Tag: Non-voters

See Vote.Org’s List of All 50 State Voter Registration Deadlines (Updated September 2, 2018, With an Explanation Of Why You’re Seeing This Repost)
Action Alerts · Community Activism · Elections · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends · Voting Rights, Fighting Voter Suppression

See Vote.Org’s List of All 50 State Voter Registration Deadlines (Updated September 2, 2018, With an Explanation Of Why You’re Seeing This Repost)

otycd1 Comment

Update: This OTYCD post originally appeared on July 2, 2018. We have deliberately cleared the queue of new posts to leave this repost up until October 6, 2018, when the earliest state voter registration deadlines for 2018 begin to pass. Please click on the above link titled Important Announcement from OTYCD’s Sarah Jane to learn why timely posts have ceased.

 

See Vote.org’s list of voter registration deadlines for all 50 states.

 

Loyal OTYCD readers know the importance of recruiting as many friends and family members as possible to come out and vote in the 2018 midterms, which happen on Tuesday, November 6. If we’re going to fix what’s broken, it can’t just be you going to the polls.

 

You’re also probably alarmed by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of allowing Ohio to purge its rolls of voters who haven’t cast a ballot in a few cycles and do not respond to an inquiry from election officials.

 

The ruling sucks. Let’s not sugar-coat it. States now have permission to delist registered voters who haven’t cast a ballot recently. Ohio was evidently sending out a ‘hey are you out there’ notice after one “missed” election cycle, which makes their purging efforts exceptionally aggressive.

 

If you believe that voting is a right, not a privilege, the SCOTUS decision is a slap in the face of democracy. It lets states act as if voting is a “use it or lose it” kind of thing. It isn’t, and it shouldn’t be.

 

Anyway! The way to fight back is to step up and do the work on behalf of your friends and family. You need to help them check and confirm that they’re registered to vote, and help them register if they’re not. You need to make this task as easy for them as possible.

 

So, it’d help to know when it’s too late to register to vote in the home states of your friends and family, would it not?

 

Fortunately, the folks at Vote.org are on the case. They’ve cataloged and listed the voter registration deadlines for all 50 states.

 

And good news–the furthest-out deadline appears to be 31 days before Election Day, and that’s only in one state, and only if you’re mailing your ballot. Most states’ voter registration deadlines fall within the 30 days before E-Day, and some allow voters to register on the day itself.

 

So! You still have months to help friends and family register to vote, and you still have time to follow up on and re-register if the first attempt failed somehow.

 

 

See Vote.org’s webpage on voter registration deadlines across America:

https://www.vote.org/voter-registration-deadlines/

 

 

Also see our post on making sure you’re registered to vote, which contains a link you can use to help friends and family check their registration status:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2017/12/16/check-this-site-and-make-sure-youre-registered-to-vote/

 

 

You have many options for supporting the good work of Vote.org.

 

 

See their website:

https://www.vote.org

 

 

Donate to Vote.org:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/votedotorg2018?refcode=website-top-nav

 

 

Shop Vote.org merch:

https://shop.vote.org

 

 

Like them on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/votedotorg

 

 

Follow Vote.org on Twitter:

@votedotorg

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Smoke Out Your Friends Who Didn’t Vote Last Year, and Cultivate Them
Community Activism · Elections · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Smoke Out Your Friends Who Didn’t Vote Last Year, and Cultivate Them

otycd

This OTYCD entry originally posted in April 2017, but with the mid-terms approaching and the stakes rising, we are reposting past posts that discuss key things you can do to push back against Trump.

 

Start a slow, quiet campaign to identify your friends who didn’t vote for president last November, and cultivate them with an eye toward getting them to the polls in 2018 and 2020.

 

One of the more shocking facts from the 2016 election was how few people voted. According to numbers from the United States Election Project, 59.3 percent of eligible voters turned out and cast a ballot for the president. (60 percent showed up and voted for something; the 0.7 percent gap represents people who voted but did not vote for president.)

 

That’s stupid-crazy low for an advanced democracy like America’s. Pitiable, in fact. Yet it’s actually a better turnout than 2012, which tallied 58.6 percent of eligible voters, and it might be the best electoral turnout recorded between 1972 and 2000.

 

Voter turnout needs to improve. Two out of five eligible voters stayed home. If more of those abstainers had come out, we might not be in the mess we’re in today. If you’re mad at Clinton’s narrow loss to Trump, don’t vent your rage on people who voted for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson–at least they went to the polls. Point your ire at the 40 percent of voters who never made it.

 

Ok, we’re joking about that–don’t actually get mad at them. At least some wanted to cast a ballot, but could not. That said, we’re on watch for articles that explain why people who can vote don’t vote, and why they say they chose to stay home in 2016. When we find them, we’ll post about them.

 

Here’s what we know right now. According to 538, voters who stayed home in 2016 probably cost Clinton the election:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/registered-voters-who-stayed-home-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/

 

In particular, turnout was low among young people (aged 18-29) and non-whites.

 

The silver lining to this? We know that Democratic-leaning and left-leaning people were less likely to go to the polls. You, personally, can help fix that.

 

Think about your friends. Do you know who among them did not vote? The math says that you probably have at least some non-voters in your midst. Maybe more than 60 percent of your friends voted, but not all of them.

 

If you know which of your friends did not vote, look for opportunities to discuss it with them. Don’t do this in a punitive way! Simply ask if they voted, and if they say no, ask why. Keep your tone of voice neutral.

 

If it’s something as simple as not being registered, or not having a ride to the polls, do what you can to remove those obstacles. The web site below will tell your friend if they’re registered to vote in their state:

http://www.canivote.org

 

If they are not registered, do what you can to help them register. If they would have voted if they had had transportation to the polls, make plans for 2018–see if you can give them a ride personally, or arrange for a cab.

 

If they had other reasons for not voting–they don’t think their vote matters, they didn’t like the candidates, they don’t trust the system, etc.–just keep talking to them. Don’t always talk politics–see to it that about 80 percent of the time, you talk about something else. And when you do talk politics, only occasionally talk about voting.

 

Build and strengthen your relationship with your non-voting friends with an eye on the coming 2018 race, and with the hopes of enticing those people to come with you to vote in the midterms.

 

 

See the full 2016 election numbers, compiled by the United States Election Project. It includes grand totals and state-by-state breakdowns:

http://www.electproject.org/2016g

 

 

Bookmark this page from the ElectProject site, which lists links to the boards of elections for all 50 states and the District of Columbia (scroll down a bit):

http://www.electproject.org/useful-election-links

 

 

See a 2012 piece on 538 that gives numbers on the 2012 turnout:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/no-voter-turnout-wasnt-way-down-from-2012/

 

 

Follow professor Michael P McDonald, the polysci guy behind the United States Election Project, on Twitter:

@ElectProject

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

Smoke Out Your Friends Who Didn’t Vote Last Year, and Cultivate Them
Community Activism · Elections · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Smoke Out Your Friends Who Didn’t Vote Last Year, and Cultivate Them

otycd4 Comments

This OTYCD entry originally posted in April 2017.

Start a slow, quiet campaign to identify your friends who didn’t vote for president last November, and cultivate them with an eye toward getting them to the polls in 2018 and 2020.

One of the more shocking facts from the 2016 election was how few people voted. According to numbers from the United States Election Project, 59.3 percent of eligible voters turned out and cast a ballot for the president. (60 percent showed up and voted for something; the 0.7 percent gap represents people who voted but did not vote for president.)

That’s stupid-crazy low for an advanced democracy like America’s. Pitiable, in fact. Yet it’s actually a better turnout than 2012, which tallied 58.6 percent of eligible voters, and it might be the best electoral turnout recorded between 1972 and 2000.

Voter turnout needs to improve. Two out of five eligible voters stayed home. If more of those abstainers had come out, we might not be in the mess we’re in today. If you’re mad at Clinton’s narrow loss to Trump, don’t vent your rage on people who voted for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson–at least they went to the polls. Point your ire at the 40 percent of voters who never made it.

Ok, we’re joking about that–don’t actually get mad at them. At least some wanted to cast a ballot, but could not. That said, we’re on watch for articles that explain why people who can vote don’t vote, and why they say they chose to stay home in 2016. When we find them, we’ll post about them.

Here’s what we know right now. According to 538, voters who stayed home in 2016 probably cost Clinton the election:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/registered-voters-who-stayed-home-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/

In particular, turnout was low among young people (aged 18-29) and non-whites.

The silver lining to this? We know that Democratic-leaning and left-leaning people were less likely to go to the polls. You, personally, can help fix that.

Think about your friends. Do you know who among them did not vote? The math says that you probably have at least some non-voters in your midst. Maybe more than 60 percent of your friends voted, but not all of them.

If you know which of your friends did not vote, look for opportunities to discuss it with them. Don’t do this in a punitive way! Simply ask if they voted, and if they say no, ask why. Keep your tone of voice neutral.

If it’s something as simple as not being registered, or not having a ride to the polls, do what you can to remove those obstacles. The web site below will tell your friend if they’re registered to vote in their state:

http://www.canivote.org

If they are not registered, do what you can to help them register. If they would have voted if they had had transportation to the polls, make plans for 2018–see if you can give them a ride personally, or arrange for a cab.

If they had other reasons for not voting–they don’t think their vote matters, they didn’t like the candidates, they don’t trust the system, etc.–just keep talking to them. Don’t always talk politics–see to it that about 80 percent of the time, you talk about something else. And when you do talk politics, only occasionally talk about voting.

Build and strengthen your relationship with your non-voting friends with an eye on the coming 2018 race, and with the hopes of enticing those people to come with you to vote in the midterms.

 

See the full 2016 election numbers, compiled by the United States Election Project. It includes grand totals and state-by-state breakdowns:

http://www.electproject.org/2016g

 

Bookmark this page from the ElectProject site, which lists links to the boards of elections for all 50 states and the District of Columbia (scroll down a bit):

http://www.electproject.org/useful-election-links

 

See a 2012 piece on 538 that gives numbers on the 2012 turnout:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/no-voter-turnout-wasnt-way-down-from-2012/

 

Follow professor Michael P McDonald, the polysci guy behind the United States Election Project, on Twitter:

@ElectProject