Media Contact:
Suzanne Morse
Ph: (508) 259-9354
Email: smorse@uua.org

Boston, Mass. (March 28, 2024) – More than 700 people joined the March 14th launch of UU the Vote, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) nonpartisan civic engagement initiative focused on advancing democracy and organizing for justice and accountability. The effort was launched at a virtual event that featured the UUA’s president, Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson of UU Justice NC, Taylor Aguilera of the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign, and Marta Hanson from Power the Polls, as well as Nicole Pressley, the UUA’s Organizing Strategy Team Director and Nora Rasman, the UUA’s Democracy Strategist.

“At its best, our faith transforms us spiritually. It roots us in community and it changes the conditions of our world,” said Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt at the launch event. “UU the Vote is about meeting the moment. It’s about refusing to turn away. It is our work to witness pain, grief, and possibility with clarity and to offer our people an invitation to become builders of a liberatory future, what we preach and teach about in this faith.”

In 2024, the campaign plans to recruit over 10,000 volunteers from 500 Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations to reach out to 3 million voters across the country. Additionally, UU the Vote will host and support events in key states over an eight-week period. Those key states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The initiative will also focus on ballot initiatives related to reproductive justice in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida, a ranked choice voting ballot initiative in Idaho, and will continue working with partners on the Stop Cop City effort in Georgia.

“In 2024, we are ready to make UU the Vote the largest activation of UUs in the history of our state,” said Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, the Executive Director of UU Justice NC. “It is the same movement that in 2024 will register voters, educate voters, and turnout voters because the majority of people in North Carolina want reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and a strong democracy, and we are not going to stop fighting until we get it. This year, our moral legacy is on the line, and if we can do more than postcarding, we have the moral responsibility to do more than postcarding. It is time go deeper.”

The UUA successfully conducted its first UU the Vote initiative in 2020. More than 450 UU congregations and more than 5,000 volunteers participated in voter mobilization, get out the vote, and election defense efforts across the country during that presidential election year. In 2022 during the midterm elections, more than 3,000 volunteers from 400 Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations from across the country contacted more than 2 million voters. As a part of that election cycle, UU the Vote expanded its efforts into ballot initiatives and targeted its efforts in 12 states, while continuing its work in all 50 states.

“In 2020, we witnessed all that is broken in our systems, all that is unjust in our policies,” said Pressley. “In 2024, we have choices. We can be a part of a growing majority pro-democracy movement or we can give in to fatalism. We can commit to building a world where we are all free to thrive or we can give in to the status quo. We know that there is work to do. And that starts with talking to our communities about the future we build together.”

UU the Vote will again partner with organizations on the ground in key states and communities, including the Center for Common Ground, Floridians Protecting Freedom, and Power the Polls, along with UU State Action Networks (SANs) across the country.

“As a matter of faith and values, Unitarian Universalists believe in democracy,” said Rasman. “Relationships are core to our organizing work and we know that we are going to win through our relationships. We see that all change happens through collaboration. Our work is oriented to building collective power and community-based relationships that will allow us to continue to more broadly build democratic practices.”

For more information on UU the Vote, please visit their website.

About the UUA

The UUA is the central organization for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious movement in the United States. Our faith is diverse and inclusive and the UUA’s 1000+ member congregations are committed to principles and values that hold closely the worth and dignity of each person as sacred, the need for justice and compassion, the right of conscience, and respect for the interdependent nature of all existence.