Thoughts on new voters: Today I saw someone put their bike on the front of the public bus. I realized I had no idea how that worked, and that I would never try to do it because it looked complicated and I was scared that people would get mad while I fiddled and made mistakes.
This is the thing about voting. Once you do it one time, you learn the rules and steps. Before you do it, it’s scary! You worry that it will all be too complicated and/or that you’ll be embarrassed. That people will make fun, get mad, or scold.
Or worse, that you might actually get in trouble as you interact with official people. That feeling when white Americans go through customs in another country? THAT could be first-time voting, particularly for people of color.
So as we move into voter registration season, it’s worth it to think about how to encourage and support first-time voters. They don’t just need inspiration, they need instructions.
Many non-voters will say that they don’t vote for a bunch of reasons. But I’m willing to bet that the biggest (possibly subconscious) reason is that they don’t know how to do it and they don’t want to look silly.
So let’s think of ways to make first-time-voters comfortable. I don’t know exactly how. Voting partners? Day-of guides? Swag upon leaving the polls? It’s so easy to be discouraged. Let’s not make “feeling stupid” one of them.
