Voterization

Voterization 2008
"We believe that housing for all people is a priority. Our vote is our voice. We will not be silenced."
Voterization logo

Voterization 2008, a project of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, is an effort to engage traditionally underrepresented people in the civic process. By working with nonprofit housing organizations across the country, we seek to encourage greater numbers of low income and homeless people to vote in elections to come.

It's more than setting voter registration forms on the front desk. Our Voterization plan takes you through all of the steps you need to implement a campaign to integrate registration, education, mobilization, and voter protection without overtaxing your staff or resources, while staying within legal guidelines for nonprofits. Start by printing out the plan, and then use other resources here to determine your next steps.

Our Voterization plan presents a menu of activities for your group to consider. Your organization may or may not be able to undertake a majority of the suggested activities; plan according to available resources. If this is your first voter engagement project, remember to think long-term. It's usually best to start small and build your project over several election cycles.

In 2004, more than 550 affordable housing groups across the country registered and mobilized thousands of underrepresented people. In 2008-2009, advocates are set to build on these efforts.

For assistance with your 2008 Voterization project at any point, please contact outreach@nlihc.org or 202-662-1530. Thank you for joining us!

PREPARING YOUR PROJECT

IMPLEMENTING YOUR PROJECT

CAPITALIZING ON YOUR PROJECT

 

RESOURCES


WHY IS VOTERIZATION IMPORTANT?

Raising housing on the national agenda will happen only when candidates for elected office understand that the issue of affordable housing is important to voters. At the same time, it is vital that low income voters understand how the decisions made by federal elected officials directly affect their lives, and know how to register to vote and how to get to the polls on Election Day.

However, census data confirms that low income voters are registered and vote at lower rates than higher-income citizens. While 82% of people with incomes of over $75,000 were registered to vote in 2000 and 75% of those registered actually voted, just 59% of people with incomes between $10,000 and $14,999 were registered, and only 44% of those registered actually voted.

Low income people face several challenges to voting: less-flexible jobs that may not allow time off for voting, transportation impediments that may make getting to the polls more difficult, and a greater likelihood of misinformation about their rights as voters that may make people shy away from voting. People experiencing homelessness, ex-felons, and survivors of the 2005 hurricanes may face especially tough barriers to voting.

Nonprofit organizations, which benefit from close ties with their clients, are a natural fit in helping people overcome these challenges. By providing our member organizations and other allies around the country with the information and materials they need to engage the people they work with in the voting process, we hope to more fully engage low income people in the civic process and raise affordable housing as a vital issue for Members of Congress and other elected officials.

Nonprofits that have implemented Voterization projects have identified several benefits of doing so. Voterization campaigns can help to:

  • Engage residents in civic participation and learn how decisions of elected officials affect their lives
  • Develop residents' leadership skills
  • Educate elected officials on low income housing issues and on how their decisions affect residents
  • Build power with elected officials
  • Assist residents in meeting community service requirements, if applicable
  • Earn positive press for your program or project.

 

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Nonprofit organizations can--and should engage--in nonpartisan election-related activity, including voter registration, education, and mobilization. The basic rule is that 501(c)(3) organizations cannot in any way support or oppose particular candidates. For detailed legal guidance, you may want to consult:

The Center for Nonprofits and Voting
Specifically, read their comprehensive legal guide on what nonprofits can and cannot do: Nonprofits, Voting & Elections.

The Alliance for Justice
AFJ offers monthly web-based training sessions titled, ‘Election Rules for Nonprofits Web Workshop.' Find the next scheduled workshop at www.afj.org/take-action/workshops-and-events/. AFJ also has a one-pager available for review: Permissible Election Activities for 501c3 Nonprofits.

The IRS
The IRS has published Election Year Activities and the Prohibition on Political Campaign Intervention for Section 501(c)(3) Organizations.

HUD
Housing authorities are often under the impression that they are not able to register residents to vote. That is not the case; in fact, in 1996, HUD issued a specific notice encouraging housing authorities to become involved in voter registration activities: HUD notice.

Organizations that have specific legal questions related to their Voterization projects after consulting the above resources are encouraged to contact an attorney who specializes in Election law.

BEFORE YOU START

Before your organization begins to register voters, you'll want to prepare in several ways:

1. Set Goals
Setting goals for both registration and mobilization can be an important part of your plan. The staff and volunteers involved in the project will have something to work towards, and you'll have a way to evaluate your project after the election. The plan provides a framework for setting these goals.

2. Get to Know Your Local Board of Elections
Your local board of elections can be a wealth of information as you plan to register clients to vote. You'll want to check in with them to learn the registration deadline for the general election in your state; ask whether anyone can register voters in your state, or whether a person must first become deputized or meet other requirements; request the voter rolls for your community (so you'll know who in your target audience is already registered); and request enough voter registration forms to meet your registration goals.

If you cannot find your local board of elections, try this State Election Office Contact List.

3. Offer Registration Trainings
Residents and staff who plan to register voters will often benefit from a training from someone who is familiar with the process. You may want to bring in someone from the local board of elections who can explain how your state's voter registration forms are filled out, and what state registration requirements are. It can also help to spend a bit of time role playing so that people who are registering voters are not discouraged when confronted with apathy.

The Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness has put together a document that can be used to help with such role-playing: Overcoming Excuses .

4. Consider Resources
Whether simple or more involved, all voter engagement projects will involve some level of resources. Once you know what you would like to accomplish, you should consider potential funding sources for your project, and how you might work with other organizations to maximize resources.

Other organizations may have resources that your organization can access. Student groups may be interested in registering voters as part of a community service project, or a civic group may already be providing rides to the polls, and could include your clients in their plans. Remember to partner only with nonprofit organizations.

Here are links to some national organizations whose resources may be useful:

 

REGISTERING VOTERS

Once you know the voting guidelines for your state, have decided on how you will keep records, and have set registration goals for your agency, you are ready to begin registering voters. As described in the sample plan, there are four ways to go about voter registration.

1. Fit Voter Registration into Your Agency's Regular Contact with Residents
The first option is to incorporate registration into day-to-day activities that are already taking place at your agency. Registration can usually be incorporated with few resources and little hassle into the intake process, training sessions, resident association meetings, and any other meetings of members and clients.

2. Plan Specific Voter Registration Activities
A second way to think about registration at your agency is to plan special registration activities or campaigns. Many organizations have had success holding social or other events at which residents are encouraged to vote. Consider hosting an event for National Homeless and Low Income Voter Registration Week (September 21-27, 2008).

3. Organize a Door-to-Door Campaign
The third, and most effective, way for larger organizations to systematically register clients is through a door-to-door campaign. Resident leaders can volunteer to serve as ‘building captains', ‘floor captains', or 'block captains' and be given responsibility for registering and keeping records of-and then turning out-all of the people in their building, on their floor, their block, etc. Such as system can be a great way to get residents or clients involved while ensuring that staff does not become overwhelmed with additional responsibilities. The key is to have personal and organized contact with potential voters by people they know or trust. Especially in this type of campaign, you will want to use the voter list from your county to see who is already registered.

4. Go into the Larger Community
Finally, you may also want to think about having your volunteers reach out into the larger community to register other low income, homeless, or underrepresented people. For example, register people who are entering the grocery store, waiting at the hair salon, at church functions, etc. And don't forget to make sure everyone on the staff and board is registered!

KEEPING RECORDS

It is crucial to have a plan for how you will keep a record of who you have registered to vote--as well as who is already registered--so that you'll be able to contact these people as part of your mobilization activities. You'll be able to compile a list of which of your residents are already registered from the voter rolls you picked up at your local board of elections.

Collect Information
For new registrants, there are two ways to collect this information. One easy way is to collect voter registration forms from new registrants, then photocopy the forms before mailing them in. (Note: Some states have a specific number of days after which the form was filled out by which it must be turned in to the elections office.) This also allows you to review and catch mistakes before a form is submitted.

On the pledge card, voters will keep the half of the card that reminds them of their pledge to vote on November 4; you'll keep the half with their contact information. Feel free to add your logo or other information to the sample card shown.

For the GOTV postcard, voters fill this out with their return address at the same time they register; you'll then mail it to them the week before the election.

Enter the Information into a Database
Once you have collected voters' information, it's important to enter it into a database so the data can be easily accessed for mobilization purposes. Details and a sample database are here: Keeping Records.

EDUCATING CLIENTS & ELECTED OFFICIALS

There can be as many as three components to the education piece of your plan:

1. Educate clients on voting and their rights as voters
Clients should be informed of where their polling place is, what documentation they will need with them to vote, and their rights if election officials attempt to restrict them from voting. Arranging for local election officials to demonstrate how voting machines work can be helpful in assuaging fears about voting for the first time.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty has information on protecting rights at the polling place. Check out their pocket-sized rights cards. See the Voter Protection section for more information on voting rights.

2. Educate clients on the issues
Nonprofits can best assist clients in becoming versed on the issues by providing opportunities for people to hear the direct views of candidates. Distribution of candidate questionnaires or the hosting of debate watch parties or candidate forums are examples of such opportunities.

This is an area in which you must be especially vigilant about ensuring that your agency follows IRS requirements. Please refer to the guide Nonprofits, Voting & Elections before you send questionnaires to your candidates or invite candidates to speak to clients.

The following sample questionnaire on housing and community development issues has been approved by attorneys versed in election law: Candidate Questionnaire (MS-Word file)

3. Educate candidates
Asking candidates to fill out a questionnaire or inviting them to your agency can be a way to learn more about them while making them aware of your organization and the issues that are important to residents. Candidates also learn what issues are important to voters by reading the letters to the editor page of the newspaper. Consider having clients write letters about issues that are important to them.

MOBILIZING VOTERS

Your mobilization--or Get Out The Vote (GOTV)--plan can be the most important and rewarding piece of your project. Just registering someone is not enough; it has been consistently shown that voters are much more likely to go to the polls if they are contacted on several occasions and reminded to vote by someone they trust. Further, once someone has been mobilized to vote, he or she is more likely to vote in future elections. Considerable attention should be paid to mobilizing the people you have registered.

Aim for at Least Three Contacts with Each Registered Resident
If possible, contact each potential voter three times between the day they register and Election Day: Once a few weeks before the election, once a few days before the election, and once (or more) on Election Day. On Election Day, you may contact voters until they have affirmed that they indeed have voted. For example, if someone tells you at noon that they have not yet voted, call back at 4 pm to see whether they have been able to vote. Use your database of registered residents to make your contacts.

Over the course of your contacts, you should make sure that the voter commits to voting, knows when Election Day is, and knows where their polling place is. Ideally these contacts should be in person (a knock at the door), but phone calls and postcards may also be used. Not everyone will be home when you knock, so NLIHC has GOTV doorhangers available that you can leave on people's doors on Election Day.

The suggested activities on pages 4-5 on the Voterization plan provide ideas for making these contacts. Recruit volunteers--whether staff, residents, or community members--to assist in making these contacts. If you have had building, floor or block captains who have been in regular contact with their voters, they should do this mobilization to the extent possible.

Again, it is personal contact from someone residents know or trust that will make an impact. Recent research shows that door-to-door visits increases voting rates by 10% among those contacted, while phone calls made by volunteers increases turnout by 2.5%. Further, simply providing people with their polling location has been shown to raise turnout rates by nearly 2% (The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management: Winning Young Voters. 2006.)

Consider Early Vote and Absentee Ballots
Early voting (if available in your state) and absentee voting can each facilitate voting by the people your agency serves. Again, your local board of elections can provide information on laws in your state.

Work the Polls
In addition to recruiting volunteers for your Election Day GOTV efforts, you may also want to encourage other residents to sign up with the county as poll workers. This provides an additional (and paid) way for clients to participate in the election process.

Host a Polling Location
Finally, some resident organizations have increased their turnout rates by asking the county to use their location as a polling place. It's much easier to vote when you only need to go to the lobby! This arrangement also offers community members an opportunity to visit your organization.


PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE

Nonprofits can play an important role in making sure that people's rights are protected when they get to the polls. To that end, you may want to ask a local attorney who is versed in voting rights to volunteer with your group. The attorney can help identify potential issues in your community, and also be on call on Election Day to be notified if anyone experiences problems voting.

Other resources include:

The Voter Protection Program
A project of the Advancement Project, the Voter Protection Program has a team of attorneys, on-the-ground Local Voter Protection Advocates, and communications specialists who can provide vital services, including legal analysis, advice, and trainings, to local voter protection coalitions and civic participation groups. For more information click here.

HAVA
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). HAVA has promised significant improvements in the administration of American elections, but it also opens the door to significant threats to voters' rights. Since HAVA was passed into law, every state has undergone substantial changes in its election laws and procedures. The Brennan Center has provided legal and legislative counseling to officials and advocates in many states concerning HAVA implementation. The Center also works in coalition with other organizations seeking to expand access to the franchise and ensure the integrity of elections.

Also check out the Felon Enfranchisement Toolkit by clicking here.

Provisional Ballots
Of special note are provisional ballots. If someone's registration or eligibility is questioned, every attempt should be made to straighten out the problem so that he or she can vote that day. If that is not possible, however, people should be reminded that no one who believes he or she is legally entitled to vote should ever leave the polling place without voting. As a last resort, a voter should fill out a provisional ballot, which will be counted in the weeks after the election if it can be determined that they were indeed eligible to vote. More information on provisional ballots is at www.npaction.org/article/articleview/457/1/274.

CAPITALIZING ON YOUR PROJECT


Plan Your Post-Election Activities
Once Election Day is over, take a few days to rest--you deserve it! Then, it's time to do a few things: Celebrate your accomplishments and honor your volunteers. Evaluate your project and your results and plan what you'll do differently next year.

Set up appointments with elected officials and residents, reinforced with statistics showing the increased voter turnout in your community. And now that residents and staff have been energized by being involved in the election process, talk to them about who might be interested in running for local offices themselves!

Most importantly, consider your Voterization project to be an ongoing project, and continue to make registration, education, and mobilization a part of your agency's day-to-day activities.