Democracy Day

A Conference on June 5th, 2008 in Minneapolis

Mission

Scheduled the day before the National Conference on Media Reform at the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel, Democracy Day is a major conference designed to build support among voting rights advocates, electoral reformers and movement organizations for a broader vision of democracy – one based on elections with universal and secure access to the polls, expanded ballot choices and public financing, on government with proportional representation and transparency and on local, state, and national institutions that engage and empower Americans between elections. Lead organizers include FairVote, Common Cause, Liberty Tree, Public Campaign, FairVote Minnesota, Verified Voting and Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota.



Vision

We stand at an important moment in history where change is necessary – and within reach. We must run fair elections in 2008, yet look beyond the election for actions on structural reforms and grassroots engagement to truly preserve our democratic experiment and to continue to broaden and deepen our democratic foundations. For this necessary long-term victory, we must connect short-term strategies (such as electing the better of two lesser and protecting the integrity of the 2008 elections) to medium and long-term reforms to make real the promise of democracy.

Democracy Day is an opportunity to map out a new road to a democratic future. It is an opportunity to articulate the case for short-term strategies around the 2008 election, but put those strategies in a context of a real, sustainable, proactive democracy movement. Democracy Day will run from 10 am to 4 pm at the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel. Following Democracy Day, feel free to join the Claim Democracy coaltion for an evening celebration featuring a great lineup of high-profile speakers. For more on our evening celebration, visit Claim Democracy: An Evening Celebration.