From Volunteering to Organizing: My Journey to Increase Civic Engagement
Last summer, I was canvassing for a candidate running in the midterm elections. Between the snacks, the massive water bottle, the disinfecting wipes, and the sunscreen that I tossed into the backseat lay my big and bulky–yet very protective–clipboard with a storage compartment filled with voter registration forms.
I had become a Volunteer Deputy Registrar (VDR) just days before Roe v. Wade was overturned. In one of the few states where you cannot register to vote online (check this site from the ACLU to find your state), Texas has VDRs to register people to vote. The Texas Secretary of State has the form available online, but you need to print it and mail it in. In short, the state needs to make it easier to register to vote.
I was at my first nationalization ceremony registering new U.S. citizens at our library downtown when the news started pinging our phones. The legislation that made the right to an abortion federally protected had been dismantled, and the legal decision was handed over to each state to decide. The feeling was overwhelming as a mother of two children living in Texas. With the impending elections on the way, I felt committed to entirely changing my career from the occupational mashup of oral history and film industry gigs to finding my place working towards improving civic engagement within my community. Soon after becoming a VDR, I joined a statewide campaign as an organizer.
I continued registering people until the October deadline for registering to vote. At any household I went to while canvassing, I let them know that if someone at the house was not registered, I could register them at the end of my shift.
So often, I thought back to those eager new citizens who hurried over to our table with their families standing behind them, all watching as they carefully filled out the voter registration form. I thought about how so many of us take for granted our right as citizens to share in democracy together to decide who will represent us and the policies we believe in. So many of us, myself included, are just now understanding the power of local elections. I hope those new citizens never look at their few opportunities to vote as an annoying task to get to “if they have time.”
Out of the nearly 100 legally made citizens that day, about 46 came to register to vote right away. The group of us registering folks celebrated the numbers we achieved and knew that each person registered was a success even if we hadn’t registered each new citizen.
I recently completed my training again (your VDR term expires on December 31st of every even-numbered year) and was reappointed as a VDR in our county. The deadline to register for the May 6th election in Texas was April 6th, so if you are not registered yet, unfortunately, in Texas, it’s too late to vote in May. However, November 2024 elections will be here before we know it and if you are in Texas, you’ll need to ensure you are registered to vote at least 30 days before Election Day. Check Vote.org’s registration deadlines for your state.
Rideshare2Vote will be driving voters to the polls throughout 2023 to ensure that democracy wins in each election where we are currently operating. So if you live in Texas and need a ride during your election, check back here to request a ride. We will drive voters on April 29th, May 1st, May 2nd and May 6th.
by Diana Briggs
