On Monday, October 24, 2016, about 250 community members, including at least 150 voters with ballots in hand, participated in an evening of personal, positive story-telling, questions and debates that so far has been watched online by almost 100k media audiences! This was our state's first ever live-cast elections debates held at a Muslim community venue. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) debate began at 6:30pm. The WA state secretary of state debate began at 7:30pm.
CLICK HERE TO SEE EVENT PHOTOS on our Facebook photo album and tag your friends!
High-resolution print-quality event photos are available for media use at www.flickr.com/photos/49994784@N05/sets/
WATCH VIDEOS OF DEBATES:
- Click here to watch the OSPI debate on KIRO7’s Facebook page
- Click here to watch the Secretary of State debate on KIRO7’s Facebook page
- Click here and scroll down to Oct. 24, 2016, to find both videos on KHQ TV's (Spokane) Facebook page
This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of time and energy of our event planning and staffing volunteers.
It also would not have been possible without distinguished, diverse local Muslims and allies who participated in the event, and many of whom prepared in advance to tell their personal stories and asked questions that put on public display the stories of the lives, challenges and extraordinary contributions of American Muslim children and families. If you attended the event, please click here to complete a short online survey to help us improve.
All questions were asked by audience members and the debates were facilitated by two dynamic moderators - Aneelah Afzali, an attorney and interfaith advocate and Rev. Paul Benz, an ordained Lutheran pastor and co-director of the Faith Action Network. Many community members cited facts and statistics found at www.islamfactcheck.org
Organizing a professional studio-production-quality event takes significant resources. Your consistent support at the highest monthly amount you can afford enables CAIR-WA to continue its work. Many students become consistent supporters at the $20 per month level while many professionals become supporters at the $200 per month level. Give now at: www.cairwa.org/donate
CAIR-WA will hold an event on Monday, Oct. 24, from 5:30pm-8:15pm featuring two live televised debates, one between Kim Wyman and Tina Podlodowski who are running for Washington State Secretary of State which is in charge of managing elections in our state, and a debate between Erin Jones and Chris Reykdal, who are running for Washington State OSPI (Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction) which will put them in charge of your children’s schools.
This live televised event is aimed at increasing the public visibility of American Muslims’ lives, challenges, contributions, voting power and alliances. We’ll do this by having local American Muslim military veterans and current personnel, hate crime victims, public school teachers, medical doctors, nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, families with children, and distinguished youth, as well as leaders of ally organizations, and having almost all questions asked by audience members.
All attendees who will be 18 or older by Nov. 8 are required to physically bring their ballots with them to the event. This shows candidates that they're competing for votes by people who are ready to vote with ballots and pens in their hands, and make it an exciting event for TV audiences to watch.
The venue will be set up and lighted much like the venue/setup shown this video in order to be appealing to TV audiences and to maximize visibility of the audience members, not just the candidates and moderators.
JOIN US!
Online registration is now closed.
Learn about the candidates attending and prepare yourself to make your voting decision at the event.
What do the OSPI & WA Secretary of State do?
Click here to find more information about the OSPI
Click here to find more information about the WA Secretary of State
If you are a U.S. citizen and will be at least 18 years old by Nov. 8, 2016, you should register now to vote at http://vote.wa.gov
Click here to submit a question you would like candidates to be asked.
Watch from home
Can’t attend in person? The debates will be broadcast on live television and will also live-stream online at www.kirotv.com www.khq.com and many others. We will update this page with the channels and web sites where you can watch the live broadcast.