How Do You Help a First Time Voter?

JOYCE VANCE JUL 25

This week in the newsletter, we’ve been talking about the real reasons people, especially younger voters, don’t vote. It reminded me of a story a young activist in Texas told me while I was doing some research earlier this year.

Her name is Jayla Allen, and she went to Prairie View A&M, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the nation. Prairie View is in Waller County, Texas, where the political leadership is predominately white. Students and other Black citizens in the county have experienced extreme voter suppression efforts. Jayla followed in the footsteps of her parents and her grandfather when she went off to Prairie View. Part of what she learned in college was how to be a voting rights activist in a place where Black people have often had to struggle just to exercise their right to vote.

The insight Jayla shared from her experience was that it was often local elections, not the national ones, that influenced younger people to become active. With local races, they could see how they could exert influence over the issues that matter in their daily lives, like local taxes or parking ticket collection policies. She said the lightbulb moment happened when they saw that because they had greater access to mayors and sheriffs than to a president or senator, their votes really meant something. “It's mind-blowing,” she told me. “It shows you the power you have."

Then she told me her story. A mom reached out to her on Facebook, saying that her daughter was a new student at Prairie View and newly eligible to vote. She asked Jayla to help her register and take her to the polls. Jayla did. She walked the young woman through the entire process, making what would have otherwise been a little intimidating easy. She told me it was an honor she would never forget. “That's why I'll always do the work,” she said.

I love this idea so much that I want to adopt it, and I hope you will too. Find a new voter—young or old—and help them register and vote. It would be an honor.

How do we match up people who want to vote and people who want to help? I’m not quite sure yet. Maybe it’s word of mouth. Maybe it’s using #HelpingVoters on social media, which could also be useful if people need a ride or help getting a required form of identification (if you know someone who needs ID, my good friends at VOTERIDERS will help). If you have ideas about how to do this or a better hashtag, please drop a comment. This is a plan in the making and something we can do to help.

Some people have the good fortune to grow up in civically engaged homes. Voting comes automatically for them. For people who haven't been raised in a home like that, or who would benefit from support for any reason, don't be afraid to hold their hands and help them vote.

We’re in this together,

Joyce