Ep. 102 Thank You For Voting with Erin Geiger Smith
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Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
On the podcast today is Erin Geiger Smith, journalist and author of Thank You For Voting.
Thank You For Voting is a concise, lively look at the past, present, and future of voting. Erin examines the long and continuing fight for voting equality, why so few Americans today vote, and innovative ways to educate and motivate them; included are checklists of what to do before election day to prepare to vote and encourage others.
In today’s episode Erin and I chat about her new book "Thank You For Voting", how it began as a research project, and why education is so important and how we can increase voter turnout. How we can help our friends, family, and co-workers get out and vote, why it's so important to understand the voter registration process in your state, and the role of voter suppression. Plus, Erin shares how we can create a voting plan, what to expect when you vote by mail this year, how we can make voting fun and joyful, and so much more!
I’m a big believer that our vote is our voice for change. This episode doesn’t tell you how to vote or who to vote for. Instead, it focuses on bringing awareness to the process of voting, why it’s so important, and how we can make it fun and joyful.
There are 32 days (at the time this episode airs!) before the election, and I felt it was really important to share an episode and resources in our newsletter, that features and highlights the work of organizations and activists that are organizing, registering voters, and working to increase voter turnout and civic engagement in this year’s election.
I really enjoyed connecting with Erin and I can’t wait to hear what you think! Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“What stood out to me in the research more than anything was how low our voter turnout is in this country, and I felt like it was something we need to do a lot better about. I wanted to learn why people aren’t voting, how we can change that.”
“It’s completely understandable to feel overwhelmed, especially if you’re a younger voter. There’s a lot of information, the laws change regularly, and even if you vote all the time you might not be up to date with exactly what’s happening. Especially in this election, it’s caused a lot of confusion.”
Erin Geiger Smith grew up in tiny Liberty, Texas and is now a journalist living in New York City. Her coverage has ranged from the Supreme Court to stationery, as well as the silence that results from choosing a bad book for book club, and A-listers selling socks in podcast ads. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other leading publications. "Thank You for Voting" is her first book.
“I’m a big believer that access to the polls isn’t a partisan issue. Everyone should be able to vote conveniently, it should never take four hours to vote. I think really trying to take the politics out of it and just thinking, ok do we as a country want everyone who is eligible to vote, to vote? And that answer should certainly be yes, and then figuring out how to do better.”
I was really excited to sit down with Erin to talk about how we can increase civic participation in local, state, and national elections. Both in her book and in today’s episode, Erin touches on so many important issues and shares great resources leading up to this year’s election.
In Thank You For Voting, Erin does such a wonderful job at explaining topics that can confuse even the most informed voters: polling, news literacy, gerrymandering and the Electoral College. She also explores how age, race, and socioeconomic factors influence turnout.
Whether you’re a seasoned voter or a first time voter, Thank You for Voting offers hope, and you can hear that sense of hope, optimism and energy in today’s new episode.
Resources mentioned in today’s episode:
Ballotpedia https://ballotpedia.org/
League of Women Voters: https://www.lwv.org
Vote 411 https://www.vote411.org
To connect with Erin and learn more visit her website http://eringeigersmith.com and on Instagram @thankyouforvoting @egs Twitter @erin_gs and you can find Thank You For Voting here
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