Make your voting plan today
Thank you to Libby Cohen, Director of Advocacy and Outreach, at (TEV partner) Raise Your Hand Texas for this week’s guest blog post!
I love politics. Well, let me rephrase that–I believe deeply in the necessity and value of the political process to solve big problems and make sure that we all have a fair shot at a decent life. I believe it’s my calling in life to help everyday people find their voice in the political process. So, you might think that come election season, I’m at my polling place bright and early on the first day of early voting, ready to cast my ballot and do my civic duty.
I wish. Even though I consider myself a strongly motivated, reasonably informed voter, it seems that every election I find myself scrambling at the last minute to make sure I actually follow through and vote. What can I say…life is busy! Between jobs, kids, errands, bills, pets — sometimes it can be a challenge for any of us to fit one more thing in, even something that we genuinely care about, like voting.
It turns out that social scientists have a name for this tendency: the intention-to-action gap. It’s what voting has in common with activities like exercising and preparing a will. These actions are broadly considered good to do but aren’t necessarily a part of our daily routine, and doing them takes some forethought. So we end up following through on these activities at lower rates than might be anticipated given their importance.
However, there is good news for all of us who know how much voting matters and want to make sure we get it done in an as-timely and low-stress a manner as possible this year. Going through the simple process of making a plan to vote can make a big difference in ensuring that we get ourselves to the polls. In fact, a notable 2010 study by Notre Dame and Harvard researchers found that the process of vote planning doubled the effectiveness of typical get-out-the-vote reminders with people who stated an intention to vote.
This year, Raise Your Hand Texas is offering a simple vote planning tool that will take you through the steps of finding your polling place and committing to a date and time to vote. Our tool will send you an email copy of your plan to insert into your calendar or print out and stick on your refrigerator. If you’d like an additional reminder to follow through on your plan or even a ride to the polls, we can help with that, too.
After making your plan, check out our new voting resource webpage, RaiseYourHandTexas.org/Vote. This new website contains information about our For the Future candidate forums on public education, tools to check your registration status and ballot, and social media frames to show your support for public education and voting. Vote411 and Teach the Vote are also excellent sources of information for more detailed information on candidates’ stances on various issues, including public education.
At Raise Your Hand Texas, we know that public education is on the ballot in every election. We want Texans to have robust conversations about the issues that shape their local schools, and then express their views at the polls. Our tool won’t help you write your will, and I admit exercising three times a week feels like an elusive goal these days. But I do know on October 13th at 8:45 in the morning, I’ll be at the polling location on Rockwood Lane in Austin. Be sure your voice is heard this election season, and make your voting plan today.
Libby Cohen
Director of Advocacy and Outreach
Raise Your Hand Texas
*Raise Your Hand Texas is one of 28 partners in the Texas Educators Vote coalition.