Brothers of the Talented Tenth,
It is my humble pleasure to contact you from the seat of the committee chair for Voter Registration, Education and Mobilization (VREM). As you are aware, this is one of our ten internationally mandated programs where each Chapter is charged to “facilitate and participate in activities that uplift their communities through the power of the vote.” We, the men of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., are in a great position and time to be a key factor in the 2012 Presidential Election! Let’s do our part by keeping true to our watchword.
All Chapters, please forward me the contact email, phone number, and chapter name of your VREM committee chairperson. Please include any planned events and ideas that can be shared with other Chapters in the Tenth District. Please send this requested information to BlaQkie.Chan@hotmail.com
Here are a few ways that you and your Chapters can get involved:
* Contact your City Election Commission and become deputized to register people to vote.
o Work with local area businesses, such as grocery stores, and set up voter registration stations
o Undergraduate chapters can have voter registration stations set up on their campuses to register new voters.
* Adopt-A-Voting Site – A great Chapter fund raiser that many may not be aware of is the Adopt-A-Voting Site program. This program availability may vary from city and state. If you have the program available, you have a chance to volunteer time and your chapter could be nicely compensated monetarily for the work of operating a voting site. This is one of the best ways to participate in the mandated program.
* Know your voting rights – There have been many changes as of late regarding voting rights and rules. It is best to be aware of these so that others may be educated. Some areas of concern are:
o ID requirements
o Voting with a Criminal Conviction – varies state by state, but some still have the right to vote.
Here is a helpful link to find out information regarding voting locations and voting rights in your state:
Below are some sample voting informational links for Milwaukee that are probably available for your city as well.
Please Note: Be careful not to endorse any specific candidate to avoid any violations that may conflict with Omega Psi Phi’s 501(c)(7) tax exempt status while officially representing the organization as expenditures towards these efforts are not tax exempt. Also, organizations that have 501(c)(3) status are prohibited from Political campaign activities, limited in lobbying activities, and can do some general educational advocacy. Many chapters have established separate 501(c)(3) entities, so be aware. More information regard both can be found at:
Fraternally Yours,
Br. Arras V. Martin Tenth District VREM Committee Chair