Creative Civic Engagement During the Pandemic
The following was first published in PennFuture’s blog.
The 2020 election is just about a few weeks away. Many voters are highly engaged as the stakes are so high for the values we each hold personally dear for our families, our communities, state, and country.
As an advocacy organization active with state and federal policy, in legislatures, and the courts, PennFuture views participation in voting as strategic to the environmental outcomes we work toward. So we moved intentionally into democracy work to ensure that this aspect of our democracy is optimized.
We want everyone who is eligible to vote to be registered to vote, and we work to be sure that those who are registered to vote are able to do so safely, free of intimidation, and in as informed a way as possible.
PennFuture's Democracy for All program focuses on non-partisan voter registration, voter education, voter engagement, and get-out-the vote work. It is aimed at individuals of color, millennials, and single women, a group of voters sometimes referred to as the New American Majority or Rising American Electorate.
Last summer, when we were planning our non-partisan voter registration program, we envisioned a tried and true model that would deploy canvassers into the field, armed with iPads or tablets, and electronically register eligible individuals in person. COVID-19 upended that model as our need to provide for the safety of our staff and contractors became a paramount consideration.
We held out hope until the last possible minute to run an in-person program but the persistence of the pandemic and contagion of the virus made it too difficult.
Our team needed to get creative and pivot our tactics. Despite all of these restrictions and limitations, we are still out in Pennsylvania communities registering people to vote in the most important election in recent memory.
Some highlights:
In July, PennFuture and our partners installed an art piece entitled Inscribete a Votar in Allentown;
Democracy for All kicked off National Voter Registration Day on September 22 with a Voter Registration Couch Party hosted by Yellopain. The program just wrapped up this week of voter action with a daily suite of highly visual and art-oriented engagement tools with our partner Democracy for All programs throughout the country; and
The team recently formed a voter registration caravan that made its way through the Wyoming Valley, the Poconos and Lehigh Valley on a rainy Saturday. Attached to the vehicles were magnetic signs featuring bar codes that a viewer can aim her/his/its smart phone at and be directed to a voter registration website. The caravan ended in Allentown where it drove by a rally and march for Breonna Taylor.
The team is also deploying texting and calling to promote voter registration. October 19, 2020 is the last day to register to vote in the November 3, 2020 elections. After that date the Democracy for All program will pivot to get-out-the-vote efforts.
Please consider learning more about this important program, and be sure to follow us on social media!
PennFuture is dedicated to fighting for clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment, and our Democracy for All program is equally dedicated to ensuring that disenfranchised communities in Pennsylvania make their voices heard by voting in all elections.
We are reminded of the words of the Honorable John Lewis, "Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it."
There's no better way to change the present and forge a better future than by voting. Here's to hoping everyone who is eligible registers to vote, and there's no better time to register than right now.
Jacquelyn Bonomo is the President and CEO of PennFuture