Peace Voter 2022

Peace Voter, a program of Massachusetts Peace Action, works to elect pro-peace candidates and defeat pro-war candidates. In U.S. Senate and House races, we endorse strongly pro-peace candidates in the primary phase. In the final phase we may endorse a candidate with flawed peace credentials if they are significantly better than their opponent.

Process: Endorsement of candidates for federal or state-wide office by MAPA will be decided by the Board of Directors. Endorsement will require at least a 60% vote of those voting, and the number of yes votes for endorsement has to at least equal 50% of the entire membership of the Board.

Any member of MAPA can initiate a discussion of possible endorsement by making a recommendation to the Executive Director or one of the Co-Chairs of the Legislative/Political Committee.   

The Legislative/Political Committee (LPC) (contact co-chairs Bonnie Gorman bonniegorman1@gmail.com, Alec Neilly neilly.a@northeastern.edu, or Cole Harrison cole@masspeaceaction.org) is responsible for making recommendations to the board for any proposed endorsements.

The LPC will consider issue positions (including any questionnaires), voting record, public and private statements), viability, and ability of MAPA to influence the race. Well intentioned candidates who are running educational campaigns but have little to no chance of winning will not generally be recommended for endorsement.

Candidates recommended by the LPC for endorsement in federal races will be presented to MAPA’s members and supporters in the district to be represented by the candidate for an advisory straw poll.  The board will receive a report of the advisory polling which reports overall results and the poll results  of members and supporters who live in the district involved in the election.  Members and supporters will be encouraged to offer information on a suggested endorsement based on previous interactions with the candidate.

Votes on endorsement may be conducted at regular Board meetings, special board meetings, or by email or phone vote or a combination of email and telephone balloting between regular meetings of the Board.  The board must at least be given the opportunity to conduct a conference call discussion of proposed endorsements.  Board members will be notified at least 4 days ahead of a vote on endorsement. Prior to the endorsement discussion and vote, the Board will receive the recommendation of the Legislative/Political Committee and result of polling of the membership (except for certain incumbents as set forth below).

For State Legislature races, an alternate process is used.  Only candidates endorsed by statewide progressive groups such as Mass Alliance, Progressive Massachusetts, Our Revolution Massachusetts, or Incorruptible Mass are usually considered. This ensures that the candidate has a broad progressive stance and is running a serious campaign. The candidate must pro-actively ask for Massachusetts Peace Action’s endorsement. The candidate must express general agreement with our peace perspective as reflected in public and private statements and past or present leadership roles on peace issues. We will not formally poll members in the district, but the LPC will make an effort to consult with key peace activists in the district and it will make the endorsement decision.  At its option, the LPC may invoke the full endorsement process (the one followed for federal races) for state legislature races.

Updated August 2016; edited August 2022

 

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