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Temple Beth El Blog

Getting Out the Vote This Fall

10/14/2022 01:15:26 PM

Oct14

Important things to know about this election:

  • Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. 
  • You can register to vote at the polls on the day of the election. Check with your local clerk about early registration opportunities.
  • The last day to order an absentee ballot is November 3, but don’t wait that long—ideally your ballot should be mailed back to the clerk at least one week before the election to be sure it arrives in time. Drop boxes will not be available for this election.
  • Offices on the ballot include Governor, Attorney General, US Senate, US House, State Assembly, and Sheriff. In Dane County, there are also referenda on marijuana legalization and repeal of the 1849 abortion statute.
  • You can find comprehensive election information on the state MyVote website, including how to register, absentee voting, photo ID, your polling place, and what’s on your ballot. 

More information and assistance are available through the League of Women Voters of Dane County.

The TBE Civic Engagement Action Team has been working hard throughout the summer and fall to make sure voters are registered and ready to vote. There is still time to help if you’d like to get involved in nonpartisan voter support.

On July 10, six TBE volunteers had a great time helping canvass a south Madison neighborhood before the August primary, joining 30 volunteers from eight congregations to provide nonpartisan information about the August primary. This program was a collaboration between the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign and the League of Women Voters. We joined in again on September 29 and October 9 to reach another neighborhood in northeast Madison. The League of Women Voters of Dane County identified the neighborhoods based on low voter turnout, where going door to door can be especially helpful, and provided training and maps of the assigned routes. 

In various studies, researchers find that contact with volunteers can increase voter turnout by up to 9 percentage points. Unlike a conversation on a social media platform, face-to-face interaction is personal, and two people having a respectful conversation on a doorstep are more likely to find common ground. Our participants enjoyed meeting each other, chatting with their Dane County neighbors, and most importantly taking steps to strengthen our democracy.

On August 15, 19 TBE members gathered at Temple and on Zoom to write postcards to voters in low-turnout areas of Virginia, providing information and encouraging them to vote. We did this as part of the “Every Voice, Every Vote” campaign of the Union for Reform Judaism. This campaign was part of a national effort to strengthen our democracy by encouraging and protecting voter participation, grounded in our Jewish values and commitment to racial justice. We wrote a total of 1,090 postcards!

At UW registration in September, multiple TBE volunteers helped staff a voter registration station at Union South. Campus voter registration is a regular program of the League of Women Voters of Dane County and BadgersVote, a campus organization. We also provided voter registration and information at an open house at Hillel on September 18, together with the League and the Dayenu Circle of Madison, a Jewish climate action group.

There are still some opportunities to help, before and even after the election on November 8. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is recruiting people who want to serve as nonpartisan election observers and people who would like to work with voters who cast provisional ballots to make sure they submit their photo ID by the end of the week.

  • Election Observers: The League will provide online training, assign volunteers their polling place(s) to observe, and provide volunteers with a reporting form to record their observations. They will do their best to assign you to a location near your home. You don’t need to be a League member to volunteer for this important civic action. You can learn more about the Election Observation Program here. 
  • Provisional Voter Outreach Volunteers: The League and its partner VoteRiders are organizing an effort to assist provisional voters to ensure their votes are counted. In Wisconsin a voter can be issued a provisional ballot if they did not have a photo ID to show on Election Day. Provisional voters have until the Friday following the election to “cure” their ballot by showing their municipal clerk a valid photo ID. Volunteers will be trained on the photo ID requirements, how to contact provisional voters, and how to help provisional voters cure their ballots. 

If you have questions about either of these programs, contact League of Women Voters of Wisconsin’s voter education manager, Eileen Newcomer, at enewcomer@lwvwi.org or 608-256-0827. 
 

April 23, 2024 15 Nisan 5784