Episode 372 | Author: Emilie Aries

The 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner and I’d like to dive into what's at stake for women and break down four ways that we can make sure to not only make our voice heard, but make sure that others are heard as well.

We just wrapped our quarterly, anti-racism and social justice learning and development component for Team Bossed Up and Irene, our Programs Manager, was in charge of choosing what we would consume in terms of media literature, books or documentaries. We had a really powerful discussion a couple weeks back that inspired this blog post.

The PBS documentary: “Whose Vote Counts” by Frontline, was first released in October of 2020. It was a really powerful reminder of how bad things were in the height of the global pandemic of COVID, and was a really appalling reminder of how many people don't actually have their voice heard in our elections - due to all kinds of access issues that leaves people waiting in hours-long lines.

And by “people” I'm specifically referring to historically-marginalized people in communities of color in particular, who are more likely to have restrictions that make it difficult to get out and vote. Not to mention, this country of ours doesn't make voting or election day a national holiday!

It was just a couple months ago now that we had our Roe v Wade episode come out - something I never thought we'd have to podcast about - but the reality is, without legal protections, now more than ever, bodily autonomy for women is not a given right in this country.

I know frankly, midterm elections are boring, right? They're not as sexy as a Presidential election, they don't get as much coverage as presidential elections. Everyone understands who the hell is running for president, but you gotta do a little digging to figure out who the hell is running for your state representative.

Here are four things you can do starting right now to make sure your voice will be heard:

Check your registration

Make sure you're registered to vote. Maybe you've moved, maybe you've voted absentee elsewhere at the last go round. Go to vote.org, go to your own state's board of elections or Secretary of State's office to double check and make sure you are registered.

Some states make it easier than others to make sure you're registered. Don't let paperwork stand in the way of you and your vote counting!

2. Make a plan to vote

That means when and where are you going to vote? Who are you going to vote with? How are you going to handle childcare when it comes to voting? When it comes to voting, make sure you start thinking about that now because there are providers out there that will help you make it possible.

If you wanna vote absentee, figure out what it takes to vote absentee in your state and start planning. Make sure exercising your civic right to vote is getting as much attention too as everything else in life. Having a little bit of a plan ahead of time can make a world of a difference because I would hate for you to get stuck in the pickup line at daycare and not get to vote. So make a plan.

3. Self-educate

This is probably the hardest part because you're thinking:

“Yeah, yeah. I can figure out the paperwork. I can figure out where to vote and how to vote and when I'm going to vote, but who the hell am I supposed to vote for? Who are all these people on my ballot?”

Well, I get that that takes a little bit of time and effort. We want to be relatively educated when it comes to exercising our rights, so there's three ways you can do that with ease.

One is just read your local news. This is not the time to turn to ABC, NBC, CBS, even NPR can be very national and focused. Your local yokels are going to know who's running for state rep, who's running for state senator, who's running for governor, what your ballot initiatives are - your local media is where it's at.

One specific website that can help you essentially preempt what is going to be on your ballot, is a nonprofit run website called Ballot Ready. It was founded back in 2015 by two University of Chicago classmates and has taken off since because they provide you with a preview of exactly what you will see on your ballot in November, depending on your specific address where you are registered to vote.

Like so many voters, I rely on the organizations and nonprofits who I’m mission-aligned with to look at who they're supporting. There's nothing wrong with that third party validation. Having (basically) references and referrals in your electoral decision-making is not a bad thing. If you're curious as to which local candidates are vocally and adamantly supporting communities of color, head to the NAACP to see who they have endorsed as part of their electoral strategy and their electoral suite of candidates.

Similarly, if you want to see who Planned Parenthood is supporting as pro-choice candidates in your local elections, you can head to plannedparenthoodaction.org to see who their action fund or their electoral arm.

4. Activate your community

Now, my fourth and final reminder for all of us this November is don't vote quietly.

Let's take our friends with us to the ballot box this year. Make a party out of it. Make an outing out of it. Make filling out your mail ballot an event!. Lift as you climb, which we come back to time and time again here at Bossed Up, is about making sure that you're not just doing your part, but you're bringing others up with you, too.

We can do that in lots of different ways, especially in the digital age. That might look like sharing resources on social media that you found helpful when researching your candidates and your issues. It might just mean talking about these issues with your family. Nothing like talking politics with fam, right? Or talking politics with our friends or talking politics with our coworkers.

I know it feels taboo, but the goal here is not necessarily to persuade. It is to inform and encourage. Let's make sure we're sharing information that we find enlightening and helpful, that we're sharing information about how to get out and vote because I'm a big believer in more people making their voices heard in this democracy.

Let's make sure we make these midterms record-breaking just like we did in 2018 when it came to participation. We are (sort of) on the other side of a global pandemic, the fall of Roe v. Wade, and God knows whatever else. Not to mention a racial reckoning in 2020, all of which has yet to be seen at the ballot box.

How do we decide to steer our careers… I mean, steer our country forward is really up to us right here, right now.

Got a career conundrum you want us to cover on the podcast? Call and leave us a voicemail NOW at 910-668-BOSS(2677).

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