The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence invites you to attend Engaging Gun Owners in Gun Violence Prevention on Tuesday, May 12th at 7 pm via Zoom. Did you know that the vast majority of gun owners support several key gun control laws, but do not feel comfortable getting involved in the GVP movement? Join Dr. Mike Siegel and Claire Boine from the Boston University School of Public Health for an interactive presentation where they will dispel myths about gun owners and show us how to craft effective messaging to engage them in gun violence prevention work. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aVikwm_cSMmSwSIWNAhZtA

Moderator Training Webinar:   LWVMA is offering moderator training through a webinar Monday, May 11, at 1 p.m. We will have time for questions and will be coordinating small group follow-up sessions for role playing to get more comfortable with the rules. Please register here. The webinar, presented by Jo-Ann Berry and Elizabeth Foster-Nolan, is open to anyone who would like to be trained as a moderator or would like a refresher on the rules and learn about moderating a forum in the era of Zoom. It will be recorded and available later on the LWVMA website.

Urge Legislature to Revise Election Practices:  Please email your Senator and Representative and urge them to make needed changes in the way Massachusetts conducts elections before the Sept. 1 primary election and Nov. 3 general election. While we all hope the COVID-19 virus will have abated by fall, we need to plan to conduct our elections as if it will not. That particularly means greatly expanded vote by mail outreach while continuing to offer in-person voting that is safe for voters and poll workers. LWVMA and our Election Modernization Coalition partners will file a bill in the legislature shortly to address these issues based on the recommendations in a Coalition letter to the legislature. In the meantime, ask for general support of such reforms. LWVUS offers these talking points on the League strategy of making voting more flexible and providing options such as vote by mail for voters.

Help with Census 2020:  The 2020 Census count and the outreach to ensure a complete count in Massachusetts continues. You can help by volunteering to phone bank to increase the count. MassCounts will conduct phone banks through the end of June every Tuesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesday from 5-7 p.m., Thursday from 5-7 p.m., and Saturday from 1-3 p.m. to call residents of census tracts with the lowest self-response rates. You can sign up to join a virtual phone bank. You’ll need a computer and a cell phone; a 15-20-minute training and a script are provided. Please note you need to sign up for each day you would like to phone bank.

Ask Congress to Fund Election Needs:  LWVUS is working to ensure elections and equality are prioritized as Congress drafts stimulus bills for COVID relief. The three provisions we are asking for are:

• Ensure that $4 billion in election funding is included to help states to make the remaining primaries and the November general election safe for all to participate.
• Ensure that all families and individuals receive aid from the government, regardless of their immigration or tax status.
• Ensure that Washington D.C. is treated like a state and not a territory in funding distribution.

You can help ensure these provisions are included in the next relief package by taking action with this LWVUS action alert and sharing our memo to Congress.  

Participate in a Webinar

Many of our members are enjoying participating in webinars while sheltering at home. Consider these webinars offered by LWVMA in the next month:  

Raising Civic Engagement Among Younger People

• Nancy Thomas, Director, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, Tufts University, Thursday, May 21, 4 p.m. Register here.

New England Regional League Conference 

• Voter engagement panel with Yanna Krupnikov, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition Executive Director Mufalo Chitam, and New Hampshire state senator Melanie Levesque, Monday, May 11, 2 p.m. Register here.

How Leagues are handling the pandemic and the challenges for elections, Monday, May 18, at 2 p.m. Register here