How Does Voter Registration Strengthen the Whole Community?
How often have you or someone you know complained about the inequality within our current governmental representation? Did you ever stop to think that one explanation is that people in your district don't vote or aren't registered to vote? With this type of disinterest within your community comes the same indifference from your representatives. I'm sure you've heard the old adage – 'The squeaky wheel gets the grease.' In other words, the most noticeable or loudest communities are the ones that get the attention to make changes happen.
How do you become the 'squeaky wheel'?
You need a community with a high percentage of registered voters and a high voter turnout during elections. When your group is committed to getting involved in what happens to the whole, you will gain the acknowledgment and ear of your representatives. Elected officials understand that involved voters are crucial to their chances of being elected or re-elected.
According to NonprofitVote, there are seven key reasons to do voter registration.
Get the Attention of Candidates
Build Community Clout
Create Community Advocates
Foster Community-Based Leadership
Elect Representatives that Reflect the Diversity of Your Community
Reach Voters - No One Else Can
Create a Community of Life-Long Voters
When a community has high percentages of voter registrations and voter turnout rates, candidates and campaigns are more attentive in the form of candidate appearances, more accessible contacts with the campaign, and campaign support to drive the GOTV (Get Out To Vote) mobilizations.
Candidates are aware that many registered voters tend to be actively engaged, and this active participation in the election process improves the candidates' chances of winning the election. Also, with higher voter turnouts, your community provides your elected officials with a clear picture of your community's needs and aspirations. Officeholders know who turned out to vote, and they pay attention to the needs of these people in the form of increased clout. Increased clout puts you in a better position to bring attention to your community issues.
Increased numbers of voters equal more robust advocacy within the community. Voters volunteer to help campaigns, sign up as poll workers, make phone calls, are more likely to connect with an elected official and stay more involved with local affairs.
When a community is committed to voting and playing an essential role within the realm of local, state, and national government, leaders tend to emerge from within the group. These leaders often step forward as future candidates interested in seeking an office. Community-based leadership leads to the needs of the many being heard and adopted because they know and understand their constituents intimately.
Registering to vote and voting is how a community cohesively alerts its officials to what it would like to accomplish within the community. The district will elect representatives who mirror its interests and diversity. In turn, these elected representatives work to provide their community with the best solutions to meet their needs.
Who knows their community better than the people who live and work there? Being a trusted and respected community member typically gives you access to unreachable community members. Approaching local constituents with their needs foremost during the contact ends with them being more likely to respond positively to your nonpartisan appeals to vote.
More times than not, once someone is registered to vote, they vote. Statistics show that eight out of ten registered voters will turn out to vote in a presidential election. Since voting is habit-forming, we need to get everyone registered to vote. Then, remind them to vote in at least one election. Following these guidelines, you will help turn these newly registered voters into life-long habitual voters.
Next step, run a voter registration campaign.
There are requirements and regulations to be met when running a voter registration campaign. Here is a link to the rules by state – Fair Elections Center Voter Registration Drive Guides. To learn more about how to set up and run an effective voter registration campaign, check out our Voter Registration Guide.
Now that you've registered everyone in your area to vote, please keep track of your registrants' contact information so that you can follow up with encouragement to actually cast their vote. Help to educate them on the voting process – make sure they know where, when, and how to cast their vote. Set up rides and assistance to bring people to the polling locations and be prepared to assist with questions dealing with critical election information.
‘Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.’ - Franklin D. Roosevelt