Civic Engagement Beyond Voting is a left-of-center activist group focused on Arizona politics. The group tracks legislation and trains and mobilizes its members to engage in the Arizona public comment process called Request to Speak. In addition to this training and mobilization, it publishes a weekly newsletter on political happenings and characterizes America as heading towards fascism. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting was formed in 2017 in response to the first election of President Donald Trump. The founders sought to create left-of-center activists in Arizona and mobilize them using a variety of trainings, speakers, and guides. Its main avenue of action is the Arizona Request to Speak system which allows citizens to comment and provide feedback on pending legislation. It reports that it has trained over 13,000 activists and held 500 training courses on how to use the system. ¹

Finances

For 2023, Civic Engagement Beyond Voting reported $118,179 in revenue, of which $117,999 stemmed from program service revenue. There was $104,775 in expenses, of which $85,946 was spent on professional fees and independent contractors. It ended the year with a surplus of $13,404 and $46,435 in net assets. ⁴

Organization Philosophy

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting claims that it is “nonpartisan, but not neutral.” In a newsletter from the group published in the wake of the 2024 presidential election, author Melinda Merkel Iyer lamented the seats that the Democrats lost in the Arizona state legislature. Merkel Iyer stated that “we” lost the White House and U.S. Senate in the election. ^{3 5}

This same post-election analysis argued that the United States is headed towards “fascism,” that Republican victories were the result of Americans being trapped in ignorance, and that “[President-elect Donald] Trump would love to be a dictator.” Furthermore, Merkel Iyer expressed concern that the retirement of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, whom Merkel Iyer labeled “far-right firebrands,” would lead to their replacement by Trump-appointed nominees who would create a “racist, misogynistic and anti-democratic supermajority” that would last for decades. ³

Projects and Initiatives

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting’s main avenue of action is the Arizona Request to Speak system, which the organization has reportedly trained over 13,000 Arizonans how to use. The system tracks bills and pushes out alerts to its activists and encourages them to comment on pending legislation. It also facilitates in-person testimony to committees. ¹

In addition to this activism, CEBV publishes a weekly newsletter focused mostly on Arizona politics. ²

CEBV is part of the Indivisible network. This network was formed in 2017 in response to the first election of Donald Trump as president, and seeks to advance left-of-center causes and legislation on the state level. The group claimed that Democrats had largely ignored state politics and that more state-level action was needed. ^{5 6}

Leadership

Melinda Merkel Iyer is the vice president of Civic Engagement Beyond Voting and the author of the organization’s weekly newsletter, The Weekly, which is also known as The Iyer Report. Merkel Iyer reported that she was unable to sleep in the wake of Donald Trump’s election to the presidency in 2016 and that propelled her to become involved in state politics. She notably was able to force a referendum on proposed school choice legislation in Arizona. ^{2 7}

1. “About Us.” CEBV. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://www.cebv.us/advocate-843730.html.
2. “The Weekly.” CEBV. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://www.cebv.us/inform.html.
3. Iyer, Melinda Merkel. “How? Why? What Now?” CEBV Weekly, November 10, 2024. https://cebv.substack.com/p/how-why-what-now.
4. Civic Engagement Beyond Voting, Return of an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990) Part I, 2023.
5. “Home.” CEBV. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://www.cebv.us/.
6. “Indivisible States: Introduction.” Indivisbile.org. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://indivisible.org/resource/indivisible-states-introduction.
7. Chira, Susan. “Year of the Woman? In Arizona, It’s Women, Plural, and It’s Both Parties.” The New York Times, April 9, 2018, sec. U.S. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/us/politics/arizona-women-candidates-lesko-tipirneni.html