Dear John,

The past year has been a wrenching time for our state, particularly for Black and brown Minnesotans. While we applaud the justice system holding Officer Derek Chauvin accountable for the murder of George Floyd, we also recognize that the verdict does not address or rectify longstanding inequities in our state and nation. The pain and injustice Black citizens are experiencing will not go away with one verdict. We must work tirelessly to combat racism and dismantle systems that stand in the way of racial equity. There are policy changes that can help create a democracy that is more representative, inclusive and responsive to the voices of Black and brown Americans.

As Harvard Professor Danielle Allen explained at FairVote Minnesota’s Creating a Racially Just Democracy event last August, “We’ve known for a long time people have been lifting their voices, articulating grievances for a decade with regard to policing. So the core problem is actually a lack of sufficiently responsive governance, sufficiently responsive political institutions. . . .[and] how do we fix that? How can we have responsive political institutions? Ranked Choice Voting is one of our number one recommendations.”

As an election reform organization, we will continue to advocate for reforms that make voting easier and more accessible to all communities, and for systems that give voice and representation to everyone, especially our BIPOC communities which have been historically excluded. And we commit to continuing the difficult and honest conversations necessary with our staff, donors and community members to take actions to ensure our work is centered around racial justice for underrepresented communities. We cannot have the representative democracy promised by our constitution without ensuring that ALL our citizens are free from discrimination.

If you would like to take concrete action right now to help our communities that are hurting, please consider donating to the Brooklyn Center Community Schools, which are collecting essential items for the community. You can see the list of requested items to donate here and can drop off donations at the Blue Barn, 6500 Humboldt Ave N, Brooklyn Center this week through tomorrow, Thursday, from 9am-1pm.

Thank you for your partnership and working with us to help heal our state. Now is the time for us to come together and continue our work for a more perfect union.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Massey
Executive Director

Maureen Reed
Board Chair