High voter participation is a sign of strong communities. Therefore, Nevada Partners is working every day toward the goal of community transformation of the West Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood. One key strategy for changing a community is an engaged electorate. Voting correlates with citizenship, education, income and other kinds of civic health. It takes an active and engaged public to ensure broad representation and a place where public officials are responsive to community concerns.
Who’s not voting?
Today, our democracy is challenged by gaps in voter participation by age, income, and education. Younger, lower-income and less-educated voters participate at much lower rates than older, higher-income or better-educated voters. These gaps lead to other disparities in involvement with government or public policy and other kinds of civic participation.
There are many ways we can increase voter participation. Sometimes all that is needed is voter education on the process of voting and what is at stake in a particular election. In other cases, it is about voting rights issues or procedural barriers that disproportionately impact newer voters and less enfranchised populations.
Join the Civic Participation and Social Justice Pillar
The West Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood’s Civic Participation and Social Justice Pillar has a strategy to increase voter participation. We are convening youth, business, government, nonprofits, and faith leaders regularly to gain critical input about the needs of our community, sharing ideas, and connecting with lawmakers to support policy change that propels the growth of our community. This Pillar is led by Yindra Dixon, Managing Partner of Black Box Consulting. If you are interested in joining this Pillar, please email us at info@nvpartners.org.
Most importantly, if you are not registered to vote, you can click here to register online. Since you’re quarantined anyway, take a moment to register to vote. Your voice is important. Your vote counts!