• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Big Picture>
  3. gerrymandering>

The Fahey Q&A with Jamie Lyons-Eddy, grassroots field marshal with lessons for organizing in a pandemic

Katie Fahey
March 23, 2020
Katie Fahey and Jamie Lyons-Eddy

Katie Fahey (center) and Jamie Lyons Eddy co-founded Voters Not Politicians. They were honored at the Unrig Summit in 2019.

Voters Not Politicians

After organizing the Voters Not Politicians 2018 ballot initiative that put citizens in charge of drawing Michigan's legislative maps, Fahey became founding executive director of The People, which is forming statewide networks to promote government accountability. She interviews a colleague in the world of democracy reform each month for our Opinion section.

This is the fourth in a series of opinion pieces we are publishing during Women's History Month to recognize the contributions of women to the democracy reform movement.

When I think of campaign powerhouses and those who can succeed against all odds, I immediately conjure up Jamie Lyons-Eddy. She was a co-founder of Voters Not Politicians and drove our signature-gathering and voter outreach operations as state field director. Jamie now helps lead the organization as director of campaigns and programs. We had an extremely timely conversation about strategies for advancing grassroots reform efforts during the coronavirus outbreak, the critical role women leadership plays, and Voters Not Politicians' continued work in Michigan.

Our recent conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Fahey: How did you initially get involved with Voters Not Politicians?

Lyons-Eddy: I answered a Facebook post. I had just retired from teaching math, and taking on partisan gerrymandering felt like a natural way to connect with politics using math. The Roeper School, where I taught, was founded by Holocaust survivors, so there was a culture of responsibility to use our skills and talents to do good in the world.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


Fahey: What was the biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?

Lyons-Eddy: The biggest challenge was trying to create a campaign from scratch and keep everyone moving in the same direction. We tried to get as much information as we could. Then, after learning from others, we had to invent and innovate without a budget.

At one point I almost quit because the task seemed so large and I had never done anything like it before. Then a female colleague said, "If you were a man you wouldn't be feeling this way. If you were a guy you would just fake it until you make it." That was an "Aha!" moment. Many women tend to second guess ourselves and feel we shouldn't do things unless we can do them perfectly. That moment I realized that when something seems really hard, it's because it is really hard, not because I'm not good enough.

The biggest lessons about organizing a volunteer army are about delegation and communication. It takes time to train someone, but once you do, they share the ownership as well as the work. Very clear communication solves all kinds of problems. It's something we had to learn and reinforce until the campaign ended: Have good training, handbooks, conference calls, websites and emails. When people dedicate their time you owe them a clear understanding of what's going on.

Fahey: What was the most gratifying aspect of getting 61 percent of Michiganders to end the political gerrymandering of our state?

Lyons-Eddy: We felt so much responsibility to the volunteers. We asked so much of them. Once we won, we all knew all their tireless efforts had been rewarded.

Fahey: We face so many challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, including those of us working to improve our democracy needing to find creative ways to continue our work. Plenty of groups, including Voters Not Politicians, are working to get many thousands of signatures on petitions to put referendums on the November ballot. What are some lessons from Michigan in 2018 that might be particularly helpful this year?

Lyons-Eddy: In general there are huge challenges. People won't want to touch each other or share pens, and there won't be large gatherings. This is where digital organizing tools — peer-to-peer texting, an easy-to-use website and a robust social media presence — will be critical to raising awareness about the need for voters to physically sign petitions and educating them how to do it.

Two years ago one of our volunteers came up with a "micro-circulator" program. It didn't focus on large crowds as the places for gathering signatures. Instead the focus was on getting lots of people to go to work getting signatures from people in their personal networks, then getting each of those friends and family members to gather a few signatures from a few more people.

To make this successful we made sure volunteers had guidance that was clear and easy to understand. Amelia Quilon, another Voters Not Politicians co-founder, designed a mock petition with instructions overlaid on it — and with an FAQ on the back. This ensured people knew how to sign the petition, and why.

Volunteers need to understand how they get blank petitions and how they send in signed petitions. With limited access to physical shared spaces, campaigns may want to rely on mailing micro-circulator petitions and training. Overall, though, campaigns need to be thinking about how to put the safety of our fellow voters as their top priority.

Fahey: What are you working on now?

Lyons-Eddy: Defending and ensuring the successful implementation of Michigan's new redistricting process, then continuing work on structural democracy reforms in the state. Short-term, that means extending local clerks' office hours to increase voting access. And making state government more accountable. The Center for Public Integrity rates Michigan dead last in government integrity.

Fahey: Since it's Women's History Month, what are your reflections on the role women's leadership played in our campaign?

Lyons-Eddy: We succeeded because we were woman-run. Our focus was always on our goal. We had a lot of extremely competent women who were very supportive of each other.

Fahey: What's your message to young women about what it means to be an American and what role women have to play in developing our democracy today?

Lyons-Eddy: I hope the work of Voters Not Politicians and other similar stories are shared so young women know they have more power than they might imagine. Young women don't have to get permission from anyone. If they are willing to work hard, to risk failure and to put themselves out there, they can fix the problems they see in the world.

From Your Site Articles
  • Meet the reformer: 10 questions with Katie Fahey - The Fulcrum ›
  • Experts identify the worst examples of gerrymandering - The Fulcrum ›
  • Republicans sue to stop Michigan voters' gerrymander reform - The ... ›
  • Democracy groups rally to defend independent redistricting in ... ›
  • Election winners needs to follow a new leadership model - The Fulcrum ›
  • 3 tips for managing transition to post-pandemic civic life - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Report quantifies Michigan's very real gerrymandering problem ... ›
  • Republicans tried to rig the vote in Michigan – but 'political novices ... ›
  • Gerrymandering: Michigan's independent redistricting commission is ... ›
  • Supreme Court erases Michigan gerrymandering ruling - Roll Call ›
gerrymandering

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

Debilyn Molineaux
11m

The power of libraries to connect communities

Annie Caplan
Cristy Moran
14m

Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

Our Staff
16m

Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

Our Staff
17h

Is reform the way out of extremism?

Mindy Finn
22h

Changing pastimes

Rabbi Charles Savenor
22h
Videos

Video: The hidden stories in the U.S. Census

Our Staff

Video: We asked conservatives at CPAC what woke means

Our Staff

Video: DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda

Our Staff

Video: A conversation with Tiahna Pantovich

Our Staff

Video: What would happen if Trump was a third-party candidate in 2024?

Our Staff

Video: How the Federal Reserve is the shadow branch of the government

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

Our Staff
16m

Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

Our Staff
17h

Podcast: A tricky dance

Our Staff
14 March

Podcast: Kevin, Tucker and wokism, oh my!

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
13 March
Recommended
Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

Big Picture
The power of libraries to connect communities

The power of libraries to connect communities

Big Picture
Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

Podcasts
Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

Podcasts
Is reform the way out of extremism?

Is reform the way out of extremism?

Threats to democracy
Changing pastimes

Changing pastimes

Civic Ed