An Initiative to Defend Democracy
On April 17, 2025, LWV CEO Celina Stewart and President Dianna Wynn released the following statement:
“From the flagrant disregard for congressional authority and governmental checks and balances to defying Supreme Court orders…one thing is abundantly clear: our country is in a constitutional crisis.
“We the people must fight back. That is why the League of Women Voters is launching a powerful new initiative, Unite and Rise 8.5.”
Through Unite and Rise 8.5, we will engage and mobilize 8.5 million voters to protect and preserve our democracy.
What is Unite and Rise 8.5?
Unite & Rise 8.5 aims to build a movement of 8.5 million individuals to unite and rise up against the anti-democratic actions of this administration. Launching in May 2025 and running until the 2026 midterm elections, this initiative is part of our Women Defend Democracy campaign.
Why 8.5?
The number 8.5 million is the estimated number of voters 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.
Are We Really in a Constitutional Crisis?
The League defines a Constitutional Crisis as:
When the executive, the legislative, or judiciary branches cannot or will not adequately protect the US Constitution, when there are explicit attempts to dismantle a functional democracy within any of the three branches, or when any level of federal government takes action to destroy democratic institutions in a manner that intentionally or purposefully jeopardizes the US Constitution.
When these events occur, the constitution is deemed at the highest serious risk and warrants full-scale action to preserve and protect democratic institutions and civil society.”
Commit to action: Sign our commitment to Unite and Rise for democracy!
