolo

    @WaterGirl: We’ll find out.  Public announcement is tomorrow in Jefferson City, the state Capitol.  Just read an article today that the opposition is actively trying to convince folks who have signed to retract.  They will also be doing a FOIA request once the petitions are submitted to get a copy & then they’ll be going over them to find errors, but that process has already occurred at the county level (county election folks had to certify signatures before this turn in) so not sure what they’ll find.  Pessimist in me says to expect the worst from some of these people—I hope that doesn’t extend to actual harassment of signers but guess we’ll see.

    Edited to add link to article from today talking about all of this: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/02/missouri-abortion-amendment-march-life/

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Marcopolo: I don’t see how they would have a right to see the signers, once they have been verified by all the appropriate people.

    The other side is all about INTIMIDATION.  A bunch of wanna-be-authoritarian bullies, all the way down.

  25. 25.

    Sallycat

    I donated $50 plus tip.  I don’t have a lot of spare cash, and I really appreciate having causes that my donation might help being presented by Balloon Juice.

  27. 27.

    H.E.Wolf

    Rest in peace and power, Danny and Earl.

    Thank you to VAAC and WaterGirl for ensuring that we can help GOTV in Danny and Earl’s memory!

  28. 28.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Marcopolo: OT but in MO news I just got word from the organizers that we’ve collected enough signatures to put the Pro-Choice, Pro-Freedom, make abortion legal again ballot initiative on the actual ballot here. It has been a long, drawn out process so yay!​

     *high five*!!!

  34. 34.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    In for $50.  As always, thank you Water Girl for doing this work.

  38. 38.

    Reboot

    Donated $25. I lived in FL for most of my life, voted for restoring voting rights, was incensed when Repubs blocked it, so this feels like helping to bend the arc a little.

  39. 39.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: What’s amazing is that S Dakota votes approx 70% TIFG. So, apparently A LOT of MAGA women don’t want TIFG meddling in their private medical business. Who coulda knowed 🙄

  40. 40.

    Maxim

    Very sorry to hear about Danny and Earl, but glad that VAAC is carrying on in their memory. In for $50.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot:

    voted for restoring voting rights, was incensed when Repubs blocked it

    I was thinking about that this morning before I put the post up.  What they did is SO WRONG.

  46. 46.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    i PUT IN $100 IN HONOR OF Danny Jones and Earl Burton. I’m glad VAAC is continuing thier vision and their work. It’s so important.

  48. 48.

    Glidwrith

    @WaterGirl: It was such a travesty: laws are not supposed to be retroactive, yet after voters said felons should have their rights restored then the legislature insisted there were fees to be paid but wouldn’t disclose them. Grrrrr.

    In for $50. Both sad and mad. I’m going to scritch a kitty.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    I’ve got all these donations matched, thank you!

    Just $75 left on this $1,500 angel match!

    We have another angel waiting in the wings, though, so we’ll continue to match after that one is complete.

Comments are closed.