Building the Motivation and Determination to Vote
The Right Question Institute’s nonpartisan “Why Vote?” resources focus on having people discover for themselves the value of voting. You can use these tools to engage with hesitant voters to strengthen their motivation and determination to vote — a critical piece of the puzzle that needs to be in place before more traditional get-out-the-vote activities can be effective.
RQI’s “Why Vote?” Tool is one way to engage people in municipal, local, and state elections, in addition to high-profile national elections.
A wide range of organizations can use these free resources: nonprofits, social service agencies, community organizations, public library systems, schools, church groups, voter engagement organizations, and others.
Organizations can work with new and infrequent voters so they:
- Identify services and government-funded programs that are important to them.
- Draw the connection between those services/programs and decisions elected officials make.
- Name why they would want to vote and have a say in who’s making decisions on their behalf.
- Ask questions about the process of registering and voting.
Our Work in the 2020 Election
In 2020, RQI introduced the “Why Vote?” Tool to staff and volunteers at more than 250 organizations across 38 states, and these organizations used the tool in unique ways to activate and educate voters. In Michigan, the state’s supreme court learning center distributed the tool to educators, school districts, and other organizations across the state. In Miami, a college used the tool as an online resource for students. A voter engagement organization published state-by-state election guides with the “Why Vote?” Tool in places such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Schools, community organizers, libraries, adult education centers, and other groups all used the tool in special ways to reach and engage with the specific populations they serve.
"Why Vote?" Stories
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What People are Saying About the ‘Why Vote?’ Tool?
Take Action
Help make democracy work better. You can play a role in boosting people’s motivation and determination to vote — especially with communities and populations that face greater barriers to ballot access.
If you work or volunteer at a social service agency, school, food bank, library, shelter, health care center, youth program, civic organization, church, or any other place that serves the public, you can use and share our free resources.
If contributing to a healthier, more robust democracy is important to you, you can make a donation to help RQI reach more people with free, nonpartisan tools for voter engagement and education.
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The hundreds of free resources you will find on our network will help you easily move into action to learn a strategy one day and facilitate the very next.
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You’ll also get access to hundreds of free resources that will help you easily move into action to learn a strategy one day and facilitate the very next.