Step up and speak out on the issues you care about through your vote!

This fall, you have an opportunity to contribute to conversations about the direction of your local communities as well as the country by voting for not only candidates but also important ballot initiatives. Our goal is to help make sure you have everything you need to make and execute your plan to vote from getting registered to deciding if you’ll vote by mail or travel to your assigned polling location to researching your ballot.

Line Up Your Plans for Voting!

It can be easy to feel cynical about voting—to ask if one vote really matters or think it isn’t worth voting when your positions aren’t completely represented by choices available. But the reality is there are distinct choices on your ballot. For example, this year in New York State, you can vote on whether or not to significantly expand who receives protection under the state’s Bill of Rights.

Here is how the New York State Elections website describes Prop 1:

"This proposal amends Article 1, Section 11 of the New York State Constitution. It prohibits any person, business, or organization, as well as state and local governments from discrimination pursuant to law. The current protections in the Constitution cover race, color, creed, and religion.

The proposal will add ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy."

Whether you vote yes or no on this proposition, it is clearly an opportunity to register your position on if the protections offered by the State Bill of Rights should be expanded.

And, while a candidate might not exactly share your views, the choices for each office usually articulate different policy positions and ideas about the best ways to govern America with one likely moving us closer to your ideal society and one further away. The person who is closer to your position might well be persuadable through advocacy campaigns, political protests, and other political actions that would otherwise be ignored.