Lay Groundwork

Candidates who lose can still lay the foundations for future victories.

Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Bernie Sanders all lost their first races for Congress. They got enough support that they were able to try again and win later on.

In 2004, Christine Cegelis ran an "impossible" race against 16-term incumbent Henry Hyde. She lost 56-44, but her level of support inspired wounded Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth to run for the same seat two years later. Duckworth also lost, but by only 4,800 votes, and her supporters encouraged her to run again. She won a congressional seat in 2012, and in 2016 became the second Asian-American woman ever elected to the Senate.

This CNN report from 2006 talks about how Duckworth started her career by taking on a race in a "republican stronghold" where she had little chance of winning (and in fact lost):

What should I do next?

I'm not registered to vote.

You can register through Vote.org in two minutes. And you can find your polling place here.

I don’t know who to vote for.

That's okay! The key is to not stress about it, because not showing up guarantees you won't be represented. You don't need to know everything. Here are some simple ways to get started:

Find a friend whose values you respect and talk to them about how they're using their vote.
Go to Vote Smart, a non-partisan site, to find out about the stances, past votes, and issue ratings of politicians in your area.
Take this non-partisan five minute quiz to learn about how your values line up with the major political parties. If you know a party is a good fit for your values, you’re better off voting for a candidate for that party than not voting at all.
Search for a candidate's name online and see who endorses them. Endorsements send important signals about which groups trust the people running. Most states (with a few exceptions) let you bring your phone into the voting booth, in case you forget to do this earlier.
Remember, there is nothing wrong with filling out only part of the ballot. Your poll workers may ask you about it, but they just want to make sure you didn’t make a mistake. It's not a problem if you only vote in some of the races.

I'm still not convinced voting is worth it, but I'd like to make use of my vote somehow.

Even if you don't want to vote in your district, you may be able to donate your vote through the Emancipation Initiative to someone who's incarcerated, so they can have a political voice as well.

I want to get more involved.

Persuaded that more people should be voting? Be part of the change!

Remember that there will always be disinformation and efforts to interfere in the election. Talk to your friends about why voting is valuable. Feel free to share this guide.
Volunteer for a political campaign. There's a lot of work to be done, even during social distancing. It's easier than ever to help campaigns by calling, texting, or writing letters to voters.
When election day gets closer, look for apps that will help you connect to your friends and convince them to vote. Campaign apps will let you text people to remind them to vote.
Look for other local political causes to support with your time or money. Voting is important, but it's just the beginning of making change happen.

You can provide feedback here

Created by
Ben Struhl and Alexander Gard-Murray
in 2020

A Powderhouse Project