Three weeks after the Las Vegas shooting, more than 20,000 people signed a petition by MoveOn member Sandy Phillips—whose daughter, Jessi, was slaughtered in the Aurora, Colorado theater massacre in 2012—asking the DNC, the governing body of the national Democratic Party, to reject donations from the gun industry.

The DNC heard us and took action: They passed an official resolution rejecting donations from the gun lobby and other corporate donors that conflict with the Democrats’ platform.

Additionally, dozens of members of Congress who have received NRA campaign support are now facing pressure from tens of thousands of MoveOn members in their districts to give back or donate NRA contributions to causes focused on gun violence prevention. Click here to find out if your members of Congress have received money and sign or start a similar petition to #RejecttheNRA.

The post VICTORY: Democratic Party rejects the NRA and other predatory corporate donors appeared first on MoveOn: People-Powered Progress.

More than 350,000 MoveOn members have already signed national petitions calling on their superdelegates to vote for the candidate with the most pledged delegates at the convention, and now they are launching campaigns focusing on specific superdelegates from their state, many of whom are Democratic elected officials.

Kansas MoveOn member Zac Goodall felt inspired to start his petition because he of concern that superdelegates determining the nominee would lead to further disengagement from voters:

I am a veteran of the United States Army. While serving with the 172nd Stryker Brigade in Mosul, Iraq, my unit and I helped make Iraq’s first national elections safe and fair. I saw thousands of Iraqis brave threats from criminals and terrorists because they knew their vote was a crucial step to securing a peaceful future for their country.

As an English composition instructor at a community college, I’ve witnessed almost the exact opposite attitude from my students. Of my 40+ students this year, two plan on voting. They don’t believe their vote counts, especially when they’re informed about the billions spent financing campaigns and the realities of the electoral college and Democratic Party superdelegates.

Check out all 48 petitions below, and sign and share the one from your state:

• Alaska
• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Maine
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• Montana
• North Carolina
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• New York
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Vermont
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

The post MoveOn Members in 48 States Call on Superdelegates to Let Voters Decide appeared first on MoveOn: People-Powered Progress.

Today, the New York Times editorialized that voters, not superdelegates, should decide who the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee should be at the Democratic National Convention in July.

That’s the message championed by thousands of MoveOn members and allies over the past two weeks and the op-ed specifically cites MoveOn’s campaign and message in making its case.

Can you take a moment to read the editorial below, and then share with your friends and family?

Superdelegates, Clarify Your Role

Feb. 19, 2016

Even after Bernie Sanders’s overwhelming popular victory in New Hampshire on Feb. 9, some of his supporters began fretting about a new menace to his candidacy: “superdelegates” who — at least in theory — could deliver the nomination to Hillary Clinton in July’s convention.

Superdelegates are party bigwigs — 712 Democratic leaders, legislators, governors and the like. They can vote for any candidate at the nominating convention, regardless of whether that candidate won the popular vote. These unpledged delegates make up 30 percent of the 2,382 delegates whose votes are needed to win the nomination, and could thus make all the difference.

The status of Hillary and Bill Clinton as senior figures in the Democratic Party has allowed Mrs. Clinton to secure public endorsements from many more superdelegates than Mr. Sanders. Late last year, The Associated Press surveyed 80 percent of the Democratic superdelegates and found that 359 had endorsed Mrs. Clinton, versus eight for Mr. Sanders. The rest remained uncommitted.

In the New Hampshire primary last week, which Mrs. Clinton lost by 22 percentage points, Mr. Sanders won 15 of the state’s 24 pledged delegates, and Mrs. Clinton won nine. But because she has the support of six of the state’s eight unpledged superdelegates, including Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan, she is virtually tied with Mr. Sanders in the New Hampshire delegate count.

Last week, MoveOn.org, a voter action group that has endorsed Mr. Sanders, began a petition drive demanding that superdelegates pledge to back the winner of the national popular vote. About 350,000 people have signed this petition and a related one. Next up are petition drives in each of the 50 states, targeting individual superdelegates.

“The key to winning the presidency in November will be mobilizing tremendous grass-roots enthusiasm, and nothing would take the wind out of people’s sails faster than to have the Democratic nominee chosen by party insiders,” said Ben Wikler, MoveOn’s Washington director. Mr. Wikler says that if Mrs. Clinton wins the popular vote, superdelegates who support Mr. Sanders should likewise vote for her.

Some of these worries seem overblown. Superdelegates can switch allegiance at any time, and a big chunk of them already say they’ll remain uncommitted until a clear primary winner emerges. Mr. Sanders said Sunday that if he secures a clear lead in the primaries, he’s confident he’ll win over Mrs. Clinton’s superdelegates. And many party leaders will think twice before pressing for the nomination of a candidate voters have rejected. In 2008, Mrs. Clinton held a superdelegate lead, but when she lost the primaries to Barack Obama her superdelegates mounted no insurgency at the convention.

Superdelegates serve multiple functions at the convention, among them maintaining order — for example, by casting their votes to avoid deadlock in a fragmented field. That is why superdelegates shouldn’t have to make ironclad pledges to transfer their fealty to the biggest vote-getter. That could set a precedent Democrats might live to regret.

Still, this issue presents the party with an important opportunity. By better explaining the role of superdelegates, and publicly acknowledging that the 2016 presidential nomination rightly belongs to the majority vote-getter, Democrats could show new, youthful voters that the party wants their energy and their ideas inside the tent. To these idealistic voters, superdelegate influence reeks of smoke-filled rooms and establishment deals, when in fact they were created to end such maneuverings. That wrong perception doesn’t help Mrs. Clinton.

“We just had a rally here in Las Vegas that was at capacity with a lot of young people who feel like they have a shot at making a difference,” said Erin Bilbray, a Sanders superdelegate. She wants to vote for Mr. Sanders at the convention, but regardless, “I will support the Democratic nominee. It’s a fairness issue. We have got to keep these young people engaged, and to do that, you’ve got to make the system fair, and give no one the perception it’s not.”

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Melissa’s daughter is in remission from leukemia. After missing countless days of school, she was finally able to return to the classroom, and to her friends. But now, because of the rising number of measles cases in her area, Melissa is worried that she might need to pull her daughter out of school again—despite the fact that her daughter was vaccinated against the measles, her weakened immune system makes her vulnerable, forcing her to depend on herd immunity for protection.

Stories like Melissa’s put a human face on the threat of a measles epidemic, showing the world exactly who pays the price when parents don’t vaccinate their children. Can you take a moment right now to share this powerful quote from Melissa with your family and friends via Facebook or Twitter?

The post Why vaccines matter appeared first on MoveOn: People-Powered Progress.

The students then delivered a MoveOn Petition with more than 40,000 signatures to school board members. The rally, which came as a culmination of ongoing protests, captured media attention with coverage from MSNBC, The New York Times and hundreds of other outlets.

Despite hundreds of people rallying against the proposal and over two hours of overwhelmingly anti-censorship testimony, the fight is not yet over, as the board put in place a process for continued debate over the curriculum. These students still need your help as they stand up for their education–join them by signing their petition today!

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