by Rose Marie Berger
Sojourners Magazine
Seven concrete steps to safeguard the integrity of the vote
In the event of a contested election, with misinformation campaigns targeting the media, threats or eruptions of social violence, and confusing political maneuvers at the state and federal levels, trusted faith-based institutions and leaders serve as intermediaries to synthesize and disseminate news and mobilize effective nonviolent action to defend our democracy. Here is what you can do.
1. Get involved.
Scenario: Voting places are closed, and mail-in ballots are restricted because there are too few election workers due to COVID-19 concerns.
Tip: Democracy is a team sport. Everyone can be an election worker. Commit a certain number of people from your church to register as poll workers and mobilize medical personnel to speak on coronavirus-safe voting practices. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission hosts a video explainer and training information for each state, and you can support efforts to recruit young poll workers through powerthepolls.org.
2. Defend accuracy and stop disinformation.
Scenario: Voters receive phone calls, flyers, emails, or social media posts notifying them of alleged changes in the standard voting process, such as a new polling place, a security breach in private voter information, or notification that the voter is no longer eligible to vote.
Tip: Check all information through the National Association of Secretaries of State “Can I Vote?” page. If you discover false information, file an incident report with the Election Protection coalition (866ourvote.org). Alert others by commenting on false information that you see posted online, and do not repeat, repost, or retweet false information…
Read the entire article at this link.
____________
For more on the 2020 Elections…