Hey everyone, happy voting! Here is the best resource for voting in Wisconsin—it shows you where your polling place is, what time the polls close, and the races on your ballot. Please reply to this email with any questions.
On a separate note, a huge shoutout to my amazing mentor, Mr. Brian Post, at the League of Women Voters, and one of my all-time favorite teachers, Mrs. Monica Jones, for hosting a voter registration drive at my old high school a few weeks ago. I was so thankful for the opportunity to connect the two of them and am always inspired by the work they’re doing to educate and mobilize the youth electorate.
Lastly, here is the piece I wrote two years ago on Election Day. The message holds as true today as it did in 2022, so I copied it below and made edits to update it. Thanks for heading to the polls and reading Smart Voter.
Woodpeckers don’t tap twenty times on a thousand trees. They peck twenty-thousand times on one tree—focused, resilient, dedicated—until they’re fed.
In my junior year of high school, a classmate told me he wouldn’t vote in the Midterms because he didn’t care who was president. I felt flabbergasted. There was no presidential election in 2022. Voting is the mechanism through which the smallest of us has the power to steer fate.
After researching, I realized my classmate is not an anomaly. The United States possesses a voting problem—not enough of us do it. Low voter turnout mars our government. Despite perpetual political jargon, many choose silence on Election Day.
Yet, many citizens agree that our country needs change. We often look at the problems around us—from inequity in prisons to environmental degradation—and collectively think “they should do something about that.” We are they.
If I could alter one part of my community—and the country as a whole—I would ensure every person shows up for one another, our futures, and our democracy on Election Day. So we started pecking away against civic apathy.
Back in May of 2022, I launched Smart Voter. Since then we’ve learned about voter registration steps, the location of polling places, and races on the ballot. On my podcast, we’ve listened to elected officials and activists. Collectively, we’ve built a stronger civic culture and combatted disinformation.
Through voting, we shape our government to represent what we believe. Let’s all vote for our values today at the polls.
Like woodpeckers, we won’t stop pecking until democracy is in reality—not merely in name—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Thank you for voting today!