Choose Democracy is a left-wing organization formed to prepare to nonviolently resist a supposed potential coup by President Donald Trump if he loses the 2020 presidential election. The organization was founded by two executives from 350.org, a far-left environmental advocacy group. According to its website, Choose Democracy will either disband after the 2020 election if there is no coup, or lead a resistance movement against President Trump based on protests, strikes, and boycotts. ¹

Choose Democracy is been holding training seminars with thousands of attendees in September, October, and November to prepare people for coup-resistance. As of October 28, almost 36,000 individuals have signed Choose Democracy’s pledge to resist any coup. ²

Choose Democracy has a PAC, the Choose Democracy PAC, which had raised over $53,000 and spent only $455 as of late October 2020. ³ The PAC paid for Choose Democracy’s website. ⁴

Training Seminars

From October 25 to November 5,⁵ Choose Democracy is hosting seven training seminars to teach nonviolent coup resistance. The seminar held on October 27 had 2,000 attendees. ⁶ The organization also held training seminars in September, one of which had 1,000 attendees. ⁷ The seminars teach attendees the history of global coups and mass protests movements, advise on protest and organization strategies, and in the later sessions they will coordinate the pre-election plans for a mass movement against a potential coup. ⁸

The seminars are led by George Lakey, a life-long left-wing activist who began non-violent protests for the civil rights movement, later protested the Vietnam War, and then spent decades travelling around the world primarily training other activists. He has led 1,500 training workshops on five continents. Lakey also founded Movement for a New Society (MNS), Training for Change, and Earth Quaker Action Team among other nonprofits. ⁹

Plan for Mobilization

On October 21, co-director Daniel Hunter published a guideline for resisting a Trump coup with seven mass protest tactics. ¹⁰

Prior to the election, Hunter suggests petitioning electoral officials to strongly enforce electoral laws. As an example, he points to a letter-writing campaign currently being organized by Protect Our Election, a similar group. Hunter also suggests asking elected officials to take “democracy pledges” to support a democratic government, and that people attend local rallies on November 4^th to signal opposition to a potential coup. On election day itself, people should protest at polling stations to discourage voter suppression tactics. ¹¹

If Trump refuses to leave office after being defeated, Hunter suggests immediately launching a national youth strike modeled after plans designed by the Rochester chapter of the AFL-CIO, which has planned a general strike if Trump doesn’t leave office, and We Count On Us, an anti-Trump youth group. Then Hunter recommends a mass consumer boycott targeted at states which send their delegates to the Electoral College on December 6. Because a general strike is too difficult to organize, the final phase of coup-resistance should be “rolling strikes” targeted at specific economic sectors and led by activist organizations like Choose Democracy as well as labor unions. ¹²

Leadership

Co-director Daniel Hunter is the global training manager at 350.org and is a curriculum designer for the Sunrise Movement, a left-of-center environmentalist group which supports the Green New Deal. ¹³ On September 18, 2020, Hunter published “10 things you need to know to stop a coup” on Waging Nonviolence, which has since accumulated 600,000 views. ¹⁴

Co-director Jenny Marienau Zimmer is a political campaign manager for 350.org, and previously served as the organization’s US campaigns director, divestment campaign manager, US field manager, and North Carolina state organizer. She also worked as an organizer for Green Corps. ¹⁵

1. “About Us.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/.
2. “Our Pledge:” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/#pledge.
3. “Choose Democracy PAC.” Choose Democracy. Open Secrets. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?cycle=2020&strID=C00756734.
4. “About Us.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/.
5. “How to Beat an Election-Related Power Grab.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings/#.X5nRZtBKiUk.
6. “About Choose Democracy.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/about-us/#.X5nZntBKiUk.
7. Miller, Christopher. “This Is How Thousands of Americans Are Preparing To Take On Trump If He Refuses To Leave Office.” Buzzfeed News. October 23, 2020. Accessed October 26, 2020. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/trump-not-leaving-office-progressive-groups-challenge.
8. “How to Beat an Election-Related Power Grab.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings/#.X5nRZtBKiUk.
9. “How to Beat an Election-Related Power Grab.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings/#.X5nRZtBKiUk.
10. “What’s the game plan if Trump really does try to steal the election? 7 tactics to stop a coup.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/whats-the-game-plan-if-trump-really-does-try-to-steal-the-election-7-tactics-to-stop-a-coup/#.X5nfnNBKiUk.
11. “What’s the game plan if Trump really does try to steal the election? 7 tactics to stop a coup.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/whats-the-game-plan-if-trump-really-does-try-to-steal-the-election-7-tactics-to-stop-a-coup/#.X5nfnNBKiUk.
12. “What’s the game plan if Trump really does try to steal the election? 7 tactics to stop a coup.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/whats-the-game-plan-if-trump-really-does-try-to-steal-the-election-7-tactics-to-stop-a-coup/#.X5nfnNBKiUk.
13. “Daniel Hunter.” Waging Nonviolence. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://wagingnonviolence.org/author/danielhunter/.
14. “Who We Are.” Choose Democracy. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://choosedemocracy.us/about-us/#.X5nZntBKiUk.
15. “Jennifer (Marienau) Zimmer.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennymarienau/.