An Initiative To Create A Culture Of Voting
Our nation has an unprecedented opportunity to heighten the level of public discourse and newly engage millions of Americans in the democratic process. This opportunity has been fueled by dissatisfaction with America’s political standing and is coupled with a broadly appealing field of presidential candidates. Across the nation, we have seen record turnouts for the Democratic and Republican Primary Elections. Yet, we would be foolish to believe that this level of interest will sustain itself without substantial effort. It is incumbent upon us to seize this opportunity to establish a lasting Culture of Voting lest we fall into the same political apathy that has led to our current discontent.
Town Business Network (TBN) – a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization – intends to establish a long-lasting Culture of Voting in the East Bay. Despite the tremendous attention being given to the current presidential race, nearly 30% of eligible voters in Alameda County remain unregistered. Only 57% of registered Alameda County voters participated in the Primary Election on February 5. Our community ought to attain a higher level of civic involvement. Through the Wake Yo’ Game Up! Initiative, TBN will engage Alameda County residents to achieve the following goals:
- An 85% voter registration rate in Alameda County by the October 20, 2008 registration deadline for the General Election. This corresponds to a net gain of 125,000 newly registered voters.
- 90% voter participation in Alameda County for the November General Election.
To these ends, TBN will carry out the following activities:
- A grass-roots get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaign, including community and online networking, general canvassing, and participation in existing community events;
- Creation of an interactive voter registration website;
- Targeted GOTV events, such as Vote Fa’ Sheezy – a TBN event that registered 2,000 new voters over the course of 3 hours;
- Production of a non-partisan voter awareness album, featuring popular local musicians;
- Production of a KQED-sponsored panel discussion of historic and contemporary issues surrounding voter participation in minority communities;
- Voter registration assemblies for high-school students;
- Voter registration events at Alameda County colleges and universities; and
- General marketing, including billboards, direct mailings, and radio/television advertisements.
It is our objective to make Voting Culture synonymous with American Culture. We recognize the difficulty of reaching our goals, but we also recognize that great change is seldom accomplished without great ambition. The East Bay can and should be a national model for ongoing civic action. With your support, we can change the face of politics and engage a new generation in American discourse. This may be the last chance in our lifetimes to evoke such a change.