As Jewish clergy serving communities across Ohio, we write
in opposition to the campaign of fear and repression in our state.
Please fill out this form to add your name to this letter.
The letter text and signers will be published on the RAC blog, and if we reach
a critical mass of signers will share aggregate numbers with the media. We will
not share names with the media without asking permission. Here is the text of
the letter:
On June 11, federal agents searched the offices
of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, an organization that has worked for
decades to help Ohioans participate in our democracy. According to
public reports and OOC leaders, agents also approached people connected to the
organization across the state and, in some cases, searched or seized devices.
No individual or organization is above
the law, and each has a right to due process. While there is more to learn
about the basis for the investigation, tactics matter. A highly visible search of a voter
engagement organization, paired with reported home
and office visits to staff and other OOC leaders across the state, can have a chilling effect far beyond one
organization.
That chilling effect is especially troubling five months
ahead of vital midterm elections in a state where Ohio voters
are already experiencing
diminished access to the ballot box. Just days before the search, Ohio
legislators passed H.B. 472 and S.J.R. 10, adding new barriers to voting and
advancing a constitutional amendment that would make voting harder.
As Jews, we believe democracy depends on the voice of the
community. Our tradition teaches: “A ruler is not to be appointed unless the
community is first consulted” (Babylonian Talmud Berachot 55a). That
means voters choose their leaders, not the other way around.
We will not be intimidated from engaging
in the sacred work of protecting democracy. The Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism recommits to ensuring every eligible Ohioan can vote,
have that vote counted, and have a say in the decisions that shape their
lives.
We call on Ohio policymakers to:
- Stop
advancing new barriers to the ballot;
- Protect
the work of nonpartisan voter-registration and civic-engagement
organizations;
- Demand
transparency about law-enforcement actions that risk chilling lawful
democracy work;
- Ensure
every eligible Ohioan can participate freely and safely in our
elections.
RAC Ohio and the Reform Movement will continue to
organize through Every Voice, Every Vote and Protect Our Vote because
our democracy depends on more people participating, not fewer.
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