‘We Choose Us’ holds People’s Democracy Summit in Rochester

(ABC 6 News) – A People’s Democracy Summit was held in Rochester Sunday afternoon. The event was hosted by We Choose Us, a campaign for multiracial democracy in Minnesota, which launched just last Sunday in Rochester.

These summits aim to have smaller, more intimate community conversations about building a multiracial democracy in Minnesota where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s vote counts.

We Choose Us fights for voting rights and voting access. The campaign said building a multiracial democracy in the state will not happen overnight and it will take a group of people to make a change.

"It’s conversations like this that I think are going to launch a broader, wider path here in Rochester so that folks here today are inviting their friends in who are inviting their friends in who are inviting their friends in and building a big community here in Rochester of people who are ready to fight for democracy," Lilly Sasse, Campaign Director of We Choose Us, said.

Sasse said she hopes the group can accomplish these goals in the next two years.

"Voter turnout is critical. Voting is our voice, is our power but it doesn’t just stop at the ballot box. It is year-round. It is how we engage wholistically all the time. It is people being able to hold elected leaders accountable and have a say in the decision-making that happens, not just at the ballot box in November which is absolutely critical and we all need to absolutely turn out for that but it’s about making it more accessible to more people more often," Sasse said.

We Choose Us is hosting several virtual summits as well. You can find those here.