Will Your Neighborhood Affect Your Right to Vote? And Other Questions About the 2016 Election
Hey, the election is coming up really soon, which means that voting's more important than ever.
It's up to all of us to ensure the integrity of our voting process by getting registered and encouraging everyone who's able to vote. We've also gotta work to block efforts that prevent people from voting when they're eligible. This is about access.
I'm putting my money where my mouth is and supporting efforts to get out the vote. I'm helping out orgs in 15 states across the nation. These are efforts to register voters, get folks out to the polls, and ensure that people have fair access to vote, regardless of political party, gender, ethnicity, or geographical location. This support is our way of protecting the integrity of elections and preventing them from being rigged.
These orgs really have their boots on the ground doing good work around the election:
- Civic Fund
- Ohio Student Association
- Make The Road PA
- New Virginia Majority Ed Fund
- Colorado People's Alliance
- PLAN Education Fund
- Iowa CCI Education Fund
- Granite State Organizing Project
- POWER
- Together Colorado
- Action Nevada
- Indiana CAN
- Michigan Voice
- Silver State Voices
- Blueprint NC
- Wisconsin Voices
- Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment (FIRE)
- New Florida Majority Education Fund
- Florida Immigrant Coalition
- Faith in Florida
- Southern Vision Alliance
- Ohio Organizing Collaborative
- Workers Center for Racial Justice
I got some help identifying and vetting these organizations from my team, as well as from a very knowledgeable friend at the Ford Foundation, and with the help of a new research service for donors called Movement 2016 which identifies the best local grassroots voter engagement groups in various states. It's kinda like DonorsChoose.org for local grassroots voting groups.
Another org that I'm helping out is ProPublica, and their efforts that they're calling Electionland. Electionland, a project to cover voting access and other problems in real time. The issue's pretty urgent this election year, as states have passed laws that could affect citizens’ access to the ballot box. To track voting in 2016, ProPublica's working with a coalition of newsrooms and tech companies with disparate skills and audiences. They include:
- The Google News Lab, which is providing tech assistance as well as financial support.
- The First Draft Coalition, an org that specializes in verifying facts, images, and video that emerge on social media. First Draft will help lead the data verification efforts, including training a team of journalism students.
- The WNYC Data News Team, which is helping plan ProPublica's breaking coverage and coordinating with dozens of public radio stations around the country, including WLRN in Miami, KERA in Dallas, WHYY in Philadelphia, and KPCC in Los Angeles.
- Univision, which will look closely at Hispanic voters who are said to experience a disproportionate share of voting problems.
- The USA TODAY network, whose 92 local markets include some two dozen in areas with a history of problems with long lines.
- The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, whose students and faculty — including from their Social Journalism program — will staff a live newsroom on Election Day, along with students from a dozen other schools. The high-tech CUNY newsroom in midtown Manhattan will be the home of ProPublica's national newsroom on Nov. 8.
ProPublica's gathering information about voting problems from many sources, including social media, Google search trends, and data from Election Protection, a project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
My question is: What can we, as a nation, do to protect our right to vote in the next coupla months? Last year, almost a quarter of eligible Americans weren’t registered to vote. And, when we see 93 million eligible voters staying home, we know something's not right. That’s a big problem. As I've said before, anytime there's upcoming elections (local, state, and national), we've all gotta be aware of our rights.
There are more than 80 million millennials in the US, and they’re becoming the largest and most diverse generation in the history of our country. Seriously—according to an Atlantic article, the under-30 generation’s the most diverse adult demographic in American history. But we need to do better when it comes to equity and access to voting, and that includes all ages and demographics. How are you getting out the vote in your community? It's the least we can do to thank our vets, service members, and their families.
If you haven't already, register to vote here, and make sure to actually get out there and vote. Thanks!
[Photo Credit: Keith Ivey]
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8 年Hi Craig, Great article. I read somewhere that wait times at the polls for predominantly black precincts can be twice as long as minority-black districts. Registration is a first step. Voting early obviates the issues of long lines on election day. Voting early also diminishes the impact of voter intimidation on election day.
Assistant Juggler?? Project Manager Ringmaster?? Office Declutterer?? Budget Friendly Event Planner?? Silly Dog Walker??????? Xeriscape Gardener?????????? Mon the Biff Burritonean ??
8 年As for real people, what can we do? ENGAGE with others without getting into a snit. I have never told anyone that they were "dumb" "stupid" "a bigot" "a racist" or a whole host of things that others might say when they do not agree. People vote for the individuals they vote for a variety of reasons. Accept that. The mission should not be to "turn votes", the mission should be to get people informed and voting. EDUCATE yourself on the players in the area that is important to you - civic, state or federal. Not everyone is engaged at the various levels. If civic government floats your boat become a candidate, help with door-to-door meet and greets, make phone calls or be the person to help set-up/tear-down after an event. Local candidates need support in a variety of ways. The same for state and federal elections. PROTECT everyone's right to their opinions, beliefs, etcetera. Do not pinch candidate's signs all because you do not like their message. Get your candidate's sign and place them on every property you own. Or your car or bike or backpack or clothing or forehead (hmm...perhaps not the forehead). BONE up on the Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. APPLAUD positive debates and good conduct.
Assistant Juggler?? Project Manager Ringmaster?? Office Declutterer?? Budget Friendly Event Planner?? Silly Dog Walker??????? Xeriscape Gardener?????????? Mon the Biff Burritonean ??
8 年#1: Voter ID; if a person needs ID to get a visa or passport, operate a bike or car or truck, join the military or get a job, buy alcohol or cigarettes, open a bank account or get money from a government program why is it not deemed necessary to vote? ID helps keep democracy in play. Plus, virtually every community has a free or low cost method in obtaining ID. In Canada, you need to show your Driver's License or provincial card with current address. Failing that you need two pieces of ID with your current address. No current address? Then you still need two forms of ID and must take an oath. When I explain to people in Canada that those that want Voter ID simply want a form of photo ID or failing that two pieces of ID with current address they really do not understand why it is controversial. #2: Allow States to remove the dead from their rolls. #3: Avoid online/digital votes. Paper trail is good. #4: Citizens should be registered 30 days in advance and not the day of the vote. If my community association expects a member to be paid of one month prior to an Annual General Meeting, why not the same for voting for the President of the USA? #5: Why do we need more people to be registered and/or vote? Is it better to have fewer and better informed citizenry vote or more registered people and less informed citizenry to vote? Is not a non registered or registered person expressing their vote by not voting? I hope that the voting is never made mandatory. I would rather see every citizen take a civics class before that. Part of being free is giving the raspberry to the politicians from time-to-time. Admittedly, I choose to vote even when the candidates are not ideal.