Promote participation during Employee Voter Registration Week

September 9, 2016 | Building Efficiency, Eliminating Waste Emily Schettler, Iowa Association of Business and Industry, eschettler@iowaabi.org

This year, we have a unique opportunity to shape our state and nation’s future. Not only will we elect a new president to the White House, we will also elect one-third of the U.S. Senate and Iowa’s entire delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Iowa will also elect half of the Iowa Senate’s seats and all seats in the Iowa House of Representatives. Three seats are up for retention on the Iowa Supreme Court, as are four seats on the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Each vote makes a difference. That’s why the Iowa Association of Business and Industry is participating in Employee Voter Registration Week (EVRW), Sept. 26-30, and we encourage our members across the state to do the same.

At the time of the last presidential election in 2012, an estimated 51 million eligible U.S. citizens (one in four) were not registered to vote. Nearly 25 percent of the population sat on the sidelines as America selected a president and other members of our federal and state governments. Of course, that percentage increases even more when those who are registered but don’t participate are taken into consideration.

America works better when Americans vote, and stud- ies show that workers find their employers to be among the most trustworthy sources of information when it comes to issues like voting and elections.

Employee Voter Registration Week is an effort to in- crease the number of registered, eligible private sector vot- ers across the country.

The initiative does not tell employees how to vote or whom to vote for. Instead, our goal is to promote overall civ- ic engagement and register more than 100,000 new voters around the country.

Encourage your staff to participate and take part your- self by visiting www.iavotes.com to check out the EVRW toolkit. Commit to educating your employees on the importance of registering to vote so they can fulfill their civic duty this Nov. 8.

  • Here are some ways you can participate:
    Send an email to your employees with instructions on how to register to vote. Iowans can now register to vote online, which makes the process easier than ever.
  • Spread awareness by including information about EVRW and www.iavotes.com through your employ- ee communications, newsletters, closed circuit television, etc.
  • Partner with other employers in your area to host a voter registration drive.