We have a 5-person group of Balloon Juice peeps who are taking on Michigan.
They are researching bills intended to restrict voting or overturn the will of the people. They are also making lists of elected officials, party activists, and civic and political activists that might be mobilizing to fight these awful laws, and they will be making contact with those groups to see what might be done to help them in their efforts.
This thread is a place where that team can communicate, share information with one another, ask questions, etc.
But anyone that has potentially helpful information related to MI is encouraged to comment. Maybe you know of a political organization that might be active in MI, or you have an in with an elected official or an aide in the state. If you know anything that might be helpful, please jump in.
You can also chime in to applaud the MI stat team: dnfree, SouthEndBoston, brantl, Madeleine, and TerryC.
Otherwise, you can ignore this post (and the other posts that will go up once one of the pilot state teams meet for the first time). Each post will be active for a couple of weeks, and a link to these posts is in the sidebar.
Team Members
Interface roles explained:
We will want to know who is filling each of the roles on the team.
- (exactly one) person to be point-of-contact with Alan and WaterGirl. Schedule the contact every 2-3 days or as necessary.
- (exactly one) person to be point-of-contact with Matthew [Lisa] and manage the state’s spreadsheet
- (exactly one) person to keep tabs on the state’s page [link here?] and the project’s page [link here?]
Project roles explained:
- one or more people to research legislation, using Voting Rights Lab and similar sources
- one person in particular that can take the first crack at the Voting Rights Lab in the first 2-3 days, so others can fill in the rest from other sites
- one or more people to research elected officials. Committee ranking members, minority caucus leadership, and their staff people are key here. Hint: also include Dem Party activists as a potential means of cutting through the clutter.
- one or more people to contact the elected officials. Ideally should be a resident of the state. Hint: use the legislative research to inform questions to the electeds, use their answers to inform the legislative research.
- one or more people to identify state activists trying to build resistance against the legislation
- one or more people to contact the activists
Please set up communication channels within your group however you wish. What works for you is best.
For communication about spreadsheets, please contact the person who presented the spreadsheets at your team meeting.
For communication with the leadership team, regular reports can be posted on the state pages. But please use email when there is an urgent issue or something you need to call to our attention.
When in doubt, email is fine. Don’t hesitate to contact us when you need to!
Team Roles! (add person’s nym here)
Interface Roles
Contact with Alan & WaterGirl:
Contact with your Spreadsheet Person (Matt or Lisa):
Monitor the Team Post:
?
Project Roles
Voting Rights Lab Research (in the first 2-3 days):
Research Legislation on other sites:
Research Elected Officials:
Contact Elected Officials:
Identify State Organizations & Activists:
Contact the Activists:
?
Please copy this list into a comment and add the names there.