The League of Women Voters launched Unite & Rise 8.5 in May 2025. Its goal is to build a movement of 8.5 million individuals to unite and rise up against the anti-democratic actions of this administration.
The number 8.5 million is a large number, but it is the estimated number of people it would take to bring about change through nonviolent protest. This is based on the following finding from the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights:
“Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts...and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.”
According to the University of Florida, approximately 245 million Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 general election. According to the above research, if 3.5% of these eligible voters — 8,575,000 people — engage in nonviolent protests, we will bring about meaningful change.
How do you engage 8.5 million people? We take action on a local, grassroots level! In San Antonio, once Unite & Rise was announced, we immediately began Summer of Action. Among other activities, we engaged our membership in a postcard campaign. One thousand postcards were sent to our senators voicing opposition to the SAVE Act, legislation that if passed would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote. As the summer ended, LWVSA began 85 Days of Action, a social media campaign that encouraged civic engagement through simple, daily acts.
We know we cannot do this alone. We need to Unite & Rise together. If you belong to an organization that would like to have a League member make a presentation or would like educational resources, please reach out to communityoutreach@lwvsa.org. Whether you are involved in a civic club, a church, or neighborhood organization, the League’s non-partisan, educational message is appropriate and, frankly, needed.
As we head into the primary election season, it is critically important that we make our community aware of the importance of primaries, where, historically, few vote – resulting in the few choosing who governs the many.
Please consider how you can Unite & Rise. We look forward to hearing from you!