ANOTHER VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY IN MARYLAND

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY THIRD TO ADOPT PUBLIC FINANCING
Victory in Maryland! Congratulations to DI partners and allies Common Cause Maryland, Maryland PIRG, Maryland PIRG Students, Our Revolution Prince George's Chapter, Progressive Maryland, and Sierra Club Prince George's County; Prince George’s County has become the third county in Maryland to pass small-donor public financing for local candidates, joining Montgomery and Howard counties.

Candidates who enter the program commit to accepting donations not exceeding $250, with donations smaller than $150 being matched by the election fund. Now, with Question H on the ballot this November, Baltimore City is poised to become the fourth county to adopt small donor public financing—an incredible tool to put the power back in the hands of the people.

MARYLAND ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION KICKOFF PRESS CONFERENCE
Early voting kicks off in Maryland today. The DI wanted to give you a quick update on the great kickoff event yesterday for the Maryland statewide Election Day Registration proposal (EDR).

In the past weeks, the DI and AFL-CIO partnered on a great EDR lit piece for neighborhood canvassing. Join PFAW and Sierra Club for using our Democracy is on the Ballot toolkit to email their Maryland members in support of EDR. The DI and NAACP Baltimore City Branch coordinated to write and pitch an op-ed in support of the democracy reforms in Maryland—share this op-ed with your members in Maryland.

Common Cause Maryland and the NAACP Baltimore Branch organized a press event to highlight the EDR proposal and urge voters to take advantage of early voting. Rev. Kobi Little led a great list of speakers that included:

• Wendy Fields – Democracy Initiative
• Yaheiry Mora – CASA de Maryland
• Jay Hutchins – Maryland Working Families
• Damon Effingham – Common Cause Maryland

It was a great pleasure to partner with the Fair Election Coalition on this diverse press conference hosted by the Baltimore City NAACP. The coalition's Damon Effingham and Yaheiry Mora are both featured on local NPR coverage; you can listen here.

ACTIONS YOUR MEMBERS CAN TAKE RIGHT NOW

HELP US REACH OUR GOAL OF 100 VOLUNTEERS BY FRIDAY 10/26
The Election Protection Coalition urgently needs poll monitors during early voting and on Election Day, and volunteers with legal experience to work the hotline. We're asking all our partners to commit 100 members to volunteer with the Election Protection Coalition by FRIDAY 10/26.

DI partner Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, alongside other DI partners and allies, are leading the Election Protection Coalition's work with the Election Protection Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE). Additionally, we need partners and allies to boost these volunteering opportunities and share this resource on social media; the Election Protection Coalition has provided sample emails and social media graphics.

DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE "DON'T MESS WITH OUR VOTE" PETITION
As the effort to suppress votes ramps up around the country to keep entrenched politicians and wealthy interests in the driver's seat of our democracy, we need partners and allies to send out our petition link alongside any actions that you send to your members.

The Democracy Initiative has created a voting rights petition as a center of gravity for our anti-voter suppression work. You can sign out petition telling elected officials "Don't Mess with our Vote!" here, and access our engagement guide here.

DI PRIORITY CAMPAIGNS NEED YOUR SUPPORT

SECOND CHANCES FLORIDA

1. October 27: Day of Action! Returning Citizens Lead Voters to the Polls and Nationwide Call Parties. Join one of more than 100 events nationwide. Here are sample recruitment materials.
2. November 2-6: Get Out The Vote For Those Who Can't! Help recruit call party hosts, attendees and virtual phone-bankers. Use this link to recruit attendees and this one to recruit hosts.

VOTERS NOT POLITICIANS & PROMOTE THE VOTE MICHIGAN
DI allies Voters Not Politicians and Promote the Vote MI are requesting that DI partner organizations direct their members to the campaign action pages to support Proposals 2 & 3 in Michigan this November.

• Click here to visit Voters Not Politicians' action page to support a citizens redistricting commission.
• Click here to visit Promote the Vote MI's action page to support a broad package of voter reforms.

TOOLS FOR THE LAST TWELVE DAYS

We've assembled a collection of helpful resources and tool-kits from across the fight for our democracy for you and your members.

1. DI partner NAACP has composed an incredible midterm election messaging guide for Black voters.
2. The Appeal's Political Report has created a map of democracy referenda around the country (see below).
3. DI partner Common Cause has prepared a report on pro-democracy referenda around the country for the 2018 midterm elections.
4. The Union of Concerned Scientists have released an accessible report detailing the links between voting rights and environmental justice.
5. The DI has begun compiling a host of resources, actions, and events from partners and priority campaigns, which will be updated as we draw closer to the midterms.
6. Democracy is on the Ballot BISC report on ballot initiatives: 20% of voters drop off before voting the whole ballot. Tell your members to VOTE ALL THE WAY. ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BALLOT. It has never mattered more.
    

PARTNER NEWS

PROMOTE THE VOTE MICHIGAN RELEASES NEW TV AD
Our friends over at Promote the Vote Michigan have released their newest ad, currently running Michigan.