Democracy: A User's Guide

Democracy is precious, and voting is still our most powerful tool to keep our government accountable to the people it serves. For the first Standing in Solidarity event of the season, NJPAC offers a conversation on the importance of voting, and a how-to guide to participating in elections, from a local mayor’s race to the presidential contest.

This panel will discuss how to ensure equity at the ballot box, offering information on how to register to vote, the fight over lowering the voting age and why it’s so important that everyone participates in elections.

Plus, it’ll discuss the new documentary, Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote, from director Robert Greenwald, president of Brave New Films. Using the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election as a starting point, this film looks at how tactics like voter-roll purges, the elimination of polling places, restrictions on mail-in voting and the invalidation of votes through “exact match” laws are limiting who can vote and which votes are counted.

How to participate:

1. Register here.

2. Watch Suppressed and Sabotaged (find the film here) on your own schedule.

3. Join NJPAC for a virtual conversation on Monday, September 18 at 7PM.

This panel will be moderated by Sarah Fajardo, Policy Director at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Panelists include:
 

• Ryan Haygood, President and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
• Deborah Smith Gregory, President of the Newark Branch of the NAACP
• Tahesha Way, New Jersey’s Secretary of State.