Let’s talk about this election.
This won’t be a column heavy on politics – although I am hugely active as a volunteer with FLIP NC and hope to help bring a blue wave to our state this year. Doing something feels a hell of a lot better than doing nothing and, via Zoom, FLIP NC has offered me a sense of community this spring and summer – a chance to interact with friends from far and wide – during a time when I am not seeing much of anyone in person. I always feel better after I spend a couple of hours volunteering with FLIP. If you could use some of those good vibes in your life, check out our upcoming events. Knocking doors and talking with voters face-to-face may not be a possibility this year, but we can still make calls and send texts!
Let’s talk about voting – because I’m that cool person at a party who breaks the ice by asking people if they are registered to vote at their current address. (I think I’m joking, although I haven’t been to a party in quite a while, so who is to say?)
What will you do over the next 74 days to create a culture where voting is celebrated, expected, commonplace? Why aren’t conversations about voting as ubiquitous as those about sports, Netflix, the weather? It’s hard enough to get our national voter turnout numbers up under normal circumstances; now, we’re grappling with a pandemic and an economic crisis. Minds might be elsewhere, but the solutions to our problems are all inextricably linked to this election.
Can you look up friends’ voting records (so easy to do in North Carolina) and reach out to them when you learn that even the most politically outspoken among us are non-voters? North Carolina saw record voter turnout in 2008, when it approached 70 percent. But remember, that was 70 percent of registered voters, not eligible ones. Imagine if we helped register a bunch of friends and neighbors, and then got that number up to 85 percent.
Can you talk to a relative about voting the full ticket, knowing that our day-to-day lives are a lot more affected by who is in power in Raleigh versus Washington? Raleigh decides if we have fair maps (we don’t) and if we will adequately fund our public schools (nope) – not Washington. Plus, don’t forget about the races in your own town and county! Down-ballot drop-off is a significant problem in North Carolina. In the last presidential election, an average of 2,000 voters cast ballots in each competitive district without voting in the NC House race. In 2018, 18 NC House races were decided by less than 2,000 votes, so just making sure voters who are already casting ballots vote the full ticket can make the difference in these critical races – some of them will come down to a few hundred votes!
Can you take to social media to encourage everyone to request their absentee ballot now? Tell them that they don’t have to use it. They can think of it as a backup plan and still vote in person if that’s what they prefer. Can you let your social media contacts know that they can reach out to you with any questions about their voting options in this unconventional year? Can you sign up for a volunteer shift – or five! – to talk to strangers about voting? People need help registering, understanding how early voting works, securing a copy of their sample ballot. If time isn’t something you can offer, what about money? Even $5 goes a long way toward reaching voters in this battleground state. Give to a candidate or organization that resonates with you.
Can you foster a sense of calm, knowing that the run-up to this election will be tense, action-packed, and worrisome, to say the least? An email that recently circulated from the League of Women Voters of North Carolina advised: “Panic leads to decreased voter confidence, which is a form of voter suppression. Don’t support efforts to lower voter turnout.”
There’s plenty in our politics to be cynical about. Cynicism is easy. I choose hope put into action. No matter the outcome, I plan on waking up Nov. 4 knowing that I did everything I could to make a difference – to achieve the desired outcome and to give this state and this country the future I want to see. What will you do?
As Rep. John Lewis wrote in his posthumous New York Times editorial, “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” You have 74 days to get in good trouble.
A Primer for Voting in North Carolina This Year
- Here’s information on requesting the absentee ballot now. Remember, you will only receive an absentee ballot if you request one. The sooner you do that, the better –because more and more people will be making this request as the election draws near. Absentee ballots will be sent to voters who request them starting Sept. 4. You can mail it back or hand deliver it to your county board of elections. (You can also hand deliver ballots on behalf of “near relatives” – a spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling, a grandparent, etc.) Hard to believe, but people will be casting votes in North Carolina in a couple of weeks! Reminder: You can decide later to vote in person. Just simply destroy your absentee ballot, if that is the case, after you go to the polls and safely cast your ballot.
- If you want to vote in person, early voting – which runs from Oct. 15 to 31 across the state – is highly recommended. Don’t risk standing in a huge line on election day. Plus, during early voting, you can choose any polling place in your county, whereas on Nov. 3 you will have to show up at your assigned polling place. Another benefit? You can register to vote on site during early voting or update your voter registration – something you can’t do on election day.
- Make a voting plan now so you can vote when you are ready, after you have researched all the candidates on your ballot. And help others do the same. Prepare, but don’t panic.
After a decade as an editor with various NC magazines, Andrea Cash launched her own creative services company, Andrea Cash Creative, in 2017. She helps small businesses and organizations in Durham and Chapel Hill with content strategy and creation, branding, PR, social media, and video and event production.
Andrea is passionate about community building, doing work that benefits the greater good and helping entrepreneurs grow their business in a purposeful way. Outside of work, Andrea sings in her cover band Penny’s Bend, plays tennis as often as she can, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and Book Harvest, and runs communications for grassroots progressive group FLIP NC.
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