When election polling numbers hit the news every morning, some of us worry about voters who are not engaged and so aren’t represented in those numbers. For me, it’s more than worrying over whether they will vote, it’s why they may not vote that’s troublesome. Nevada is a very transient state, with many people moving in every month, meaning more voters are added to the rolls each election cycle. These voters aren’t local eighteen-year-olds, so Nevada civics knowledge isn’t imprinted in their minds. The issue isn’t their newly arrived status, instead it’s that civics knowledge does not neatly transfer over state lines. The U.S. Constitution gives states the power to run elections differently and to manage governance uniquely, so the only way to address this gap is to invest in public civics education.
Kudos to Nevada for making voter registration immensely easy, but where exactly are new voters supposed to find reliable and complete information about Nevada’s election rules and elected offices? Do you know where to find reliable information on our judicial races? How about the school board trustees? And how do you find out if a candidate is from your district and will represent you? Newcomers need to know that our local reporters and news organizations post voter guides and candidate profiles. I worry a lot about the nonpartisan down-ballot races being ignored, so it’s very helpful that Nevada Current focuses on those races. If you’re asking yourself, “What’s a nonpartisan race?” be sure to check Nevada Current regularly to answer those types of questions.
I started my nonprofit for voter education and civic engagement, Vote Nevada, a few years ago. Community members who feel civically lost and in need can contact me for help to become confident Nevada voters. As an educator, I also know that frustrated people often give up rather than struggle to find answers and information. So, if we want all eligible voters to be registered and engaged, we need a concrete plan to reduce voter frustration.
Why is this suddenly an urgent need? We have a dire dilemma for a good reason: many more new voters. In 2019, Nevada began registering voters automatically at the DMV. So, when a person applies for a driver’s license or identification card, they can automatically register, too. When the law passed, we worried about how to assign party affiliation but didn’t worry enough about preparing newly registered voters to vote. It was assumed someone else would handle that part of the process. But who? A blue postcard arrives in these voters’ mailboxes, informing them of their new voting status. Yet, nothing arrives to answer questions about voting until the Sample Ballot shows up late in the election cycle. The Sample Ballot, however, is limited.
As a College of Southern Nevada professor, many of my classes are online, so I learned years ago that despite assumptions about younger students being digital natives, every student needed instruction on how to navigate an online class successfully. In all my classes, therefore, the first thing my students see is: Welcome! Here’s what you need to do to be a successful student. If you have questions, please ask.
Every new voter needs the same message: Welcome! Here’s what you need to do to be a successful voter. If you have questions, here’s where you can ask.
Voters would benefit from a centralized repository of election and governing information, which would relieve some of the burden on our election officials. Electronic information on voting preparation can also be easily broken down into social media content. Some information will define what elected officials do, while other material will point voters to reliable election and voter resources with up-to-date information on processes and races. Be sure to bookmark this news space.
I am not a person who sees a problem, points to a solution, and then waits for someone else to act. I am acting now. I hope elected leaders focus on public civics education legislatively, but until then, I am ready to do my part. Through Vote Nevada, I am working with students and community volunteers to break down our election processes and governing systems into bite-sized videos. All social media platforms accept ADA-compliant videos, so we will start there.
The first item up is the mail-in voting process. Currently, we throw out thousands of mail-in ballots every election due to signature issues. This is unacceptable, but it keeps happening, so we must help address it. The fix is pretty easy, but the information needs to circulate widely to every mail-in voter; time is of the essence. After posting these videos, we will need help spreading the good word. If you have just a few minutes, please subscribe to the Vote Nevada YouTube channel to help share our efforts.
If you are interested in creating public civics education videos to help develop confident voters, please email [email protected].
