** First we register.
Then we get to work.
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Today is National Voter Registration Day. It's a great day. It's a day to remember that voting is a thing, that outside of North Dakota we have to register to vote, and that it is our responsibility to make sure that everyone in our community is ready to go to the polls. It's a great day.

But it's not the only day that is critical to voting. And voter registration is not where the buck stops.

73% of eligible voters in America are registered to vote. It's a great sign of how hard public and private organizations have worked to register voters across the country. So when we are looking at the people who are not registered, who are they?

Well, teens turning 18 of course. They're a big part of the unregistered numbers and that's why there are so many great orgs targeting youth. After them, the folks who aren't registered largely look like the people we serve here at Spread The Vote- low or no income, unhoused, returning citizens. People who are generally ignored by the electoral process. People who are frequently ID-less. People for whom voter registration is just one small barrier in a long field of challenges that stand between them and the voting booth.

When we look at voting in America, the largest demographic of people are those who are registered to vote, but do not. People who have taken that first critical step, but not followed through. Why don't they go ahead to actually vote? Look at the barriers. The vast majority of states have voter ID laws but 200,000 registered voters in Wisconsin don't have the ID they need to vote and that is a common story across the country. But it's not just IDs. Getting transportation to the polls is a barrier for many. Getting time off for work can be difficult if not impossible. Childcare, language barriers, and disability discrimination all keep people from the polls. Not to mention the many people on all levels of the socioeconomic spectrum who just do not understand what all of the ballot measures mean and who all of the judges are and all of the other incredibly confusing things we see on the ballots and are supposed to be experts in.

And let's look at socioeconomics. Financial status and voter turnout rate are directly proportional. 99% of the top 1% vote. It goes down from there. This shouldn't be a surprise.

This is why Spread The Vote has a long-term, community based, comprehensive voter turnout strategy. It's why we print specially made voter guides and physically put voters into cars and drive them to the polls. It's how we took our low or no income, unhoused, returning citizen, extremely at-risk voters from a 0% turnout rate to 42%. Because voter registration is critically important. And National Voter Registration Day is a fantastic day. But if we stop there, we're not doing the full job. And if you're registered but you don't vote, it doesn't count.

Today is a great day to register voters. Tomorrow, think about what your 2022 plan is to make sure that everyone in your community actually makes it to the polls.

Kat
Help us close the loop between registration and turnout! ([link removed])

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