ground to be had. >> Churches and faith based
organizations across Wisconsin lead efforts to get more people
to vote. And engage with elected officials. Reporter Murv Seymour
tells us more about the historical connection between
the church and voter engagement. >> And then after getting people
registered, that is another. And even greater responsibility.
>> Echoes in the fight for the right to vote during the civil
rights era have long rung out, and that is to go out to vote in
the primary. More than a half a century later, let us march on
ballot boxes. The urge to march on continues in some areas.
>> You see three churches. >> On one block it rings from
the one place. Some consider the catalyst for community
engagement. where you go,
the church is the most powerful entity that we have in our
grasp. te me for
what I have. >> Oh happy day.
>> Reverend Greg Lewis not only preaches what I think will be a
happy day, he also leads the nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization souls to the polls. >> Church, you have work to do.
>> It's goal. >> Talk to your friends,
neighbors, relatives. Call them. Tell them. Listen Involve
yourself in the process. We have power. We have the numbers. We
just need the energy. >> Get everyone in his community
who's eligible to vote. >> This is something that we can
really make home for early voting. Amen
>> Yes, we always intentionally went to the early vote location
at Midtown when the Midtown early voting site in Milwaukee
unexpectedly shut down. >> Let's work harder to get out
and vote early. Even more than before.
s. United with more than a half dozen
community groups and some of the 400 pastors Lewis says he has in
his contact list. >> We're going to make sure that
we really push early voting, the goal keeping early voting site
in this neighborhood. This is important. This is where we have
to start in what feels at times like an outdoor sermon.
>> Reverend Greg Lewis preaches the importance of early voting.
>> This is how we get economics. This is how we get housing. This
is how we get jobs. We have to put people in place who will
help us do the things that need to be done in this community,
and voting is number, you know, it's great to register people,
but if they can't vote, it really hasn't accomplished much.
>> A few miles to the south in a residential neighborhood, this
is the Milwaukee Zen Center, which has been here in this
place for over 30 years, sits a Buddhist temple.
meditate here in the mornings and we take classes on
this day. >> It's a meeting place.
>> Anything the system needs to know, it's going to ask for it.
>> To learn about registering people to vote.
>> Today we are going to do a voter registration training to
use the online system. >> Someone has to already be 18
years old every vote counts and it is important that we take
care of that. >> Organized by Buddhist priest
Reirin Gumble and presented by the League of Women Voters, in
order to vote, you have to prove who you are.
re registering, you have to prove where you
live. ly learned
about how to best prepare themselves as election workers,
guided by faith. This nonpartisan, nonprofit spiritual
center also sends out thousands of written letters before
election Day encouraging people to vote.
>> We ask people to very carefully look at the agenda
that certain people have and then make a vote according to
their own values. And I think, you know, everybody needs to do
that for themselves. >> The vote is one piece of the
whole advocacy picture in the heart of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison campus. Faith communities have had a role in
advocacy for a long time. >> Reverend Michael Burch at
Crossing Ministries looks to educate this college community
about political activism. Listening to the students,
that's my main role. >> He does so by bringing
together students with and without faith.
>> It's not all about really being on one end of the spectrum
or the other, but, learning to be versed in what you're
advocating for and understanding it and also being willing to
move your position, what is it that you want them to do?
>> Be really clear in your ask on this night. If you're on the
mailing lists for different organizations, I'm sure you've
gotten asked to sign this petition. Put your signature on
this letter. >> Rabbi Barney Margulis of
Wisconsin Faith voices of Justice Schools, a small group
of students on how to engage with their local politicians and
communicate with their voice and their vote.
ly need to understand the power of their
voice, and that they really have , not just the right, but also
the responsibility to vote to learn about issues, to look into
things that they care about that are important to them, and to
build relationships with their elected officials.
>> Benjamin Dorava listens from the front row with a purpose.
>> Tonight, I hope to learn sort of how to take my first few
steps in, being more active politically. Aside from just
voting in elections. >> Ask the students to come up
with the questions that they want to have asked. Have a
moderator choosing not to vote is a choice as much as choosing
to vote. And if you don't vote, then the person who did vote
gets to choose for you who your elected official is. So if you
want your values and your beliefs to be reflected in who
gets elected, then you need to exercise your right to vote.
>> We picked up folks here at the church and took them out to
vote. We had folks who they went to their homes and they took
them to vote without a doubt, all of these faith communities
have long histories of speaking truth to power.
>> This election cycle, influenced from faith, and
church groups, will likely play a huge role.
>> We can't let anybody take care of our business, y'all.
It's got to be people we can trust and who wins and loses at
the ballot. >> Clergy and faith leaders are
trusted messengers. Whether you're at temple on Friday night
or the mosque Friday afternoon or church Sunday morning, clergy
have kind of a captive audience without faith, community
involvement in these issues. >> The entire picture is