Many things may go wrong around the election next month. One that’s the hovering over our heads like a carrion bird is that one candidate says he’ll refuse to leave office no matter what the election result is. And evidence mounts that he’s taken steps to put that idea into action.
Waging Nonviolence is a peace group watching as the tension levels rise, and they have long experience in possible ways to respond. Last night they held a training on “How to Beat an Election-Related Power Grab” . It was pretty much awesome. Waging Nonviolence and Training for Change, did this through a project they started called the Choose Democracy Project. If you didn’t hear about it there’s a link to the invitation below. You get a sense from the blurb of where they’re going… and they did it very well.
Co-founder of the group George Lakey notes that the best election outcome will be for there to be no power grab. But under these circumstances, to prepare for the possibility is wiser than to just hope for the best.
… Here’s a Winning Strategy
Peace people like us are not interested in solving problems with violence. It just isn’t where we want to go. We know those who want to keep a door to violent response open do not have science on their side. The data shows that 3 out of 4 times, a nonviolent response to a coup or some other form of power grab is successful in stopping the power grab. But only 1 out of 4 times is a violent reaction successful. Even in the face of brutal repression those numbers hold.
The Choose Democracy Project is aiming right along our values spectrum Omni folks. If you didn’t get to see the webinar you’ll want to. (BTW they maxed out their 1000 person capacity with people from all over the country, have another 1000 scheduled for next Tuesday, and are planning more webinars) .
Those who did join the call will know Choose Democracy offered a wealth of ideas for strategies and tactics to start right away laying groundwork for success. And there are roles for many willing people, including you.
Are you curious about what Choose Democracy’s plan is? Here’s a beginning outline. To get the real juice please sign up for an upcoming training or reply to omni@omnicenter.org to be included in future messages.
COUNT ALL THE VOTES
The strategy is a demand for all the votes to be counted. Here’s the pledge. Everyone needs to pledge to it. Including our political leaders. And it’s not hard… it’s basic democracy:
CHOOSE DEMOCRACY – OUR PLEDGE:
- We will vote.
- We will refuse to accept election results until all the votes are counted.
- We will nonviolently take to the streets if a coup is attempted.
- If we need to, we will shut down this country to protect the integrity of the democratic process.
HERE ARE FOUR KEYS TO WINNING
- The right audience. Nonviolent resistance is successful when the audience for the campaign is “the center.” Meaning the everyday folks who are keeping the community moving. Teachers, politicians, business owners, essential workers, salt of the earth folks.
- Build alliances. Go beyond the usual suspects. Talk to LOTS of people including your friends and get their buy-in on the pledge. Just having the conversation will build clarity for people about the situation.
- Commit to nonviolent discipline – when violence stays marginal, and the campaign sustains stability, respect and fairness, it looks like it is the LEGITIMATE group. This struggle is a contest for legitimacy, and we want to be the side that is obviously the legitimate party.
- REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE ILLEGITIMATE AUTHORITY – Some good people may start thinking that compromise is a solution. It’s not. This is not a time for compromise. It’s a time for clarity. All the votes must be counted. We will not compromise with coup plotters.
This is just the beginning.
To protect our democracy Arkansas and America need you. Right or left, none of us want our country to descend into chaos. None of us want to see our elections tainted. None of us want to see violence or power grabs. None of us want to see our economy hurt any further. None of us want our democracy to be damaged. We will protect our democracy, our people, our planet and our communities by protecting our elections.
This strategy is a way forward with nonviolent determination, strength and heart. If you’re concerned about the election and its integrity, there’s hope here.
To register for a future training, I’m putting in the link to the one for Oct 6. I’m not absolutely sure it’ll work for all future trainings, but it might. There’ll be more information to come.
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Waging Nonviolence and Training for Change are organizing a preventative campaign called Choose Democracy. It’s using a strategy of getting agreement on a pledge asking that all votes be counted. If a coup is attempted we’ll be better prepared, connected and ready to participate in further action. Nonviolence strategist George Lakey is holding the next training for the campaign Tuesday Aug 6 at 6:30 central. Please sign on at the link below to help with this and learn more. Let Omni know you’re interested so we can coordinate efforts in Arkansas. Text to 479-283-2167 or omni@omnicenter.org. Here’s a link for registration….
Tuesday, October 6, 4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT / 7:30pm ET
https://choosedemocracy.us/training/
To receive future information email omni@omnicenter.org
On Friday this campaign appeared in Yes! Magazine. A publication of positive, progressive thinkers and doers with lots of inspiration of their own. Here’s a link to their story:
More valuable information from other experienced activist groups
Thank you to Waging Nonviolence, Training for Change, other good partners, and the Choose Democracy Project for inspiration and direction.
Waging Nonviolence webpage https://wagingnonviolence.org/
Choose Democracy Project https://choosedemocracy.us/
Training for Change https://www.trainingforchange.org/