Defend Democracy Coalition Pledge

The Defend Democracy Coalition pledge is:

1. We will vote.
2. We will refuse to accept election results until all the votes are counted.
3. We will nonviolently take to the streets if a coup is attempted.
4. If we need to, we will shut down “business as usual” to protect the integrity of the democratic process.


Defend Democracy Coalition includes more than 40 community organizations in Portland and the Pacific Northwest, all working together at the intersection of electoral justice and racial justice to stand up for Black lives and protect the integrity of the 2020 election. We are collaborating locally with J.U.I.C.E., which fights for an end to systemic racism through Justice, Unity, Integrity, Community, and Equality. This event is one of hundreds around the country preparing to mobilize in the national Protect the Results coalition organized by Indivisible and Stand Up America.

We voted in record numbers for racial justice. We voted for a fair economy. We voted for our climate. Our coalition members want America to be a place where everyone counts and where every vote is counted, where Black lives really do matter, and where the fundamental human and civil rights of all people are upheld.

No one should be disenfranchised because of where they live, the color of their skin or their income. But we have witnessed a strategic and sustained effort by the President and his political allies to suppress the vote and undermine our electoral process – all with the intention of illegally maintaining power and subverting the will of the people.

But we won’t let him divide us. Already we are joining together across our differences to vote in record numbers, and, if necessary, we are prepared to take to the streets to defend our democracy.

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”The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society and we’ve got to use it” - John Lewis

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Coalition supporters:

AAUP-PSU
AFSCME Local 328
Alliance for Democracy
American Federation of Teachers-OR
American Friends Service Committee-Oregon
As the Spirit Moves Us
Basic Rights Oregon
Beaverton Sacred Circle
Bernie PDX
Cascadia Magical Activists
CAUSA
Clark County Natural Resource Council
Climate Jobs PDX
Code Pink
Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network
Doctors for Camp Closure-OR
Ecofaith Recovery
Extinction Rebellion PDX
Farmworker Ministry NW
First Unitarian Church
Havurah Shalom
Heal Our Planet Earth
Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice
Jobs with Justice
Labor for Black Lives/Labor Against Fascism
Living Earth
Mosquito Fleet PDX
Nasty Women Get Shit Done
Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Oregon Conservancy Foundation
Orgon Fellowship of Reconciliation
Oregon NOW
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Oregon Public Employees United
Other98
Pacific Green Party
PDX Persist
Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Portland Central American Solidarity Committee
Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance
Portland Metro People’s Coalition
Portland Raging Grannies
Portland’s UnShul
Speak Up Now campaign
St. John’s Occupy
Sunrise Movement PDX
Westside Ultraviolet
350-PDX

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