One of the fundamental principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is the use of the democratic process. As an expression of our faith, many Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations engage in voter registration, election reform, and protecting voting rights and democracy.

Defending the right to vote has been central to the work of the UUA and at the core of Unitarian Universalism for decades—from expanding enfranchisement for women and Black people to advocating for a path to citizenship for immigrants; from our history of civil rights engagement to taking on the New Jim Crow and white supremacy today. As a faith community UUs are vocal and active about voting rights and have contributed to change throughout history. In the past few years, UUs have been part of a groundswell of voting rights, electoral work, and democracy movements that have emerged and gained even more momentum since the 2016 US elections.

Spiritual Sustenance Post Election
Wednesday, November 7 at 8pm Eastern

For this midterm election, the UUA supported local organizing for key ballot questions in states such as Florida, Ohio, and Massachusetts.

Join UUA president, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, and other UU ministers and organizers, for a post-election conversation to discuss how our faith showed up for the midterms, what we learned from our work, and how we were nurtured by sacred organizing.

Come together for a sacred space to unwind and unpack this election cycle. Use this link just before 8pm Eastern on November 7 to join.

Mobilizing for the 2018 Mid-Term Elections

The UUA is supporting two key state ballot initiatives led by front-line organizers in Florida and Ohio. These initiatives uphold our commitment to the democratic process and commitment to justice as an expression of our faith. They also call us to live out our principles of inherent worth, inherent dignity, and interdependence. We put our faith into action by insuring that electoral and justice systems don’t treat any human being as disposable.

Nationwide, Florida, and Ohio, we need your help with canvassing, phone banking & GOTV!

Get Involved with Amendment 4 for Florida

Get Involved with Issue 1 in Ohio

2016 - 2020 Congregational Study/Action Issue: The Corruption of Our Democracy

Delegates at the 2016 General Assembly in Columbus, OH, selected "The Corruption of Our Democracy" to be the 2016-2020 Congregational Study/Action Issue (CSAI) of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) of Congregations.

The Congregational Study/Action Issue is an invitation for congregations and districts to take a topic of concern and engage it, reflect on it, learn about it, respond to it, comment on it take action—each in their own way. A CSAI is NOT a statement—it is a question. Download the Corruption of Our Democracy CSAI Study Guide (PDF, 24 pages), (Word, 24 pages).

Voting Rights Organizing Videos & Webinars for UUs

• Getting Involved without Getting in Trouble: Understanding the IRS Election-Year Guidelines for Clergy and Congregations
  Led by Rev. Rob Keithan, Faith Organizing and Training Consultant, former director of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy, and author of the UUA publication: “The Real Rules: Congregations and the IRS Guidelines On Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections” and Rev. Rob Hardies, Senior Minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC, speaking on the James Reeb Voting Rights Project. A UUMA & UUA Webinar held jointing with the UUMA Clara Barton Chapter on Oct. 5, 2016. Download the PowerPoint presentation.

Find a Partner

UU congregations and organizations are working with partners to protect the vote, register people to vote, and get out the vote!

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Let People Vote
• Bolder Advocacy
• Brennan Center for Justice, including their map of where voter suppression measures have passed
• Color of Change Democracy Alliance
• Congregation-Based Community Organizations
• Democracy Awakening and Democracy Spring
• Democracy Initiative
• Earth Day Network: Registering Climate Justice Voters
• Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), This Is My Vote
• Ohio Organizing Collaborative
• Poor People's Campaign
• Project Vote
• Second Chances Florida
• UU State Action Networks
• ​UUSJ: Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice: Your Voice in the National Capital

Get Connected

• Join the Facebook Groups UUs Forward Together: Voting Rights & Mass Moral Movement and UUs & the Poor Peoples Campaign
• Subscribe to our UUA Just Acts Newsletter

Funding

• The UU Funding Program has grants of up to $500 available for UU congregations participating in voter projects.
• Take a collection, make a donation, and apply to the James Reeb Fund for Multicultural Ministries and Leadership

Theological Grounding and History

• UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick Gray Sunday Morning Worship at General Assembly 2018 – This Is No Time for a Casual Faith.
• In March 2015, the Living Legacy Project and the Unitarian Universalist Association, presented the Marching in the Arc of Justice Conference, to honor the 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Campaign. This was a time for us to remember our past, honor our martyrs and their families, and recommit to the struggle for racial justice in the United States. A new Marching in the Arc of Justice Toolkit has just been released for use in your congregation or community group that includes videos from the conference, discussion guides, and small group ministry sessions.
• Rev. Robert M. Hardies: Sermon—“The Fierce Urgency of Now” and “Oh Freedom”
• Rev. William Barber, II: Sermon—Bothered and Baptized by the Blood
• Rev. Lisa Schwartz: Sermon-- "If Not Now, When: For Such a Time as This"
• Rev. Mark D. Morrison-Reed, The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism
• Susan Leslie: Blog—"Why Registering People to Vote Matters"
• UUs have passed numerous GA resolutions on voting rights.

Resources

• All Souls Unitarian Church Reeb Voting Rights Project

• Bolder Advocacy - Change the World with Confidence

• Brennan Center for Justice
• Daring Democracy by Frances Moore Lappe & Adam Eichen (Beacon Press, 2017)
• UUA Daring Democracy Common Read Discussion Guide
• Field Guide to Democracy
• Indivisible Guide - A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda
• Move to Amend: The UUA objects to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United (see 2011 and 2013 Actions of Immediate Witness), and has endorsed the move to amend the Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

• The Real Rules: IRS Guidelines on Congregational Advocacy, Lobbying, and Election Work (PDF, 22 pages)

• Religious Activism: Political not Partisan

• The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II (Beacon Press, 2016)

We know that too often people are excluded from this process due to economic and racial bias. Ironically, the right to legislative representation is denied to the residents of the U.S. capitol, Washington, DC. The UUA works to make sure that those who are eligible to vote can do so, and to extend the right to vote to the citizens of the nation's capitol.

We invite you to learn more about Unitarian Universalism and our commitment to voting rights as an issue of economic and racial justice.

More Information on Voting

• “Fighting for Democracy: Brendan’s Story,” Ben & Jerry's
• Read about the partnership for voting rights between Charlotte NC UU congregations, All Souls UU Washington, DC and the NAACP: “We affirm and promote the use of the democratic process”.
• Ending the New Jim Crow
• UUs Support Voting Rights Amendment Act
• Why Registering People to Vote is an Act of Faith

Read More

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