Minutes for March 2020
Announcements—Nancy announced a Super Tuesday Party from 5:30 to 8:30; advised all interested members to speak with her about the address and to plan to bring a snack.
Indivisible Founders “Ezra and Leah” will be at the Arizona Festival of Books https://tucson.com/entertainment/caliente/tucson-festival-of-books-panels-put-the-spotlight-on-political/article_34ae9255-b3a9-5032-986b-f4b1db117242.html . They will also be at a Meet ‘n Greet at Brother John’s on March 14 from 1:00 to 2:30. There will be a cash bar and light snacks provided by Indivisible.
A question arose concerning members who could not remember which petitions they had signed. People were encouraged to sign anyway because a second signature would be thrown out later, but the original one would be retained. Also, all are encouraged to check their Voter Registration Cards to know exactly how to sign their names. Certification of petitions requires attention to every detail, otherwise known as strict compliance.
Jan brought to our attention that there is a place on our ITAA website www.indivisibletucson.org where we can enter our RTS tally. Go to the top bar, click on RESOURCES, choose RTS dropdown, then scroll down for where to enter your number. Jan and others agreed that it is immensely satisfying to do this.
Karen distributed a signup sheet for people to participate in voter registration drives. While we will continue to encourage participation in Field Team 6 voter registration drives, Karen and Jan are also organizing these events at libraries, farmers’ markets, and the YMCA. Please contact Karen if you wish to participate in one of these drives.
Beth reminded anyone who would like to purchase an ITAA T shirt to see her. There are both crew and V neck styles. She will wait to get ten of one style to order, thereby taking advantage of a discount for bulk order.
Guest Speaker—Alison Marciniak, Arizona Advocacy Network’s Ballot Measure Director, presented the outline of the Free and Fair Elections referendum. Alison said that it has been a year of hard work to get the Fair Elections Act up and running, with a “meticulous process” to ensure that it could hold up to challenges. It is 30 pages long. Alison said to think about this referendum as having “3 buckets” that contain the areas that need reform:
1. Voting Rights: automatic voter registration, same day registration, expanded early voting (moved up from the Friday before to the day before the Election Day), any ballot postmarked on Election Day will count;
2. Money and Politics: lowering contribution limits, reform of Clean Elections funding;
3. Ethics Reform: aimed at lobbyists; institute a revolving door ban and double the lobbyist registration fees, which currently are only $25.00.
Alison reported that they had already gathered 53,000 signatures in the month since they launched this initiative, and they were here to encourage our members to become involved in gathering the 237,000 needed (with a goal of getting 400,000) to get this on the November ballot. See azfairelections.com.
Margo will be chairing the team to organize the gathering of signatures. She sent around a signup sheet and gained a large number of volunteers for this effort. Members are urged to contact Margo if they are interested in joining this team. There will be workshops, with 2 week turn-arounds for the petitions.
STATE TEAM—LTE (letters to the editor)—Misty put together a poster to display the large number of letters that this team has been able to get published. Eileen emphasized the need for members to get accustomed to phoning our representatives. As the “season” of RTS winds down (because bills to be voted on will move out of committee and on to the floor), it will be essential for members to pivot to calling our State Representatives. There are 3 weeks of hearings left. As always, members are urged consult our website for the representatives’ phone numbers and “should put them your contact list”. To drive home the importance of this, as well as the ease of doing this, members were encouraged to dial up Mark Finchem on the spot to oppose HCR2039 since it was soon to be voted on that day. A substantial number of people in attendance did just that. They also called Senator Leach to oppose SB 1489.
As regards the efforts of the State Team overall, Eileen said that the use of RTS, LTE, and phone calls and other communication was effective because many people can “hit this at the same time”. This kind of persistence of large numbers of people does work. She reminded us that her team meets at Beyond Bread Sunday, March 8 at 9:30. She also reminded everyone that everything she is talking about can also be discovered on the Civic Engagement Beyond Voting (CEBV) website.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS—Ahead of the PPE (presidential preference election) on March 17, our large group organized itself into smaller groups comprised of people’s “preferences” at this time. It was acknowledged that due to Early Voting, there may be members who had already voted for candidates who had dropped out ahead of Super Tuesday. Even so, there was value in those members speaking to one another, perhaps discussing where they hope or see the race going from here. The reports from each group were informative and aligned with the goal of getting a Democrat into the White House.
A CHANGE IN THE USUAL MEETING TIME NEXT MONTH: Please note that our April meeting will be Monday April 13th due to unavailability of meeting rooms on the usual first Monday of the month.
Dana reminded all present to keep bringing new people to our meetings and into our activities.
Announcements—Nancy announced a Super Tuesday Party from 5:30 to 8:30; advised all interested members to speak with her about the address and to plan to bring a snack.
Indivisible Founders “Ezra and Leah” will be at the Arizona Festival of Books https://tucson.com/entertainment/caliente/tucson-festival-of-books-panels-put-the-spotlight-on-political/article_34ae9255-b3a9-5032-986b-f4b1db117242.html . They will also be at a Meet ‘n Greet at Brother John’s on March 14 from 1:00 to 2:30. There will be a cash bar and light snacks provided by Indivisible.
A question arose concerning members who could not remember which petitions they had signed. People were encouraged to sign anyway because a second signature would be thrown out later, but the original one would be retained. Also, all are encouraged to check their Voter Registration Cards to know exactly how to sign their names. Certification of petitions requires attention to every detail, otherwise known as strict compliance.
Jan brought to our attention that there is a place on our ITAA website www.indivisibletucson.org where we can enter our RTS tally. Go to the top bar, click on RESOURCES, choose RTS dropdown, then scroll down for where to enter your number. Jan and others agreed that it is immensely satisfying to do this.
Karen distributed a signup sheet for people to participate in voter registration drives. While we will continue to encourage participation in Field Team 6 voter registration drives, Karen and Jan are also organizing these events at libraries, farmers’ markets, and the YMCA. Please contact Karen if you wish to participate in one of these drives.
Beth reminded anyone who would like to purchase an ITAA T shirt to see her. There are both crew and V neck styles. She will wait to get ten of one style to order, thereby taking advantage of a discount for bulk order.
Guest Speaker—Alison Marciniak, Arizona Advocacy Network’s Ballot Measure Director, presented the outline of the Free and Fair Elections referendum. Alison said that it has been a year of hard work to get the Fair Elections Act up and running, with a “meticulous process” to ensure that it could hold up to challenges. It is 30 pages long. Alison said to think about this referendum as having “3 buckets” that contain the areas that need reform:
1. Voting Rights: automatic voter registration, same day registration, expanded early voting (moved up from the Friday before to the day before the Election Day), any ballot postmarked on Election Day will count;
2. Money and Politics: lowering contribution limits, reform of Clean Elections funding;
3. Ethics Reform: aimed at lobbyists; institute a revolving door ban and double the lobbyist registration fees, which currently are only $25.00.
Alison reported that they had already gathered 53,000 signatures in the month since they launched this initiative, and they were here to encourage our members to become involved in gathering the 237,000 needed (with a goal of getting 400,000) to get this on the November ballot. See azfairelections.com.
Margo will be chairing the team to organize the gathering of signatures. She sent around a signup sheet and gained a large number of volunteers for this effort. Members are urged to contact Margo if they are interested in joining this team. There will be workshops, with 2 week turn-arounds for the petitions.
STATE TEAM—LTE (letters to the editor)—Misty put together a poster to display the large number of letters that this team has been able to get published. Eileen emphasized the need for members to get accustomed to phoning our representatives. As the “season” of RTS winds down (because bills to be voted on will move out of committee and on to the floor), it will be essential for members to pivot to calling our State Representatives. There are 3 weeks of hearings left. As always, members are urged consult our website for the representatives’ phone numbers and “should put them your contact list”. To drive home the importance of this, as well as the ease of doing this, members were encouraged to dial up Mark Finchem on the spot to oppose HCR2039 since it was soon to be voted on that day. A substantial number of people in attendance did just that. They also called Senator Leach to oppose SB 1489.
As regards the efforts of the State Team overall, Eileen said that the use of RTS, LTE, and phone calls and other communication was effective because many people can “hit this at the same time”. This kind of persistence of large numbers of people does work. She reminded us that her team meets at Beyond Bread Sunday, March 8 at 9:30. She also reminded everyone that everything she is talking about can also be discovered on the Civic Engagement Beyond Voting (CEBV) website.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS—Ahead of the PPE (presidential preference election) on March 17, our large group organized itself into smaller groups comprised of people’s “preferences” at this time. It was acknowledged that due to Early Voting, there may be members who had already voted for candidates who had dropped out ahead of Super Tuesday. Even so, there was value in those members speaking to one another, perhaps discussing where they hope or see the race going from here. The reports from each group were informative and aligned with the goal of getting a Democrat into the White House.
A CHANGE IN THE USUAL MEETING TIME NEXT MONTH: Please note that our April meeting will be Monday April 13th due to unavailability of meeting rooms on the usual first Monday of the month.
Dana reminded all present to keep bringing new people to our meetings and into our activities.
