Getting people registered to vote, and getting them to the voting booth, is one of the most important elements of the resistance. It also happens to be one of the most important elements of the country, so it’s really nice that these things dovetail. (Personally, I think quite a lot of the resistance does too, but that’s another article.)

When it comes to becoming a deputy registrar, I have to write from the point of view of doing so in Texas, because I’m only just now learning about the process at all. If you’d like, feel free to add information on other states’ programs.

And by the way, that’s the beauty of 5 Minute Activist, and indeed all activism…you don’t have to be an expert. You just have to want to change things for the better.

But!

Become a volunteer deputy registrar

Start by Googling [your county name] county volunteer deputy registrar to see what comes up. I’m in Dallas county, so I get a few good resources:

Here, it looks like the basic process is

  1. Study
  2. Pass a test in person
  3. Be sworn in

That doesn’t sound bad at all! And after that, you get to help people register to vote! I want to do this, and get out the vote at marches, at schools, at flea markets, at malls…everywhere. We got to do this.

Voting is important, y’all

I have lots of feelings on this, but I haven’t yet found my words. So I’ll let ProjectVote.org say it for me:

Voting is the heart of democracy.

As long as people are given the chance to vote, to choose their representatives, and their stance on social and political issues, then democracy is working. That is why it is important to ensure that every eligible voter is registered and will exercise their right of suffrage because if not, it defeats the purpose of democracy. It is like giving a hungry person bread, but sealed in a steel box. A society that makes voting hard for people is a pretentious democratic society.

And maybe a few other folks, while we’re at it:

We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands; we have a check upon two branches of the legislature. – John Adams

Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote…that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country. – Samuel Adams

If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . . If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. – Noah Webster

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. – Thomas Jefferson

Get out the vote, y’all.

-YANA