October Webinar: Nonprofits Increase Voting - Findings from 2012

Nonprofits Increase Voting: Findings from 2012
Thursday October 24th, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern

What happens when nonprofits talk to their constituents about voting? To find out, Nonprofit VOTE and its partners enlisted 94 nonprofit service providers to track their voter contacts with 33,741 individuals in seven states during the 2012 election. Afterward, CIRCLE conducted an independent analysis of voter file data to see how turnout among voters contacted by nonprofits compared to other groups. 

Join us as we discuss the impact nonprofits had on voter turnout and the populations nonprofits reached. In addition to the turnout results, we will cover key takeaways from 27 interviews with participating organizations, including the challenges they faced, their successes, and lessons learned. Don't miss out on this opportunity to find out what happens when nonprofits engage their communities around voting and to learn about strategies that worked to incorporate voter engagement into ongoing programs and services.

Featured Presenters: Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg is the Deputy Director of CIRCLE where she oversees their core research projects and produces resources and reports for various audiences, including peer-reviewed articles, reports, and factsheets. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. Isela Gutiérrez-Gunter is the Research Associate and Latino Outreach Coordinator at Democracy North Carolina. She has over a decade of experience at advocacy-oriented nonprofits, including work with the ACLU of Washington State and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. She has a BA in History from Scripps College and a MSW from UNC-Chapel Hill. George Pillsbury is the founder and Executive Director of Nonprofit VOTE.  

Minnesota Voters Can Now Register Online

Yesterday, the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State announced voters can now register to vote (or update their information) online and that military and overseas voters will be able to apply online for an absentee ballot at mnvotes.org.

The Secretary of State's office touted the online registration process as a way to "deliver convenience to voters, reduce errors in voter rosters, and deliver significant cost- and time-savings for local election officials." They estimate the time counties require to process an online application will be one-third to one-half of that needed to process a paper application. This will also minimize inaccurate records that stem from processing handwritten paper forms--like illegible handwriting, incomplete applications, and data entry errors.

For military and overseas voters, the online absentee ballot application will not replace paper applications, but will allow these voters the opportunity to forgo printing, scanning forms, and returning forms by mail, fax or email. In the 2012 general election, there were 10,506 absentee ballots successfully cast by military and overseas Minnesota voters.

Minnesota joins 18 other states that have either passed or implemented online registration. According to projections by the Pew Charitable Trusts at least half of the states will employ online registration by 2016.

In Minnesota, more than 35 municipalities will hold elections on November 5 for various city officers, and 113 school districts will hold elections for school board members and/or have ballot questions. Voters can register online until 5 p.m. on October 15, but it is not required, as voters may still register at their polling place on Election Day.

Secretaries of State Embrace National Voter Registration Day

Not only did the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) declare September National Voter Registration Month, but they once again endorsed National Voter Registration Day (NVRD).

On Tuesday September 24th, more than a dozen secretaries of state participated in the second annual National Voter Registration Day by promoting voter registration, hosting special events, or joining the online conversation.

The 2013-14 NASS president, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, was particularly engaged in National Voter Registration Month and NVRD. He encouraged Tennessee voters to snap photos holding an "I'm registered to vote. Are you?" sign and share them online. Secretary Hargett led by example, posting his picture on Twitter and the GoVoteTN website. 

On National Voter Registration Day, Hargett's Twitter feed was full of these photo retweets (including state election commissioners), facts about voting (like "Voting keeps your status active, but if your address has changed you need to change your address with the election commission."), and links to voting information.

Secretaries of State from Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana. Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas also tweeted about #CelebrateNVRD. They encouraged voters to register, check their registration status, and make updates as necessary. States that allow online registration, like California and Washington, made it easy to "check 'registering to vote' off your to-do list" by directing voters to online registration portals.

In Georgia, the Secretary of State shared information on current voter registration numbers and demographics. Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill launched a high school voter registration contest. In his NVRD press release, the Kansas Secretary of State sought to promote awareness for voter registration requirements, including resources that cover ID and proof of citizenship requirements.

On September 24th, secretaries of state across the country not only affirmed the importance of voting, but also demonstrated their commitment to engaging voters and promoting voter registration. Now, as they say in Louisiana, Let's Geaux Vote!

It's National Voter Registration Day!

Today is National Voter Registration Day! This second annual holiday for democracy will bring together hundreds of organizations across the country as we register our communities to vote. Participate in the celebration by:

• Joining the conversation. Celebrate NVRD by promoting voter registration--send emails to colleagues, tweet with #CelebrateNVRD, and encourage others to spread the word and register. 
• Canvassing your office. Help ensure eligible coworkers are registered and that their information is current. 
• Registering to vote or updating your registration. Have you moved recently? Update your information. 

Whatever you do, use September 24th to help all eligible citizens register and prepare to vote!

Integrating Voter Registration into the Enrollment Process

By Dana Lawrence, Director of Communications and Grassroots Advocacy at the Michigan Primary Care Association. A version of this post appeared on their website.

Last week a group of folks from Michigan Health Centers and other nonprofit organizations came together for a training presented by Michigan Primary Care Association in collaboration with Nonprofit VOTE, Michigan Nonprofit Association, Michigan Voice, and the National Association of Community Health Centers on how to integrate voter registration assistance into the health insurance enrollment process. With just two weeks until open enrollment begins for plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace, enrollment staff are gearing up to provide quality assistance to Health Center patients and other community members.

Asking someone if they would like to register to vote while they are enrolling for health insurance is actually a natural fit. The question of whether an individual would like to register to vote is on the Marketplace application, as well as in Michigan's online application for public assistance programs offered through the Department of Human Services.

"In addition to helping patients apply for health insurance, another service we think is important for Health Centers to provide is helping individuals register to vote or update their voter registration," said Natasha Robinson, Program Specialist, Outreach, Enrollment & Education, Michigan Primary Care Association. "An individual's vote matters to their health care and their Health Center, and assisting them through the voter registration application takes just a few minutes but offers tremendous, lifelong benefits."

By integrating voter registration assistance into the enrollment process, Health Centers will reach individuals who might otherwise not register to vote. When registered to vote, individuals are empowered to make their voices heard, and they realize that their vote can make a difference. Plus, studies show registered voters are more likely to be civically engaged. People who vote have a powerful impact on public policy and government, and influence laws and budgeting.

The nonprofit sector, which includes Health Centers, serves underrepresented and underserved populations with a history of lower voter participation, and wide gaps in who votes undermines democracy and nonprofit missions and goals. A new report recently released by Nonprofit VOTE, Can Nonprofits Increase Voting, demonstrates that nonprofits have the ability to close voter turnout gaps. For example, constituents engaged by nonprofits to register to vote in the 2012 election were markedly more diverse and lower income, yet the voter turnout among those contacted by nonprofits was 74%, six points above the 68% turnout rate for all registered voters.

Long story short, the upcoming implementation of the Affordable Care Act – beginning with the launch of open enrollment on October 1, 2013 – will bring millions of Americans into Health Centers and other social service agencies across the country. This offers Health Centers a unique opportunity to give their clients the option of registering to vote or updating their voter registration if they've moved or had a name change. Many Health Centers and other agencies already offer ongoing nonpartisan voter registration assistance as part of their Medicaid and WIC application and renewal processes to comply with the National Voter Registration Act. Health Centers now have a chance to offer the same voter registration assistance to significantly more people.

Webinar Materials: Voter Registration for Nonprofits

Yesterday's webinar, Ready, Set, Register: Voter Registration for Nonprofits, is now available. Many thanks to Rebecca Gorrell from the Colorado Participation Project for joining us for this discussion.

Watch the presentation on YouTube. If you subscribe to our channel, you'll be notified whenever new content is posted. You can also download the PowerPoint presentation and the audio portion of the presentation, or browse all of our nonpartisan resources on voter registration to learn more.

Don't forget that it's National Voter Registration Month and that Tuesday September 24th is National Voter Registration Day. Visit the NVRD website to find events, view communications samples, and more.

New Report on Turnout Gaps in 2012 Election

We're pleased to announce that our new voter turnout report, Voter Participation Gaps in the 2012 Presidential Election, is now available. It is the latest in our America Goes to the Polls series and is based on the recently released biennial Census survey on voting and registration. The report tracks, analyzes, and explains prominent turnout gaps like:

• Age - 45% of youth (ages 18-29) turned out in 2012, down from 51% in 2008. 
• Household Income - There was a 15 point turnout gap between members of lower income and higher income households in 2012—the smallest it has been in the last four presidential elections. 
• Mobility - There was a 15 point turnout gap between individuals who had resided at their current address for less than a year (61%) and those who had resided at their current address for at least 5 years (76%). This disparity has decreased in recent presidential elections, though it remains around 33% in midterms. 
• Ethnicity - Black turnout (66%) exceeded non-Hispanic white turnout (64%) for the first time. Turnout among Latino and Asian-American voters (48% and 47%, respectively) continues to trail white and black turnout by 16 to 19 points. 

Our report, Can Nonprofits Increase Voting, demonstrates that nonprofits have the ability to close these and other voter turnout gaps. Learn more about voting gaps and then visit the resources section of our website to see how your nonprofit can help close them.

Tomorrow: Voter Registration for Nonprofits

To help your community vote, you must first ensure that they are registered. There's still time to register for tomorrow's webinar:
 
Ready, Set, Register: Voter Registration for Nonprofits
Thursday September 12th, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern

Voter registration is a foundational voter engagement activity. Join us to learn how your nonprofit can integrate voter registration into the work you already do. We'll discuss nonpartisan dos and don'ts, different state requirements, registration tactics, and more. We'll also cover National Voter Registration Day, coming up on September 24th.

Featured Presenter: Rebecca Gorrell is the Deputy Director of the Colorado Participation Project. She has 12 years of nonprofit management, development, and volunteer experience at organizations throughout Colorado. She has also been involved in diverse campaign and electoral efforts in Denver as a poll worker, poll watcher, and canvasser.

Pull Out Those Calendars: Preparing for the 2014 Midterm

Is it too soon to think about next year's national midterm and the election of Congress, one-third of the Senate, two-thirds of state governors, and almost all state legislatures? No, definitely not. Unfortunately, most nonprofits won't even begin considering their November 2014 plans until the end of next summer. In such a small window, there is little time to plan, much less implement effective registration, education, and get-out-the-vote activities.

Why nonprofits should get involved in nonpartisan election activity 
Voting is associated with a host of positive attributes:

• People who register and vote are more likely to talk to their neighbors, meet with local officials, and engage in other civic actions. 
• Studies show that states with higher voting levels have higher levels of self-reported health, lower ex-offender recidivism rates, and even lower unemployment. 

Besides empowering their constituents, higher participation rates help nonprofits further their missions and complement advocacy and public policy work. Because of the populations nonprofits reach, their voter engagement efforts have the potential to significantly contribute to the diversity of the electorate.

Our new report illustrates the impact of personal voter outreach by nonprofit service providers in raising turnout out rates among those least expected to vote and in closing gaps in voter participation across all demographics. By tracking the voters contacted by 94 nonprofits during the 2012 election cycle, we found:

• The clients and constituents engaged by nonprofits were markedly more diverse, lower income, and younger than the general population of registered voters in their states. 
• Voter turnout among those contacted by nonprofits was 74%, six points above the 68% turnout rate for all registered voters–with the largest turnout differences seen among young, Latino, and "low propensity voters" who political campaigns typically miss. 

Voter engagement should be a year-round activity
As our report shows, nonprofits have an important role to play in getting their communities involved in the fundamental democratic act of voting. There are many ways organizations can make voter engagement a year-round activity and then jumpstart or increase activity during a national or local election.

Ensure that ways to get involved in voting are visible year-round at your organization. Talk about voting on your website and in your communications. Place a voter registration link or tool on your website, along with relevant election information and resources from Nonprofit VOTE and Bolder Advocacy.

Make voter engagement part of your organizational mission and culture. Have a conversation with your leadership about voter engagement, why it makes sense for your nonprofit, ideas for implementation, and your plans for 2014. Leadership support can facilitate staff buy-in and help make voter outreach an ongoing priority. It also creates a foundation for including civic engagement in your organization's mission statement.

Celebrate National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday September 24, 2013 to demonstrate your organization's support for voter participation. It could even be the perfect time to test out methods and strategies for registering voters at your organization.

Knowing that nonprofits can have an incredible impact on turnout when they talk to their clients and communities about voting, now is the time to start thinking about how you can help yours successfully register and participate in 2014 and the years to come. Visit Bolder Advocacy's Election page and Nonprofit VOTE's site for resources and materials to get started.

A version of this post appeared on the Bolder Advocacy blog.

Next Week: Voter Registration for Nonprofits

To help your community vote, you must first ensure that they are registered. Learn more about during our next webinar:
 
Ready, Set, Register: Voter Registration for Nonprofits
Thursday September 12th, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern

Voter registration is a foundational voter engagement activity. Join us to learn how your nonprofit can integrate voter registration into the work you already do. We'll discuss nonpartisan dos and don'ts, different state requirements, registration tactics, and more. We'll also cover National Voter Registration Day, coming up on September 24th.

Featured Presenter: Rebecca Gorrell is the Deputy Director of the Colorado Participation Project. She has 12 years of nonprofit management, development, and volunteer experience at organizations throughout Colorado. She has also been involved in diverse campaign and electoral efforts in Denver as a poll worker, poll watcher, and canvasser.