Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 09:30 AM · 43 rsvps

Online

Advocating Democracy

Join us Saturday morning, September 25, 9:30 - 11:30 as we give you more tools to make you an effective advocate for democracy reform. The event will be online via Zoom and will feature as our opening speaker Brenda Lett, National Treasurer; National Coalition Of Blacks for Reparations in America, (N’COBRA), Board Chair; NH Black Women Health Project, and Board Member; Greater Manchester Black Scholarship Foundation.

This event is FREE and is open to volunteers of any organization who want to learn more about how to advocate for the freedom to vote, end the influence of special interests on our elected officials, and how to be more effective in your communications to other voters.

We have two tracks in our program, based on suggestions by our Open Democracy Teams members, "Issues" and "Tools." You will have the opportunity to attend a total of 2 of the 4 workshops. All will be recorded so you can watch the others at your leisure.

RSVP below!

Our program:

Issues:

9:45-10:20 am Public Funding of Elections

One of the solutions to ending the influence of Big Money special interests on our elected officials is the implementation of public funding of elections. This reform can be "voter dollars," certificates which voters give to candidates they support, or matching funds. Learn more about how these models work, and where they've been implemented, the success they've had, and ways we can advocate for this game-changing reform.

Presenter: Nick Nyhart

Nick Nyhart (former President and CEO, Public Campaign/Every Voice Center) is a longtime democracy advocate. For nearly 20 years, he led Public Campaign (later Every Voice Center), which supported groundbreaking local, state, and national efforts to design, win, and implement innovative systems of publicly financed elections. A consultant since 2019, he remains an expert on small dollar donor public financing programs and related policies to improve American democracy by making politics more inclusive and equitable.

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10:25-11:10 am Difficult Conversations on Redistricting

Partisan redistricting and gerrymandering have been cancers on American democracy since the beginning of the republic. Voters recognize that it's unfair, but many politicians see it as a means to an end -- power. We'll show you ways to have a conversation with a legislator or voter who may like things the way they are, or be may just not know about how fair redistricting would be better for voters of all parties.

Presenter: Liz Tentarelli

Liz Tentarelli is a retired educator. She has a been a member of the non-partisan League of Women Voters for more than 25 years, and president of the state League since 2013. Liz often testifies on election law issues in the NH Legislature on behalf of the League of Women Voters. She is also a presenter for the NH Humanities on women's suffrage. Liz lives in Newbury NH.

Tools:

9:45-10:20 am Facebook as an Advocacy Tool

Love it or hate it, Facebook is regularly used by 71% of the U.S. population, with an even higher number of pro-democracy users, according to Pew Research. As advocates, we can't afford to ignore the platform for events, mobilizing people to action, or movement building. Find out how Facebook can be used to move democracy reform, tricks which allow you to do more, and it's limitations.

Presenter: Zandra Rice Hawkins

Zandra Rice Hawkins is the founding Executive Director of Granite State Progress and developed her communications expertise with groups such as America Coming Together and New Hampshire for Health Care.

Zandra serves on the America Votes – New Hampshire Executive Work Group, convenes the NH Health Care Coalition and NH Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, and is active in her local Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) committee.

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10:25-11:10 am Twitter Basics

What's a Tweet Storm? How do I ReTweet? What's a Hashtag for? Twitter isn't used by anywhere near as many Americans - 21%, so why bother? It's WHO uses Twitter that's important. We'll teach you the basics of using Twitter, all about #Hashtags, and why it can be an effective tool for raising the visibility of an issue with influencers.

Presenter: Becky Timmons

Becky Timmons is the Communications Coordinator at Common Cause.

Recognition:

We'll also take just a few minutes during the event to acknowledge the incredible contributions of our Open Democracy Teams, who just this year have written over 120 letters to the editor, generate hundreds of calls to our U.S. Senators on the For the People Act, challenged Governor Sununu's claims that there is no gerrymandering in NH and so much more. You'll learn more about what Open Democracy Teams do on a weekly basis, and how they are making an impact on the debate in New Hampshire.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at 06:00 PM · 9 rsvps

Online via Zoom

Map-A-Thon VI
Join us for the sixth meeting of the full Map-a-Thon team. This meeting will be devoted to our recommended House maps for each county. On October 1st we hope to release our maps to the press and the public. We hope you'll join us!

We're assembling a team of citizens called Live Free, Map Fair who want to create fair maps to show the NH public what fair maps ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE! Called the Live Free, Map Fair project, we need both technical and policy volunteers to hash out our fair maps, then get them into the hands of policy members and the press.

After the Map-a-Thon, and seeing first-hand how the process is done, you can:
- Volunteer as a technical member of the Live Free, Map Fair Team using your knowledge of spreadsheets, databases, geography, GIS software and other tech tools to help draw our maps, or
- Volunteer as a policy member of the Live Free, Map Fair Team helping to identify communities of interest, conduct a Community of Interest Survey, and negotiate some of the compromises and challenges we'll face due to geography, communities of interest, and other factors.
Our maps will be distributed to legislators, town officials, the press, and to the Special Committee on Redistricting itself to draw a comparison with the unfortunately less-than-fair maps we expect from the Special Committee on Redistricting.

Be a part of the process that will change New Hampshire's voting maps for the better! Sign up for the Map-a-Thon below!

Hosted by Open Democracy, League of Women Voters-NH, Kent Street Coalition, and Granite State Progress.
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Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 07:00 PM · 12 rsvps

Online via Zoom

Open Democracy Book Club: Our Time Is Now

Summer is almost over and it's time to re-engage the Open Democracy Book Club! Please join us on October 14, 2021, 7 pm Eastern via Zoom for a discussion of Stacey Abrams book, "Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America." We continue to focus on the book club's theme: Where are we, how did we get here, and what are we going to do about it?"

"Stacey Abrams is not only a passionate advocate of democracy but also an inspiring example of how to practice it. In Our Time is Now" she exposes systematic voter suppression efforts across America and tells us what we need to do to fight back. This book is an essential tool kit for citizens of all backgrounds who believe, as I do, that democracy is not a spectator sport." Madeleine K. Albright, former US Secretary of State.

"Following her historic run for governor of Georgia in 2018, Stacey Abrams led a nationwide effort to empower and enfranchise voters to participate in our democratic process. With Our Time is Now, she's set out a comprehensive road map for engaging those voters, tearing down barriers to participation and making our democracy live up to its highest ideals." Julian Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Purchasing info:

ISBN: 9781250798466
ISBN-10: 1250798469
Publisher: Picador
Publication Date: June 8th, 2021
Pages: 320
Language: English

Available at your local bookstore: Gibson's Bookstore - Toadstool Bookshops - Water Street Bookstore

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