Building Blocks of Democracy

In my dream utopia, everyone votes. Not only do people willingly vote, but they educate themselves about the candidates and issues and vote willfully and knowledgeably. Yep, even the ones who vote for things I personally can't comprehend. Sadly, too many people never bother to register or don't update their voter registration when they move, let alone study up and make the effort to vote. Too many others vote reflexively, popping chads next to whichever candidate or issue has been endorsed by their favorite political party or newspaper or Joe Blow down the street who says everyone should vote his way.

So here in the real world, I was excited to hear about the Building Votes program in an email from Clinton Downs. Rather than paraphrase, I'll just quote him directly:

"The Building Votes program is trying to solve the problem of low voter turnout by having folks like you and I go out and register our neighbors to vote. Basically, you adopt your block or apartment building and just take an hour to make sure they are registered to vote, and then an hour in November to remind them to actually turn in their ballots. Quick, easy, non-partisan and lots of fun."

This is a much better idea than asking the grumpy people at the DMV to register voters. They do it because it's part of their job. But you can register your neighbors because a) you actually care about democracy and the upcoming election and b) they're your neighbors, man! They aren't some unknown quantity, people wandering up to your voter registration table in front of the Circle K thinking that they're signing a petition to ban cottage cheese or something. These are people who (hopefully) smile and wave as they pass by on the sidewalk, or in my case, smile while they toss cigarette butts on my lawn.

I especially like that the Building Votes volunteers revisit the issue by reminding people to vote in November. Since all Oregon voting is now done by mail, it's easy to let that deadline slip past without notice.

There's a Building Votes training session this Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. at the Benton Center, 757 NW Polk Ave, right behind Borders bookstore on NW 9th Street. Training lasts about an hour. If you're interested, please send an email to corvallis@buildingvotes.org or call 541-908-0913. Mr. Downs has promised pizza and Hawaiian punch. See? Democracy comes with perks!