Congresswoman Shontel Brown Joins Cleveland Faith Leaders to Encourage People of Faith to Vote No on Issue 1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 31, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT
Austin Schuler, aschuler@faithinpubliclife.org, 540-280-3393
Congresswoman Shontel Brown Joins Cleveland Faith Leaders to Encourage People of Faith to Vote No on Issue 1
Cleveland, Ohio – On July 31st, Congresswoman Shontel Brown joined Cleveland faith leaders ahead of the August 8th election to encourage people of faith to vote NO on Issue 1.
This resolution would destroy the sacred principle of “one person one vote.” As people of faith, we must continue to pray without ceasing, not just with our words and thoughts but with our actions and ballot. We must organize our congregations, our communities and our neighbors to protect those who are marginalized and to protect our democracy.
For a recording of the event, please click here.
For video of Congresswoman Brown’s remarks and pictures of the event, please click here.
Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11)
“Today is about democracy. Today is about protecting the power of the people. Today is about showing up and showing out and standing up to protect the freedom to vote no on Issue 1. Issue 1 will take a simple majority of 50% plus one and raise it to 60%. A super majority. This is not a coincidence. This is not a mistake. This is not happenstance. This is very intentional. This is very intentional to make sure that citizen-led grassroots initiatives will be nearly impossible to pass in a state like Ohio. What we're seeing is ‘if we can't beat them...we’ll cheat them…we’re gonna rig the rules for our favor,’ but we can change that. We can stop that. We can prevent that from happening if we show up and vote no on Issue 1.”
Rev. Dr. C. Jay Matthews, Mt. Sinai Baptist Church
“Today we join our Congresswoman Shontel Brown, of the 11th Congressional District, along with pastors, clergy and other organizations to say to our community: first…vote. Second, as a group, we say vote no because we believe in democracy.”
Rev. Dr. Sheena Cameron, Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church
“We believe that you should vote no to Issue 1 because if you vote no, then the majority maintains the rules. If you vote yes to Issue 1, the minority maintains the rules. We believe in democracy, please vote no to Issue 1.”
Pastor Jerome Hurst, Vessels Vote
“It is important to vote, but not just to vote. We are endorsing that you vote no on this issue, as we are standing for democracy. We also want to let you know that VESSELS Vote will be making available rides to the polls starting tomorrow.”
Susan Reis, State Policy Advocate of Ohio, National Council of Jewish Women
“As a faith-based organization pursuing justice for all. We recognize that the August election has been called in the hopes that we won't exercise our constitutional rights and thereby strip us of our ability to effect change. Each and every one of us can work toward making Ohio more just through our vote. We urge all Ohio voters to vote no on Issue 1.”
Katie Paris, Red Wine & Blue
“Today in Ohio, our state's been hijacked by special interests who are trying to have a louder voice than the people. Now for the sake of my kids, and the state that I want to raise them in, and because I intend to be here for the rest of my life, I am voting no.”
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Faith in Public Life Action is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, with a network of over 50,000 leaders, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the state and federal level that affirm our values and the human dignity of all.