Thursday, March 19, 2020, 6:30 p.m.
Location: your place

Hosted by: MSP NOW, ERAMN, WMM, Third Thursdays - MNLeg Coalition and Indivisible Minnesota Legislative Action

Join us for our first virtual Third Thursdays, hosted by Women’s March Minnesota. (Due to COVID-19, we have moved this month’s Third Thursday online - more details below).

Your election advocacy starts here! 

The 2020 census is foundational to our democracy: 

• Census counts determine political representation. Voting maps (federal, state and local) are drawn based on them, giving communities a voice (or not). The number of congressional seats a state has depends on them. Minnesota could lose a seat this year if the count is low.

• Census counts determine how much federal funding a state receives. MN currently gets $15 billion/year - about $28k per person over 10 years. Every uncounted person constitutes a significant financial loss to the state. 

• Census counts are a major factor in planning services (making sure there are enough for everyone) like hospitals, schools, senior centers - as well as commerce across the state.

So, census counts really matter! That’s why we're excited to host this Third Thursdays event, because it’s all about the 2020 census - why it’s so important, what's being done in MN to ensure a full count, and how you can help make sure everyone is counted.

Join us on 3/19 to hear from organizations working hard to Get Out The Count in Minnesota, and particularly in historically undercounted communities. The speakers are Andrew Virden (State Demographic Center), Jeffrey Her (Asian American Organizing Project), Monica Hurtado (Voices for Racial Justice).

There’ll also be an opportunity to sign up to volunteer for some of the Get Out the Count efforts led by these organizations - text banking, phone banking, etc. GOTC work moves us toward full representation of all MN communities, making sure every community has a voice. Many of our communities are historically undercounted in the census. Let’s change that!

We hope you can join us this Thursday! Please share this event widely - the more of us working to ensure a full count, the better. Share on Facebook!

About this virtual event: 

In light of the fast evolving situation with the global pandemic (COVID-19), we are holding Third Thursdays online. We will miss being in the same room as you, but there’ll be speakers, you can ask questions, you can invite some friends to join you at the event virtually, you can even have a drink and some food while it’s all going on. It’s just that this time it will be at your place, wherever that is.

How will it work? 

The online platform we’ll use for this event is Zoom. You can use a phone or a computer to join the event. To attend, you need to register beforehand. Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with an event specific link and telephone number. You can use your smartphone or your computer to join the event. You can also call in on a phone. If you are using a computer or a smartphone, you will need to download Zoom. This video explains how to join a Zoom meeting, including how you download Zoom. Once you have joined the meeting, you will need to mute your sound and use the chat option to ask any questions. Instructions for Attendees and how to use the Chat feature.

And if you’ve already registered for this event via Eventbrite, you will need to register again!

If you have any questions about this, please contact: mnlegcoalition@gmail.com