Electing Candidates Committed to Positively Transforming the Lives of Women, Girls and Families

We come to you this month with a different format for our Action Alert in preparation for this year’s elections. We have provided a “2012 Candidate Checklist: A Questionnaire for Candidates Seeking Election” for you to use while following this year’s election. We hope you will use the Checklist as a tool to assess whether a candidate’s positions reflect your values.

Action

The Checklist can be used by taking the following suggested Actions: (Please keep in mind that all candidate should be asked to explain his/her support or opposition to an issue.)

• Organize a candidate forum and directly pose questions to candidates
• Monitor community or nationally televised debates and note candidates’ responses; refer to chart below.
• Attend a town hall meeting and ask questions from the Checklist
• Distribute copies of the Checklist to your district and local counterparts for use as bulletin and table handouts or for use in Legislative Event packets
• Assess the election outcome. Convene a discussion group to determine how the “winner’s” views compared with issues you or your Conference support
• Convene a community dialogue around one of the categories on the Checklist. Reach a consensus on your point of view; schedule a meeting with your elected official to discuss the outcome of your dialogue

You can help get voters registered: webinars will be held on Wednesday, 8/29 and Thursday, 8/30 at gotowebinar.com.

• Voter Registration Planning and Recruitment: Wednesday, August 29 at 1:00 PM EDT
  Discuss selecting the right voter registration sites, planning a staging location, recruiting constituents to be registered, communicating with the press, and recruiting volunteers.
• Voter Registration Message and Online Tools: Thursday, August 30 at 1:00 PM EDT
  Covers effective messaging for getting people to register, and online tools to help with registration.

Pre-Election Schedule for Debates & Conventions