WHY VOTE? Every election, whether it be primary or general, local or national, has a big impact on the lives of poor and hungry people in our community. Decisions about what programs are funded, who pays taxes and who gets tax breaks, whether we fund roads or mass transit, how much the minimum wage is, whether we’ll help welfare recipients go to school and many, many more are made at all levels of government. SOME FACTS: More rich people than poor people vote. So the politicians make decisions that favor the people who vote. Only 55% of eligible voters voted in the 2004 Presidential election. 501 (c)(3) organizations may do non-partisan voter registration and mobilization. For more information see Non-Profit Action. (http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/271) If 600 more people had voted for Gore in 2000, Bush would not be our president. WHAT IS JUST VOTE? Just Harvest encourages informed participation in every local and national election through various strategies: VOTER REGISTRATION. Register people to vote through partnerships with community-based organizations and social service agencies. VOTER PARTICIPATION PLEDGES. New registrants and those already registered to vote sign an "I Pledge To Vote!" form. Just Vote uses these pledges to build lists of voter contacts for voter education and mobilization. VOTER EDUCATION. Provide information about key poverty-related issues to new registrants and pledgers so they can make well-informed choices on Election Day. - Inform new voters about the voting process and polling place locations. - Ensure voting rights by dispelling myths about disenfranchisement for past criminal convictions, identification requirements at polling places, and related ballot access issues. VOTER GUIDES. Produce voter guides that include candidates’ answers on targeted questions about solutions for ending hunger and poverty. The guides are distributed to Just Harvest members, newly registered voters and to other low-income voters. CIVIC PARTICIPATION. Engage the public in taking action on legislation and policies which affect voting rights such as identification requirements and accessible polling places and voting machines. VOTER MOBILIZATION. Conduct non-partisan Get-Out-The-Vote drives including public events, media, phone banking and direct mail contacts to new registrants and pledgers, and face-to-face reminders at community partner agencies. PLANS FOR 2006: Important races this November include US Senator, US House Representatives, PA Governor and several state house and senate races. Just Harvest is working with partners over the next two months to help them register their clients to vote. We’re also preparing our lists of members, participants and partners for intensive Get Out the Vote phone banking in October. We’ll be contacting the candidates as well to get their responses to key questions about hunger and poverty issues and print the results in our Voters’ Guide. All of this work will require the help of lots of volunteers, so if you’re interested in getting involved, please call Joni at 412-431-8960. Our 2004 volunteers found the phone banking very exciting and rewarding as the new voters had many questions about where and how to vote. WHO IS JUST VOTE REACHING? People receiving critical anti-poverty services; People enrolled in welfare-to-work programs, educational or vocational training programs, clients of family support centers and other human services, students, and incarcerated individuals. In 2004 “Just Vote” registered 4288 new voters and received 1560 pledges to vote with the help of 200 community partners. 75 volunteers helped us make over 6000 calls to remind these new voters and pledgers to vote and give them important information about their polling place and identification requirements. We also distributed 10,000 voter guides about important hunger and poverty issues. VOTER GUIDES Read these latest two voter guides to see if the winning candidates have kept their promises to combat hunger and poverty. If they haven’t, help us make sure they do! National Election, November 2nd, 2004 Pittsburgh Mayoral Primary, May 17th, 2005