(Calli Miller of Madison among local Millennials featured on billboards highlighting growing secular voting demographic. Click on image for high resolution version.)
Billboards featuring local atheist voters are greeting presidential candidates and their staff as they travel to Madison in advance of the April 5 Wisconsin primaries.
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), the largest freethought association in North America, today unveiled its 'I'm an Atheist and I Vote' billboards in 12 locations across Madison featuring local Millennials.
"Madison is a very secular city, and we want the candidates to acknowledge our presence and priorities," said Calli Miller, a graduate of UW-Madison who is working as an FFRF legal assistant. "Candidates should acknowledge secular voters as the fastest-growing minority group in America, while committing to keep religion out of government."
(From left: Madison-area grad student Sarah Lewis, FFRF Staff Attorneys Andrew Seidel and Patrick Elliott, and FFRF Legal Assistant Calli Miller)
Since President Obama was first elected, the number of religiously unaffiliated adults in America has grown by 19 million, fueled largely by growth of young, secular Millennials.
The billboards are part of FFRF's campaign to reach voters across the nation through FFRF chapters, a national TV ad buy focusing on the separation of church and state, efforts to mobilize students on college campuses, and coordination with the nation's other major freethought associations as part of the June 4 Reason Rally in Washington, D.C.
"Secular voters are highly educated and independent-minded," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "They care deeply about women's rights, environmental protection, marriage equality, and social justice, and candidates should be reaching out to them directly."
FFRF is a nonpartisan and educational nonprofit organization that does not endorse candidates for office.
For all locations, click here.
Media Coverage:
- Wisconsin Radio Network: Madison billboards feature young atheist voters
- Patheos: Before the Wisconsin Primaries, “I’m an Atheist and I Vote” Billboards Go Up Around Madison
- Christian Post: Nation's Largest Atheist Group Launches Political Billboard Campaign Aimed at Young Voters
- Wisconsin Gazette: Madison billboard campaign features young atheist voters
- State Journal: Annie Laurie Gaylor: Secular voters are a growing force in American politics
- The Global Dispatch: Atheist voters take center stage in Wisconsin
