SIGNATURE SABBATH PACKET 2015 FAIR SHARE CAMPAIGN “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth, so that God may confirm God’s covenant that God swore to your ancestors, as God is doing today.” – Deuteronomy 8:17-18

“Fighting for racial & economic justice through the power of faith & community leaders” Our member affiliates: Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) / Essex County Community Organization (ECCO) / Pioneer Valley Project (PVP) / United Interfaith Action of New Bedford and Fall River (UIA) / Worcester Interfaith / Youth Jobs Coalition (YJC)

Signature Sabbath Packet Overview Sheet

Thank you for standing up for the dignity of families here in Massachusetts. We are excited that your congregation is planning towards a Signature Sabbath. This fall, faith communities across the Bay State will be working to pass an Amendment to the State Constitution that require those with incomes over $1 million/year to pay a more just share in taxes and use use the $1.3 Billion revenue generated towards Education (including public schools, state colleges, early childhood education, job training, ESL) and Transportation (for roads, bridges, and public transit systems). To move forward, we and our coalition partners must gather 64,750 certified signatures in 2015 and get at least 50 votes in the state Legislature in two constitutional conventions before going to the ballot in 2018. Through preaching, teaching, and signature gathering, we hope to use this as an opportunity educate our faith communities about the social teachings of our faiths, and then put that faith into action. We can do this!! Religious congregations that collected signature with MCAN and our affiliates played a major role in passing a major increase in the Minimum Wage and passing Earned Sick Time for all MA workers. Below are a number of resources that we hope will be helpful in facilitating your congregation’s voter sabbath. While most of the resources you need are printable from this website, you can only get Fair Share Ballot Petitions from the campaign itself. Sign up at bit.ly/SignatureSabbathRequest2015 if you would like to participate, and we can make sure to get you as many petition forms as you need. You can also email [email protected] with questions.

Congregational Resources: 1. Signature Sabbath “How-To” and Planning Sheet 2. Faith-Centered Talking Points on the Fair Share Amendment 3. Sample Bulletin Announcement 4. Sample In-Person Announcement 5. Sample Post-Service Meeting Agenda 6. Guidelines for 501(c)(3) Congregations - Yes, Congregations Can Support Petitions 7. A Volunteer Sign-Up Form 8. A Sermon Resource for Clergy (end of packet), with three frames. We would be glad to share other relevant sermons and faith resources that you have. If you would like to share them, send them to [email protected], and we will link them on our resources page on our website.

General Campaign Materials 1. Helpful one-liners for collecting signatures 2. Signature Gathering Do’s and Don’ts / Sheet with picture of the signature form with arrows to indicate things to avoid so as not to have your form diqualified 3. Fair Share Amendment FAQs 4. Massachusetts Voter Registration Forms MCAN and its local affiliates are happy to provide you with Fair Share petitions as needed, and can provide pens and. Sign up at bit.ly/SignatureSabbathRequest2015

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Signature Sabbath How-To & Planning Sheet What is a Signature Sabbath?

A Signature Sabbath is an opportunity to help your congregation take faithful action for justice. By preaching, teaching, and gathering signatures to pass the MA Fair Share Amendment, you will help to ensure MA has resources for education and transportation for all in our state and encourage those with incomes over $1 million to pay a more just share. Components of a Signature Sabbath • Sermon related to the issue. See clergy resources for frames around inequality and justice, redistribution/sharing of wealth, and responsibilities of those with means. • Announcement from clergy or team member, inviting people to register to vote (if needed), and sign a signature form supporting the Fair Share Amendment, and/or volunteer with others in your congregation and/or community to gather signatures outside of worship services. • Opportunity to Sign the Fair Share Amendment Petition o If during the service, leave Fair Share Amendment Petitions on each seat, and invite people to sign them during a pause in the service. Volunteers collect the cards at the end. o If after the service, have volunteers collect signatures as people leave and/or during coffee hour/kiddush. o Have voter registrations in the back, and have volunteers ready to collect them. o In Jewish congregations where writing is not permitted on Shabbat, some options are: • Distribute registrations, petitions, and instructions on Shabbat, and ask people to hand them in to the office after • Collect at Hebrew School • Announce this opportunity at a High Holiday service, and then ask people to take home petition forms to sign, and then bring them back at Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hebrew School, etc. • Optional: Have a volunteer meeting after services o Invite people to a meeting after coffee hour to learn more about your congregational team, explore the importance of civic participation and social justice in your faith tradition, and sign up for signature gathering activities. o If you are interested in doing this, talk to your local MCAN/BIC/ECCO/PVP/Worcester Interfaith organizer.

Planning Questions (next page)

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Planning Questions for Your Team 1) Who will lead the coordination of the Signature Sabbath in our congregation? 2) What are our goals for our Signature Sabbath? How many signatures do we want to collect? _________ How many volunteers do we want to recruit? _________ Do we want our clergy to preach on this? _________ If so, who will approach the clergy to ask if s/he can do this? 3) When will we hold our Signature Sabbath?

Note: Many congregations across the state are doing it on the weekends of either 10/4 or 10/18.

4) How will we get people to sign?

Note: Because there are strict regulations around what consists of a valid signature, you either need to give every person his/her own petition, or have volunteers gather who have been trained briefly to ensure that each petition sheet corresponds with only one MA town.

5) How/when during the service will we make an announcement and give directions about signing the petitions? Who will make the announcement(s)? 6) How will we collect the petitions? 7) How will we handle voter registration (for those who need to register)? 8) How many other people do we need to assist in making everything go smoothly? Who will you approach to be a part of our team? 9) When will our team meet to go over the plan? 10) Who will gather all the petitions and voter registrations at the end, and then get them to our closest MCAN-affiliate organizer?

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Faith Resources for the Fair Share Campaign Resource 1: Faith Talking Points for Fair Share Amendment How the Fair Share Amendment Works

• This constitutional amendment would create an additional tax on income above $1 million • This would generate $1.3 billion annually for quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation.

The Current State of Inequality in MA

• Massachusetts has one of the largest income inequality problems in the country, and it’s getting worse. • Since the late 1970s, incomes of millionaires have grown ten times faster than incomes of most families. Working families have seen weak income growth during this same period. • Our highest-income residents – those who have been the biggest winners in the economy - pay the smallest share of their income in state and local taxes. This is largely due to lower-income earners paying a higher share of their income in sales taxes and property taxes — and to tax benefits being given to Massachusetts residents with the highest incomes. • Over the past decade, we have made more than $3 billion in tax cuts, more cuts than every other state besides South Dakota. These cuts have disproportionately benefited the wealthiest among us and large corporations, and have left our state budget drastically underfunded and unable to meet the needs of our families and our children. • If our wealthiest residents paid a just share – something closer to the share paid by the rest of us – we would be able to improve our schools, make higher education more affordable, and fix our crumbling transportation system.

Value 1: OPPORTUNITY Commonwealth - Building the Common Good • Our state itself was founded as a Common-Wealth, as in “common well-being,” by people of faith who believed we are stronger when we share our resources, and work together for a better future. Responsibility to build for the future Judaism: • A story from the Jewish Talmud: A man named Choni saw an elderly neighbor planting a carob tree. Choni asked the neighbor, “Why are you planting this tree? It takes 70 years to grow, and surely you won’t be around by then!” The neighbor answered, “I was born into a world full of carob trees. Just like my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my descendents.” • As the Rabbis teach through Choni’s story, we are responsible not only to care for ourselves, but to care for future generations. The Fair Share Amendment will create new revenue in our commonwealth, and provide for high quality schools for our children, affordable higher education, and a transportation system that allows people to get to work. We can use our collective resources to create opportunities for ourselves, our children, and the children of those most vulnerable in our society - our working class families and our communities of color.

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6 Christianity: • The early Christians lived in expectation of the imminent return of Jesus, many believing he would return in their lifetimes. “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.” (Luke 12:35-36) The concept of future generations would have been strange to them. • As time progressed though, Christians began reading these texts as referring not just to the return of Jesus at the end of time, but in the person of the poor and needy, as Jesus is identified with the world’s suffering. “Being ready” then takes on a different connotation: that of always being ready to see the face of Jesus in the stranger and serve her as one would serve Christ. • In that light, Christians today understand their legacy will be judged according to the words of Jesus in the parable of the sheep and goats: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Value 2: JUSTICE

Everything belongs to God. • “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth, so that God may confirm God’s covenant that God swore to your ancestors, as God is doing today.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18) • We are simply stewards of land and wealth, responsible for using our resources for God’s purposes. • Our faith traditions teach that the earth belongs to God, not to any of us individually. Unlike the contemporary ethos of “Every man for himself,” the Bible teaches that as stewards of land and wealth, we each have a responsibility to help build a beloved community, a kingdom of God, where every one of God’s children can thrive. We are all responsible for one another, rich and poor alike. Our integrity depends on it. Judaism • In Judaism, the Rabbis teach that the spiritual well-being of the wealthy depends on the physical well-being of the poor. We are one of the wealthiest states in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet also one of the most economically and racially unequal. Our integrity depends on our capacity to care for all members of society, including our most vulnerable. Christianity • Similarly, in Christian scripture, St. Paul, when addressing economic disparities between members of the church of his day, called for “a fair balance between your present abundance and their need” so that “the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (2 Corinthians 8:9, 13-15). Likewise, Jesus taught that “to whom much has been given, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) Summing up: Wealth is for creating justice! • In other words, the reason for wealth is not solely personal enjoyment. It is to create an economic system that provides justice for all. As Psalm 72 directs our leaders to be held accountable to God’s purposes, “May [they] judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. . . . May [they] defend the cause of the poor of the people” (Psalm 72:2). Or, in the words of Pope Francis, “working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation.”

Biblical precedent for redistribution - Sabbatical and Jubilee • Creating laws like the Fair Share Amendment that work toward economic equality have ancient roots in our faiths. When distribution of wealth becomes out of balance, the Bible asks us to establish laws to restore equality and opportunity. Every seven years on the Sabbatical year, all debts are forgiven, and every fifty years on the Jubilee year, all land is redistributed equally among all families. • Though the Fair Share Amendment doesn’t call for total redistribution as in the Biblical sabbatical or Jubilee years, it goes a long way toward ensuring that no one gets stuck in an unbreakable cycle of poverty - by supporting education opportunities and a reliable transportation infrastructure.

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Sample Bulletin Announcements Bulletin Announcement Before Signature Sabbath Our faith traditions teach that we each have a responsibility to ensure opportunity and dignity for all of God’s children. Unfortunately, in MA, after our state has cut taxes over the past 20 years more than any other state besides South Dakota, our education and transportation systems are in crisis, and we are not able to give our children and families the opportunities they deserve. To confront this challenge, our congregation is working to help pass the MA Fair Share Amendment, which would require those who make over $1 million/year to pay a more just share, and use the $1.3 billion in revenue generated to fund education and transportation. On October ___, join us to learn more about this important issue, sign the ballot petition, and find out how you can take action to ensure justice and opportunity for everyone in MA. Bulletin Announcement On and After Signature Sabbath Our faith traditions teach that we each have a responsibility to ensure opportunity and dignity for all of God’s children. Unfortunately, in MA, after our state has cut taxes over the past 10 years more than any other state besides South Dakota, our education and transportation systems are in crisis, and we are not able to give our children and families the opportunities they deserve. To confront this challenge, our congregation is working to help pass the MA Fair Share Amendment, which would require those who make over $1 million/year to pay a more just share, and use the revenue generated to fund education and transportation. Will you join us to help pass the Fair Share Amendment, and ensure justice and opportunity for everyone in MA? Here’s how you can help: Take Action! • Sign a ballot petition • Sign up with our MCAN/AFFILIATE team to gather signatures at worship or at a local grocery store near you. We will let you know about upcoming events and ways to participate. • Take some petition sheets and an instruction form, and get friends, family, and colleagues to sign them. Make sure to collect them and return them to your congregation’s MCAN/AFFILIATE team leader. • Learn more at www.mcan-pico.org, and visit our Current Campaigns page to find resources for the Fair Share Campaign.

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Sample In-Person Announcement at Signature Sabbath Thank you so much to _______ for (his/her) powerful sermon on the importance SUM UP SERMON [creating opportunities for all/responsibilities for the least among us, etc]. [IF APPROPRIATE:] We are so proud here at _______ [congregation] that we helped raise the minimum wage and pass earned sick time through our signature gathering efforts, and are now excited to invite you to take on this next challenge. Why Get Involved As ______ [clergy person] said, we each have a responsibility to ensure opportunity and dignity for all of God’s children. In MA, many of God’s children are struggling. Unfortunately, after our state has cut taxes over the past 20 years more than any other state besides South Dakota, our education and transportation systems are in crisis, and we are not able to give our children and families the opportunities they deserve. To confront this challenge, our congregation is working to help pass the MA Fair Share Amendment, which would require those who make over $1 million/year to pay a more just share, and use the $1.3 billion in revenue generated to fund education and transportation. That’s why today I want to invite you to do two things. 1. Sign the Petition First, if you are eligible to vote, I invite you to sign the ballot petition to support the Fair Share Amendment. If you aren’t registered, you can still sign, as long as you fill out one of the registration forms we can provide you. If you are collecting in the pews: On your seats, you will find a ballot petition and a pen. Before you sign, let me give a couple of instructions, to make sure your signature isn’t disqualified. • First, write the down in the top righthand box. • Then, sign your name and put in your address. You do not need to write in town or zip code. • You also don’t need to put in ward and precinct info, unless you are sure you know it. • If you have messy handwriting, please write in print in small letters in the same box where you signed. • Make sure not to write anywhere else on the form. Even a small pen squiggle will disqualify your form. • Okay - please take a moment to sign. When you are done, please leave your petition on your seat. Volunteers will come and pick it up after worship. • If you need a voter registration form, raise your hand, and a volunteer will bring one to you. If you are collecting after worship We will have volunteers standing in the back after services and at coffee hour with petition forms, pens, and clip boards for you to sign. They will be able to give you instructions, and will also have voter registration forms available if you need one.

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10 For congregations where it is forbidden to write on Shabbat We have petitions and instruction forms that we are passing out now/are available in the back. Please take petition and instruction form with you, fill it out after Shabbat/yuntiv, and bring it back on Sunday or another time soon. We will have a box in the synagogue office where you can leave them. 2. Join us to volunteer! If you are having an after-services meeting Right after services, during coffee hour/kiddush, we will be meeting in the ___ room to talk about how members of our congregation will be working together to gather signatures on this important issue. As we did with minimum wage and earned sick time, we will have opportunities to speak with voters at super-markets and public gatherings to educate them on this issue and invite them to sign. If you have another plan Members of our congregation will be meeting together at _____ [time/place] to learn more about this issue and gain more public supportt. As we did with minimum wage and earned sick time, we will have opportunities to speak with voters at supermarkets and public gatherings to educate them on this issue and invite them to sign. If you are interested, we have a sign-up sheet in the back, and can contact you with all the information. Thank you for helping to bring dignity and opportunity to all people in MA.

Sample Post-Service Meeting Agenda

Note: This meeting is scheduled to take about 50 minutes. If you need to cut it down, look at the agenda to see what makes sense for your congregation, and/or consult your organizer. We encourage you to keep pieces that help people get to know each other, since the intra-team relationships are so the glue that keeps people working together.

1. Opening prayer (2 mins) 2. Introductions (8 mins) • Name and one memory of when education/transportation worked well, or didn’t. Each person gets 30 seconds, timed. 3. The Fair Share Amendment (10 minutes)

The Problem: • Quality Public Schools: Kids need a well-rounded education that includes enrichment

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programs such as music, art and athletics – but many of these programs were eliminated during the recession years. We need to reinvest in these programs now to give all of our kids access to a complete education. Affordable Public College: Our tuitions and fees are among the highest in the country, and students are forced to take on enormous debt to receive a degree. We need to reinvest in public higher education, to make it affordable for middle and working class students in our state. Improved Transportation Infrastructure: 446 bridges in Massachusetts are “structurally deficient,” meaning they have “major deterioration, cracks, or other flaws that reduce [the] ability to support vehicles,” and an estimated $14.4 billion of bridge repairs are needed. 3 We have a large backlog of neglected bridges, tunnels and unsafe roads in need of repair. If we don’t provide the funding soon to deal with these problems they will only get more dangerous and more expensive to solve in the future. Over the past decade, we have made more than $3 billion in tax cuts, more cuts than every other state besides South Dakota. These cuts have disproportionately benefited the wealthiest among us, and have left our state budget drastically underfunded and unable to meet the needs of our families and our children. If our wealthiest residents paid a just share – something closer to the share paid by the rest of us – we would be able to improve our schools, make higher education more affordable, and fix our crumbling transportation system. The Fair Share Amendment is a once in a generation opportunity to gain these desperately needed resources.

The Solution: The Fair Share Amendment

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This constitutional amendment would create an additional tax on income above $1 million This would generate over $1 billion annually for quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation.

4. Q & A (5 minutes) • (See Faith Talking Points and Fair Share Amendment FAQs for answers)

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5. Group Reflection/Discussion (10 mins) • Do you believe that our faith traditions call us to be responsible for providing education and transportation to all our neighbors? (10 mins) 6. What can we do? (3 mins) • Gather signatures. • We will be gathering signatures again at services, and at supermarkets. • To gather at supermarkets, we just need people to sign up for various days/times between now and November 15th. We hope people will go in pairs. • You can also take some petitions with you, and have friends sign. 7. Making it happen (10 minutes) • To prepare this section, make a chart on a flip chart with dates on the y axis and •

Saturday/Sunday on the x axis. Say: “Okay - now we are going to have people sign up to volunteer. I am going to through

the different days/dates, and you can let me know which of them you might want to sign up for. For each shift, if it is your first time, we will make sure to give you a training beforehand.” • IF APPROPRIATE: We will also be having a group training and going out together on ____ DAY/DATE/TIME, which is a great time to try this out and learn. • • •

Ask people to go around or call out which days they want to sign up for, and whether they want to do morning or afternoon. Ideally, you will have a couple of people as “plants,” ready to sign up and have others join. Once you have pairs signed up, get one person/shift to take responsibility for getting/ returning the materials. If you don’t have one yet, ask for someone who is willing to coordinate the materials, who can collect them directly or pick them up at the congregational office after people have dropped them off, and then return them to the MCAN-affiliate organizer.

8. Closing prayer (2 mins)

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VOLUNTEER SIGN UP FORM NAME

ADDRESS:

ADDRESS:

ZIP

PHONE

EMAIL

I WOULD LIKE TO: volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote volunteer

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get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

ADDRESS:

volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

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volunteer get campaign updates learn more about MCAN be reminded to vote

Congregations Can Support Voter Engagement on Ballot Measures and Petitions Guidelines for 501(c)(3) Congregations & Organizations

501(c)(3)s public charities (including congregations) CAN and should actively support or oppose ballot initiatives like raising minimum wage and securing earned sick time. Supporting a ballot initiative is legally considered “direct lobbying” – a permissible activity within the generous limits allowed by federal law. You CAN: • Gather signatures to qualify these initiatives for the ballot at your congregation. • Encourage your congregants/organization members to vote YES on these initiatives next November. This includes preaching, speakers at meetings, notices in congregation/ organization publications, etc. This is fully permissible throughout the election cycle. • Encourage the general public to vote YES by speaking at public events like rallies and press conferences, by writing letters to the editor or by lending your name to a list of endorsers. • Educate your congregation/organization members and the general public on the positions of elected officials and candidates regarding the ballot initiative. The law on this does become stricter in the two weeks before the election so we suggest you do not mention the names of candidates and elected officials during that time. • Ask about a candidate’s position on these propositions in both private and public forums including debates organized by your church or non-profit, non-partisan organizations. • Register people to vote and encourage them to vote for or against a ballot measure. • Make donations to a ballot initiative campaign, as long your contributions constitute an “insubstantial part” of your overall budget. Tax practitioners recommend that contributions less than 5% of your budget are safe. Money spent speaking only to your members (i.e. printing a notice in the bulletin for services) does not count towards that total. Donations made by congregants themselves (i.e through a special collection) do not count towards that total. Volunteer efforts do not count toward that total.

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You CANNOT: • Spend more than an “insubstantial part” of your budget to support a ballot initiative. See the specific guidelines under “Make donations” above. • Support or oppose candidates for public office. Just because a 501(c)(3) may work on a ballot measure does not mean that it may also comment on candidates included on the same ballot. A 501(c)(3) cannot use its support of or opposition to a ballot initiative as a way to indirectly support or oppose a candidate. • Tell people how to vote for a certain candidate based on their position on the ballot initiative. You SHOULD REPORT: • Any cash expenditure over $500 calling on the general public to vote YES on these initiatives. • Any cash expenditure over $2,000 calling on your own membership to vote YES.

It is adapted from the document “Alliance for Justice Ballot Measures and Public Charities: Yes, You Can Influence That Vote” http://www.afj.org/assets/ resources/cases/Ballot-Measures.pdf. It provides general guidelines only, and is intended to serve as an overview. Because the application of law is fact-sensitive and context is critical, it should not be relied upon as legal advice. An organization should consult with an attorney to receive guidance on special rules governing its conduct. For additional information contact the Alliance for Justice at 202-822-6070 or www.allianceforjustice.org

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Fair Share Campaign - Helpful One-Liners “Can you take ten seconds and sign this petition to raise taxes on the 1%?” “Would you like to see Massachusetts invest more in schools, colleges, roads and subways/buses?” “Do you think your community could use more state investment in schools and roads?” “Do you think college should be more affordable and the potholes in town should be repaired?” “Your signature can help send a kid to college and fix our roads and bridges!” “Would you like to see millionaire’s pay their fair share of taxes here in Massachusetts?” “Millionaires’ incomes are skyrocketing, while our schools are laying off teachers and closing down arts, music and sports programs. Your signature can help change that!” “Millionaires’ incomes are skyrocketing, while our roads, bridges and subways/public transit systems are collapsing. Your signature can help change that!” “The top 1% pay less in taxes than the rest of us. Want to help us make the system fairer?” “The best way to help working families and build a stronger economy for us all is to make sure that we have good public schools for our children, affordable higher education and a transportation system that lets people get to work and customers get to businesses.” “Without investment in these common goals (of education and transportation), working families fall behind and our communities suffer. New revenue is necessary to improve our public schools, rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, make college affordable, and invest in fast and reliable public transportation.” “Massachusetts has one of the largest income inequality problems in the country, and it’s getting worse. Yet our highest-income residents, who have been the biggest winners in the economy, pay the smallest share of their income in state and local taxes.” “If millionaires paid their fair share in taxes – the same share as the rest of us – we would be able to improve our schools, make higher education more affordable, and fix our crumbling transportation system.” “This constitutional amendment would create additional tax of 4% on those who earn more than $1 million a year. This new revenue could only be spent for quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation.” “For over a decade we’ve had to deal with billions of $ in cuts to our schools and transportation systems just to deal with tax cuts that have benefited the wealthy.”

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how to collect signatures the how to collect raise Up waythe signatures raise Up way The petition The petition

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John Smith 238 Highland Ave 100 Cedar Street Susan Williams 1 Johhhhh 23 Smith Street John Smith 238 Highland Ave John Doe 23 Street 100Smith Cedar Street Susan Williams 23 Smith Street 23 Smith Street Somerville Johhhhh John Doe

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1. Work your area! speak to everyone that walks by. any registered voter can sign. 1. Work your area! speak to everyone that walks by. any voter can sign. use a 2.registered look official and friendly: sticker from the campaign, a clipboard, and a big smile. 2. look official and friendly: use a sticker from the campaign, a clipboard, and a big smile. 8. give voters that sign more materials on the campaign and ask them to get involved 8. give voters that sign more materials on the campaign and ask them to get involved 4. try to collect at least 25 signatures during each shift.

4. try to collect at least 25 during each shift. 5.signatures have a plan to report the signatures you collected to the campaign and hand off the signed petition 5. have apapers plan to report the signatures you collected to the campaign and hand off the signed petition papers

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52 &6 23 Highland Smith Ave, Street 238 Somerville, MA, 02144

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8. if it's cold out, make sure you 8. give voters that sign more to have a separate piece of paper materials on thedon't campaign andon warm up a pen. scribble ask to get involved thethem petition paper.

4. try to collect at least 25 9. if someone makes a mistake, signatures during eachtheir shift. don't let them cross name out. just ask them to start over on the next line. 5. have a plan to report the signatures you collected to the campaign and hand off the signed petition 10. don'tpapers get greedy -- STart a new sheet after collecting 8-10 signatures so if disaster strikes, you lose fewer signatures

Fair Share Campaign FAQ 1. Some already call MA ‘Taxachusetts’ – why would we want to make ourselves even more of an outlier? Overall, the level of taxation in Massachusetts is in the middle of the pack when compared to the rest of the country. Total state and local taxes paid in Massachusetts as a share of total State Personal Income was 10.1% in FY 2012 (the most recent year for which national data is available). That places Massachusetts 22nd among the states and below the U.S. average of 10.3%. Massachusetts Taxes Below the U.S. Average, 2012

The Taxachusetts label is a legacy of the 1970s. Since the late 1970s, tax policy in the Commonwealth has changed dramatically. The approval of Proposition 2 1/2 in 1980 reduced property taxes, and then, in the late 1990s, the Commonwealth reduced state taxes – primarily the income tax – significantly. As a result, between 1977 and 2012, Massachusetts reduced taxes more than all but one other state. 2. Don’t the rich already pay higher taxes? Why tax them more? In reality, upper-income households in Massachusetts are currently paying the smallest share of their income in state and local taxes as compared to the Commonwealth’s middle and lower income households (see chart below). This is true for almost every state in the nation.

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3. Won’t the rich leave? Studies have shown that increasing tax rates on the wealthiest residents leads to, at most, a very small percentage of those residents moving to another state. Overall, less than 2% of all residents move from one state to another each year, with only a small fraction of this total being high income residents. The research shows that the reasons people move are usually cheaper housing, a new job, or better weather. 4. When they leave, won’t that just end up costing the rest of us more? While a small percentage of wealthy residents may move as a result of higher taxes, experience has shown that there will be so few wealthy movers that the lost tax revenue from these few will pale in comparison to the revenue generated by the overall tax increase. A detailed study using IRS data has shown that when New Jersey raised taxes on very wealthy residents in 2004, the revenue lost from the 70 wealthy tax filers who left the state (potentially to avoid higher taxes) totaled less than half of 1 percent of the revenue gained by the overall tax increase. 5. Won’t raising taxes on the wealthy kill jobs? Not at all. In fact, the investments in education and infrastructure made possible by the additional revenue will create more skilled, better educated workers and more desirable locations, all of which will help attract more businesses to the state. There is a well-documented link between education levels and wages, and the added revenue going to public schools and higher education will pay off for the state in the long run. The majority of students graduating from state schools will stay in the state once they enter the workforce, and as a result of better education and training, they will have better jobs. This means they will earn more, stay employed at higher rates, paying more income and sales taxes and be able to provide greater opportunities for their children. The investments in transportation infrastructure will make the state more enticing for growing businesses and highly skilled workers alike. Businesses are increasingly looking for dynamic environments with a number of transportation options because they know that’s what skilled employees are looking for. Creating reliable transportation options will only happen with the dedication of additional revenue. 6. Didn’t we raise taxes already in the recent past? Why do we need more revenue? While the sales tax and some excise taxes (i.e., cigarette taxes) have increased over the last few years other important sources of revenue – like the personal income tax – have not. Despite some tax increases and an overall rise in the amount of revenue collected by the Commonwealth, total tax revenue as a share of all personal income generated in the state has declined over the past decade and a half. This decline means that revenue collections are not keeping pace with the growth in our economy and the growth in related costs. These declines are due in large part to substantial cuts made to the income tax from 1998-2002. These major tax cuts (combined with other factors, such as the increase in online sales, on which sales taxes often go unpaid) amounted to a loss of $3.5 billion in annual tax revenue for the Commonwealth in FY 2014. In response to these budget shortfalls, state lawmakers have made deep cuts to program areas across the budget. Deep cuts in funding for essential public investments can compromise the state’s long term growth potential and harm the current and future well-being of the people who live and work here in Massachusetts. 7. How have the recent automatic income tax rate cuts affected the amount of money the state brings in? Just as state revenue collections began rebounding after the Great Recession, these increases activated a series of “automatic triggers” whereby the income tax rate was reduced in stages from 5.3% to 5.15% (as of January 1, 2015).

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Together, the combined revenue loss from these automatic rate cuts will cost nearly $400 million annually in FY 2016 and years beyond. Further automatic rate cuts are likely and could bring the personal income tax rate to 5.0% by 2018, resulting in additional revenue losses. 8. Hasn’t our budget grown over the last decade and more? While our state budget has grown in inflation adjusted terms over the last 15 years, the principal driver of that growth has been increased healthcare costs. This challenge of rising healthcare costs is not particular to Massachusetts, it is a nationwide trend. Still, as a result of tax cuts and these and other rising costs, many areas outside of healthcare have seen sharp funding declines, as the chart below shows. 9. Won’t the Fair Share Amendment lose? Similar proposals have lost before - what’s different this time around? There are two key differences with this constitutional amendment. First, is that the revenue generated will be specifically targeted specifically to education and to transportation infrastructure. This is crucial because voters are much more likely to support a tax increase if it’s dedicated to specific programs, not just added to the state’s overall budget. Second, the tax increase will affect only those households with taxable incomes above $1 million. Voters understand that these highest income households – unlike most families - have seen incredible income growth in recent years and that they therefore can afford to contribute more in taxes. Education and infrastructure are also on the public’s mind. Families across the state are increasingly aware of the escalating student debt crisis and the inequality in our public school systems. As for transportation, the state is still recovering from the transit nightmare during early 2015, which highlighted the glaring holes in our entire transportation system – from the T to highways and bridges. With the amendment written specifically to address these issues, it will garner much more support than attempts made in past years. 10.

Won’t the legislature just spend the new revenue on whatever it wants?

The constitutional amendment will be written to specifically dedicate the new revenue to education and transportation infrastructure. 11. We should just eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse instead of giving the government more money. We count on government to do many important things—things we can’t do alone—like provide good schools, protect our environment, promote public safety, and offer a safety net for those facing misfortune. In fact, we frequently take these essential functions for granted. Furthermore, we hope and expect that our investments in these shared priorities will be made as efficiently as possible. Occasional gross misuses of tax dollars often make the news—as they should. As it turns out, however, these are infrequent events. Overall, we get good value from the tax dollars we spend on the things we do together through government. For the many goods and services that our government departments provide directly or purchase from the private sector, the evidence shows that often, government entities provide these services at lower cost than private market actors and/or purchase these services for less than market rates. For a more complete discussion of this topic, please see the MassBudget’s paper Quality, Cost, and Purpose: Comparisons of Government and Private Sector Payments for Similar Services

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Faith Resources for the Fair Share Campaign Resource 2: Sermon Resources for Clergy ECCO’s Clergy Caucus has worked together to generate three key frames through which clergy might preach on the Fair Share Amendment: Redistribution & Creating the Common Good, Fairness and Equality, and Responsibilities of the Wealthy/Those With Resources. Whatever frame you choose, you may also want to look at the other frames, since the themes overlap. We especially thank Rev. Jon Niketh, Rev. Kelly Weisman Asprooth Jackson, and Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin for their compiling and editing of the Clergy Caucus’ ideas.

Sermon Frame 1: Responsibility of the Wealthy/Those Who Have Resources Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin, ECCO

Introduction One way to approach the Fair Share Amendment is to talk about the responsibilities of the wealthy. Particularly in wealthier communities, we want to be clear that we are not out to demonize wealthy people, but rather to encourage everyone to act responsibility with the resources that they have. Key ideas and sources We each have the responsibility to use what we have in service of God. Christian sources • Parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) - each servant is given a different number of talents. The one who is given the most is expected to return to the master with the greatest increase. • Luke affirms this idea in Luke 12:48 - From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Jewish sources • Psalm 24:1 - The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. • In other words, we are merely stewards, holding land and wealth temporarily while simultaneously commanded to do God’s will. • Second paragraph of the Shma - God essentially says, “If you fail to follow My commandments, I will withhold the rain and the crops, and you will suffer.” In other words, your possession of land and wealth is contingent on following God’s commandments, including creating a just society. Our own redemption is bound up in the redemption and just treatment of others. Christian sources • Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16-31) • A rich man overlooks the beggar Lazarus, who is starving and covered with sores. • The rich man and Lazarus die, and the rich man finds himself in Hades while Lazarus sits with Jesus. • When the rich man asks Jesus if Lazarus can come and serve him, Jesus responds that the rich man had his chance, but failed to follow the precepts of Moses and the prophets that teach

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that we must treat poor people with kindness and create justice so that no one should have to 23 suffer like Lazarus did. • Interpretation: Though we may have material wealth in life, God judges us based on our capacity to act kindly and create justice. Jewish sources • The Leper Messiah at the Gates of Rome (Talmud Sanhedrin 98a) • Rabbi Yehoshua goes to Elijah the Prophet and asks him when the Messiah will come. Elijah answers that the Messiah is a leper at the gate of the city of Rome, who is wrapping and unwrapping his bandages. • Following Elijah’s instructions, Rabbi Yehoshua goes to the gate of the city and asks the leper when the Messiah will com. The leper answers, “Today.” • Rabbi Yehoshua returns to Elijah, and says, “The man to whom you sent me lied to me, for he said the Messiah was coming today, which is obviously not true.” • Elijah says, “You misunderstood. The leper wasn’t saying just “Today,” he was quoting Psalm 95: 7, “Today if only you would listen to His voice.” • Interpretation: • The Messiah could come today, if only we could listen to the voices of the sick, the oppressed, and the marginalized. It isn’t only our project to HELP other communities. Rather, we must realize that their hardship is our problem, too. • Our liberations are bound up with one another. If we pretend we are separate, we are as spiritually sick in our ignorance and callousness as the leper is physically sick.

Sermon Frame 2: Fairness/Equality

Rev. Kelly Weisman Asprooth Jackson, First Parish UU, Beverly Introduction The frame of fairness and equity is another deep vein in religious thought and ethics, and matches closely to the goals of this campaign. Addressing this frame is particularly important, because a progressive tax system is sometimes framed by opponents as “unfair”, as those with greater incomes will pay a higher percentage in taxes. Key ideas and sources One answer to the challenge that progressive taxation is somehow less equal than schemes in which everyone pays the same percentage, is that fairness and equality - the balanced scales of justice - do

not require, or even allow, all people in all circumstances to be held to the same expectations.

Consider the two cartoons found here: http://www.ccsj.edu/cms/considine/2014/04/22/social-justicemore-than-equality/

Fairness & Equality Jewish Sources: • In the Hebrew Bible (in Numbers 26), the promised land is distributed between the Children of Israel to ensure that each family will have the means to support itself. This distribution combined with the Jubilee year established in Leviticus 25: a fifty-year cycle at the end of which, all property would revert to its original owners (ie, the families initially awarded each land parcel in Numbers). This biblical precedent acknowledges that wide disparities in wealth and opportunity will occur over time, and explicitly enjoins us to act to alleviate them. • “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or

gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.’” - Leviticus 23:22. Scripture revered in both Judaism and Christianity calls for the relief of poverty not just by free-will charity from the rich, but by ensuring a social safety net as a matter of law. Christian Sources: • In the Gospel Parable of the workers in the vineyard, everyone who works in the vineyard gets paid the same amount, regardless of whether they work a full day or only a few hours. This is because in the story, each worker’s pay is the basic amount that everyone needs to survive. Meeting the needs of all is lifted up here above the principle of rewarding some above others - even for working longer or harder. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” [Matthew 20:1-16] Similarly, in Matthew 5:44, Jesus says that God, “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust alike.” • Pope Francis has been a leading voice on matters of economic justice, and fairness and equality in the context of a widening gap between rich and poor. See, for instance: http://time.com/3963125/ pope-francis-poverty/ and http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/11/pope-francis-slamstrickle-down-economics-and-greed-at-the-top/ - “not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood.” Unitarian Universalist Sources: • “[We affirm] the inherent worth and dignity of every person…[and promote]...justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.” - Unitarian Universalist Association’s Principles and Purposes. Arriving at what is fair requires a balance between the needs of individuals and society, guided by a sense of the profound worthiness of all people (themselves all living images of the Divine, according to all the monotheistic traditions) and a deep compassion. The fundamental relationship of God to humanity is relational, not transactional. As people of faith, we are called to follow this model in our own yearning towards the Divine, and in our relationships with other people. Jewish Sources: • “Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” - Proverbs 31:9 • “A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.” - Proverbs 16:11 • “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” - Isaiah 30:18 Christian Sources: • In the story of the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6), the large crowd following Jesus is fed from a meager supply of five loaves and 2 fish, with more left over at the end than what they began with. This story speaks to God’s desire for abundance for all. • The English word ‘charity’ and the understanding of it as a Christian virtue is shaped by the Latin word caritas - commonly used in translating the Greek agape, meaning selfless love. So that the famous statement in 1 John that, “God is love,” in Latin reads, “Deus caritas est.” Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica that charity is “friendship of man for God,” and that “the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also to the love of our neighbor.”

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Sermon Frame 3: Redistribution/Creating the Common Good Rev. Jon Niketh, First Lutheran Church, Lynn, MA

Introduction Redistribution of wealth is often painted as “socialist” in conservative media. But the idea is actually very biblical, and part of the Judeo-Christian faith tradition. Central to this principle is the belief that the purpose of wealth is to serve the common good, and not for the sole benefit of the individuals. Key ideas and sources The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures envision a world of deep relationality (not rugged individualism) where all members of society are remembered and cared for. While there are examples of “personal” property, these are tempered with a mandate to ensure the well-being of the entire people, especially those on the margins, with concrete means for achieving a just and equitable distribution of wealth. Just and Equal Distribution of Wealth Jewish Sources • In the book of Numbers (26:55) land was divided among all family units. In Ezekiel, this mandate was modified so resident aliens were included, • The Jewish people had the concept of a “Jubilee year,” which was supposed to occur every 50 years. During this time all land was supposed to be redistributed so that everyone could get a physical share of God’s promise. • In addition to the Jubilee was the idea of the “Sabbatical year” in which all debts were forgiven every 7 years. Crucial to this idea was the underlying assumption that things will become unequal over time because of luck, and it’s the community’s responsibility to develop laws that bring about God’s justice of equality. We see evidence for this In Deuteronomy 15:1: “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts.” • The book of Leviticus makes special provision for gleaners, instructing farmers not to plow to the edge of the field in order to leave a remainder for those who have nothing -- again reiterating the idea that wealth, while personal, is intended by God for the good of all and must not be hoarded or held with a sense of personal entitlement. • Likewise in the Talmud, we read that for any landowner or employer, “the servant must be equal to you.” If you are of the owning class, you can’t allow workers to live at a standard that you wouldn’t consider your own. Christian Sources • The first Christians modeled the radical equality of their forebears in their own communities, recorded in the book of Acts (4:32-35): “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one

claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And

God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” • Paul’s image of the body of Christ provides a powerful metaphor of what this mutuality looks like: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1

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Corinthians 12:26) • Jesus’ parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) condemns a farmer who, when blessed with a harvest so plentiful he cannot store it all in his barns, decides to build larger barns to hoard it all, rather than share his bounty with those in need. His preoccupation with preserving his own wealth made him blind to the need of his neighbor. St. Augustine, reflecting on this text, said, “He did not realize that the bellies of the poor were much safer storerooms than his barns.”

• The Jewish concept of Jubilee was re-established for Christians by Pope Clement VI in 135 (although tied more to spiritual riches than physical property) and by 1425, the Church decided to hold it every 25 years. In fact, Pope Francis has announced a special Jubilee Year for Mercy from Dec 2015 to Nov 2016. Taxes Another way that many societies already redistribute wealth is through taxes, under the assumption that there are some things so crucial to the common good that we all have a responsibility to fund them, and in proportion to our means. Jewish Sources • First, Jews are obligated to follow the law of the land, to maintain good relations with whatever government ruled the lands where they dwelled. This concept is called Dina damalchuta dina, and appears widely in the Talmud, including in Bava Kamma (113a) and Bava Batra (25a). • Second, the Talmud also provides an ethical reason for Jews to pay taxes for services from which they benefit. As explained by Rabbi Asher Meir on MyJewishLearning.com, “An instructive passage in the Talmud teaches us about the important relationship between the general obligation to obey legitimate laws and the special legitimacy of taxes that are used for our benefit. “Samuel stated, ‘The law of the land is the law.’ Rava said, ‘Observe that this must be true. For [the government] fells trees and builds bridges, and we cross them.’” • In other words, we provide trees as taxes to the government, and they provide roads and bridges. If we want to enjoy the roads and bridges, it is our moral obligation provide the resources to pay for them. Christian Sources • Some Christians understand Jesus’ reply to a question about taxes in Matthew’s gospel (22:21) as an affirmation that people of faith, whose primary allegiance is to God, still hold civic responsibilities to the common good: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”

• Various Christian denominations have affirmed this understanding in statements on economic life. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has said: “Government is intended to serve God’s purposes by limiting or countering narrow economic interests and promoting the common good. Paying taxes to enable government to carry out these and other purposes is an appropriate expression of our stewardship in society, rather than something to be avoided… Governing leaders are to be held accountable to God’s purposes.” (ELCA Social Statement on Economic Life) • Catholic bishops, in a document entitled Economic Justice for All, echoed this sentiment saying: “The tax system should be continually evaluated in terms of its impact on the poor, and then laying out three principles to live this out: • First, the tax system should raise adequate revenues to pay for the public needs of society,

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especially to meet the basic needs of the poor. • Secondly, the tax system should be structured according to the principle of

progressivity, so that those with relatively greater financial resources pay a higher rate of taxation. The inclusion of such a principle in tax policies is an important means of

reducing the severe inequalities of income and wealth in the nation. • Thirdly, families below the official poverty line should not be required to pay income taxes. Such families are, by definition, without sufficient resources to purchase the basic necessities of life. They should not be forced to bear the additional burden of paying income taxes

Stewardship vs. Ownership Additionally there is the concept of biblical stewardship, which states that in essence everything belongs to God, and we hold it in trust for the good of humanity. This pushes up against the American idea of ownership which states that everything we have belongs to us for the sole benefit of our business, career, and personal wealth. It is a tenet of capitalism, but not of any faith tradition, and is actively opposed as harmful both economically and spiritually in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Jewish Sources • In Deuteronomy (8:17-18) God reminds the Israelites to never forget God as the source of all wealth once they reach the promised land and become accustomed to prosperity: “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.” • The psalmist affirms “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (24:1). • The concept of the tithe, or giving 10% of one’s income (or in an agricultural society, 10% of one’s harvest and animals) -- in essence returning to God what is already God’s -- was not about supporting the operations of a house of worship; it was to ensure that the poor had enough to eat: “Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns; the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29) Christian Sources • Many Christians (individuals and congregations alike) practice or encourage tithing for the same reasons above. • In 1 Peter (4:10), we hear: “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” • Jesus said “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19) emphasizing that stewardship is not merely an economic matter, but a spiritual one. If we pretend that our wealth is our own and protect it at all costs, we will have made money and possessions our God. • The heart of stewardship is illustrated nicely in this non-biblical anecdote: A beggar asked for a gift from one who appeared to be a wealthy lady. She gave him a coin, saying, “This is more than ever God gave me.” “O madam!” said the beggar, “You have abundance and God has given all that you have.” “Well,” said the lady, “I speak the truth; for God has not given, but lent to me what I have, that I may bestow it upon such as you.”

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Massachusetts Official

William Francis Galvin

Mail-In Voter Registration Form

Secretary of the Commonwealth

How to use this form

You can use this form to: • register to vote in Massachusetts; and/or • change your name or address for voter registration only; and/or • join a party, change from one party to another or leave a party. To register to vote in Massachusetts you must: • BE A U.S. CITIZEN; and • be a Massachusetts resident; and • be at least 18 years old on or before the next election. Penalty for Illegal Registration: Fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years or both. -Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 56 section 8.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Check all the boxes that apply to you. Print your name: last name, first name, middle name or initial. Print your former name, if applicable. Print the address where you live now: number and street name or rural route number and box number (do not provide a post office box number), apartment number, city or town and full zip code. Use the map† at right if you cannot otherwise identify your address. 5. Print the address where you receive all your mail, if it is different from the address entered on #4. 6. Print your date of birth: month, day and year. 7. Federal law requires that you provide your driver’s license number to register to vote. If you do not have a current and valid Massachusetts driver’s license, you must provide the last four digits of your social security number. If you have neither, you must write “none” in the box. 8. It is optional to provide your telephone number. If you include your telephone number and do not check “unlisted” it will be a public record. 9. Check a party, ‘no party’ or print a political designation (not a party). 10. Print the address where you were last registered to vote. 11. If a person is helping you because you are physically unable to sign this form, that assisting person must print his or her name and address and has the option to print his or her telephone number. 12. Read the oath. 13. Print today’s date. 14. Sign your name. This form may be mailed or hand-delivered to your city or town hall. If mailed, fold the form, tape it closed, place a first class stamp on it, print your city or town name and zip code for that city or town hall and drop into any mailbox.

Identification To Be Provided Section 7 requires you to include your driver’s license number or the last 4 digits of your social security number on this application. This information will be verified through the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Commissioner of Social Security. If the information cannot be verified or you do not provide this information, you must provide identification either with this application or at your polling location when you go to vote. Sufficient identification includes a copy of a current and valid photo identification, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document showing your name and address. north

Using landmarks, draw the location of the place where you live if you cannot describe that location as a number and street or as a rural route and box number.

†

east

west south

Print all information in black ink. Follow above instructions for proper delivery.

1 2

No Check all that apply: Are you a Citizen of the United States of America? Yes Will you be 18 years of age or older on or before Election Day? Yes No NOTE: If you checked “no” to either of these questions, do not complete this form. last name first name middle name or initial Full name: Miss Ms. Mrs. Mr.

3

Former name (if applicable): last name

4

Address where you live now (street number, street name, rural route number and box number):

5

Address where you receive all your mail (if different from #4):

6 9 10

first name

middle name or initial

Miss Ms. Mrs. Mr. street number / street name / rural route number and box number

street number / street name / rural route number and box number

Date of birth:

month

day

year

7

apartment number

apartment number

Jr. Sr. II III IV (circle one if appropriate)

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license # or last four digits of your Social Security #

8

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)

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Jr. Sr. II III IV (circle one if appropriate)

apartment number

city or town

state

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If the applicant is unable to sign this form, give the name, address and telephone number (optional) of the person helping the applicant:

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I hereby swear (affirm) that I am the person named above, that the above information is true, that I AM A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, that I am not a person under a guardianship which prohibits my registering to vote, that I am not temporarily or permanently disqualified by law from voting because of corrupt practices in respect to elections, that I am not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction, and that I consider this residence to be my home. Signed under the penalty of perjury.

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