Anticipating Voting Season
Another election season is nearly upon us. Most people tend to associate elections with casting a vote. But there’s far more that goes into being an informed voter, and an engaged citizen.
The first step in becoming an educated voter is finding reliable sources of information about candidates, issues, and ballot questions.
Common Ground Committee Voting Resources
We have created a portal that will help you vote in the upcoming election. You can even download our handy, Help Me Vote guide to get started.
We have also created an easy-to-use Scorecard to compare candidates in your region (searchable by zip code or official name). In addition to learning about the candidate’s background, officials are given a “score” that corresponds to their track record of nonpartisan decision-making and compromise.
Partner Voting Resources
There are also a number of other organizations that provide voters with neutral and nonpartisan insights into their ballots, with unbiased sources of information. Many are united under the umbrella of the unifying group, the Bridge Alliance.
One example is Ballotpedia, a digital encyclopedia of American politics, elections, and policy. It provides curated content on all levels of U.S. politics that is relevant, reliable, and available for all.
Within the Bridge Alliance is a page dedicated to the breakdown of different member categories — focused on topics ranging from think tanks and youth empowerment to fact-checking and corruption. Its page focused upon election integrity is particularly timely as we come up on midterm elections, spotlighting members making progress in opening up our electoral systems and reducing the influence of the political parties.
Similarly, Citizen Connect is a non-partisan platform dedicated to helping Americans heal political divides and strengthen democracy through finding civic organizations and events—based on civility, fairness, and fact-based reason. Its events are both virtual and in-person, held through a variety of outlets and partners. Citizen Connect has also created a helpful voting portal.
How to Volunteer to be a Poll Worker
When it comes to the smooth running of elections, workers and volunteers are essential to ensuring that elections function efficiently and accurately. Each election requires the work of millions of Americans to uphold this process, the handling of ballots that are the tangible core of democracy.
This is more critical than ever, with multiple states reporting a shortage of poll workers. As the pandemic wanes but is still with us – as are ongoing concerns about political violence — America continues to face a critical shortfall of workers. Some 130,000 poll workers have stopped serving over the past three midterm elections, according to the group Vet the Vote. The organization offers volunteers a link to sign up, with a focus on ushering in the participation of veterans. Sign up opportunities are also available through the portal with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
While November may seem far off, it is around the corner. Check out these resources to help you have a voting plan and make the election run smoothly.
