Truth and Action Roundup - Stay centered this election season with truth and action

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup: a reliable source of information, inspiration, and action for the post-election period. Please sign up here to continue receiving this newsletter. We plan to send it three times per week between Election Day and Inauguration Day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to keep you informed and inspired, and offer opportunities to take action. We will also send a special Sunday edition most weeks focused on pastoral care and spiritual sustenance in what will likely be a stressful and volatile time. It’s Friday, 4 days before Election Day. Early in-person voting is underway around the country; 60.6 million Americans (and counting) have already cast their ballots and polling indicates this could be the closest presidential election in decades. A majority of Americans are increasingly concerned that this election carries a significant risk of contested election results, lawsuits, efforts to disrupt the count or the certification process, and even of political violence. False claims about the election, echoing similar false claims used by former President Donald Trump since 2020, have already begun circulating. At the same time, we know many Americans look to their faith for hope and guidance in times of uncertainty. We hope that the information, inspiration, and opportunities for action in this newsletter — all rooted in Sojourners’ unique commitment to faith and social justice — will provide you with an anchor in the midst of whatever we face. – Rev. Adam Taylor and Rev. Moya Harris, Sojourners In the News Here’s what we know at the time of writing: 1) We are particularly concerned about the false claims that have now been widely circulating for months that noncitizens are voting or will vote in this election. Despite the fact that such claims have been widely debunked by nonpartisan sources, the Trump campaign and many of its allies continue to raise and spread these claims, seemingly to pre-emptively cast doubt over the integrity of the election if the results are unfavorable to them. This tactic coincides with dehumanizing and toxic rhetoric about migrant people that we have heard throughout the campaign, including the recent rally at Madison Square Garden. As the Brennan Center for Justice has rightly noted, such claims have also been used in several states to make it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots. 2) On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the State of Virginia to leave in place its recent purge of voter registrations, overruling lower court decisions. The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the conservative majority. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s stated objective for removing thousands of voter registrations in recent months is to prevent noncitizens, who are ineligible to vote in U.S. elections, from casting a ballot, which conforms to the Trump campaign’s largely baseless claims. Even more problematic is the fact that this purge has improperly removed eligible voters from the rolls. Fortunately, Virginia allows same-day voter registration, so anyone eligible to vote who shows up at the polls on Election Day will have the opportunity to cast their ballot. Take Action • Check your voter registration here! Election Day is in just four days, but don’t worry — many states allow for same-day registration. The nonpartisan website vote.org can check your registration in just 30 seconds and help you register (or tell you how to do so). There are other great tools here too, such as the ability to see what will be on your local ballot. • Make a plan to vote and encourage others to do the same! Research shows voters who plan where, how, and when they will vote are more likely to actually cast their ballots. When We All Vote can help you create your own plan to vote in the election. • Pray for a free, fair, and safe election. Sojourners is proud to be a co-convener of Faiths United to Save Democracy, a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith, and multi-generation voter protection campaign in key states across the country. Wherever you live, you can download a daily prayer guide and join a national prayer call on Monday evening. Deep Breaths Did you know that the simple act of slow, deep breathing for a minute can decrease the cortisol in our brains that causes anxiety? We tend to hold our breath when stressed, which increases cortisol. Slow, deep breaths blow off carbon dioxide and increase the oxygen to our brains, which begins to regulate our nervous systems. Try it! We don’t know what the outcome of this election will be. We don’t know what the next days will bring. We do know that God wants the best for us. God is with us both in the doing and the resting. Make sure you do both. — Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners. These excerpts are taken from her column for sojo.net, “This Election Is Critical. So Is Taking Time to Rest” Please sign up here to continue receiving this newsletter. We plan to send it three times per week between Election Day and Inauguration Day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to keep you informed and inspired, and offer opportunities to take action. We will also send a special Sunday edition most weeks focused on pastoral care and spiritual sustenance in what will likely be a stressful and volatile time. The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Director of Racial Justice: Rev. Moya Harris Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Senior Adviser and Director to the President's Office: Elizabeth Denlinger Reaves Director of Campaigns and Mobilizing: Sandy Ovalle Martínez Director of Congregational Outreach & Education: Rev. Andrea Saccoccio Digital Communications Associate: Lexi Schnaser Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Donate Subscribe Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2024 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Sojourners | 408 C St. NE | Washington, DC 20002 Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842