According to the U.S. Census Bureau nearly 100 million eligible Americans did not vote in the 2016 presidential election – that’s 42.3% of Americans who didn’t exercise their voting rights. In order to highlight this daunting statistic, we wanted to bring attention to those U.S. Citizens who do not have a voice when it comes to voting, driving the underlying message, if you have a voice, use it and vote.
The campaign, which features real people sharing their story, includes a :30 hero spot titled “Your Vote Is Your Voice. Use It – Catherine” [YT LINK HERE]. Catherine lost her right to vote because she committed a crime 43 years ago. In a powerful, piercing understated message, she says “I have a lot to say but I don’t have a voice. I lost my son to gun violence and I don’t have a say about gun safety.”
The second :30 spot titled “Your Vote Is Your Voice. Use It – Tempele” [YT LINK HERE] features 11-year old Tempele who is passionate about issues that matter to her, however has to wait to vote. “I don’t have a say in whether my leaders believe in what I believe in,” she shares. “I can’t use my voice to shape women’s rights.”
Both spots end with “I don’t have a voice, but you do.”
Additional elements of “Your Vote Is Your Voice. Use It” include a social media influencer outreach component which targets key voter organizations and influencers to help amplify the message, and this week, the League of Women Voters in Florida shared “Catherine” on their Twitter platform and has already garnered nearly 22K views. See Twitter post here: https://twitter.com/LWVFlorida/status/1321134151479734274?s=20. As well “Tempele” was picked up by the Democratic Coalition.
Another key component of the campaign is to provide information to eligible voters to make sure their voice is heard, from registering to learning about COVID protocols for poll workers to early voting. See social posts on working at polls here: https://dng.sharefile.com/d-sb3ca506e9e742e88 and early voting here: https://dng.sharefile.com/d-s6555c11f1c64db08