Make your voice heard: Ready, set, VOTE!

By CHERIKA CARTER

(Oct. 9, 2020) — Election Day 2020 is 25 days away! For us here in Washington, E-Day is already under way. Ballots have dropped in two counties, and by Friday, Oct. 16, ballots in the other 37 counties will have hit mailboxes all over the state.

Make your voice heard this fall, you are an essential voter! America faces crises on three critical fronts: a public health pandemic, an economic free fall and long-standing structural racism. Too many of Washington’s working families are suffering needlessly. We need safe jobs, economic security and freedom from systemic racism. We need to vote for candidates who share our values and vote out those who don’t.

Your vote is needed now more than ever. So get ready. Check you voter registration here, and make sure your information is up to date. Once you check your registration, share this link with three friends. If you or your friends need to register or update voter information know that in Washington you can register to vote or update your voter registration online or by mail.  To register or update your information by mail, print this voter registration form, fill it out, and mail it to your local election office. You can also register to vote in person if you prefer. You can register or update your address online or by mail until 8 days before an election. You may also register in-person through Election Day. So update your information today if you need and encourage your friends to do the same. Democracy works best when we all vote.

As essential voters, the choice is clear. We have to vote for candidates who share our working family values. You can find a complete list of the WSLC’s endorsed candidates here. Once you – and all your family and friends that you share the endorsement list with – complete your ballots for candidates who will put working people first, be sure to snap a selfie of you and your voting crew using #WSLCVotes for a chance to be featured on our social media. And if you are not following us on social media you can do that now on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and by subscribing to The Stand. And of course, tell three friends to do the same.

Don’t delay, return your ballots early. You can do it early via mail, no postage needed, or drop them off in an official county ballot drop box. Now, there may or may not be a video clip floating out there with me returning my ballot on Election Day, but this year I’m returning my ballot before E-Day. We’re lucky in Washington that registered voters automatically receive our ballots in the mail and we enjoy the convenience of a long voting period, but make a plan to vote early this year, and tell your friends to make a vote plan, too!

While we’re all getting ready and set to vote, we have to make sure that as many of us as possible have the necessary information to be essential voters. Labor family, join me and a few of your closest Labor Sibs for a Labor Neighbor FUNbank. As union members during the FUNbanks we call and text other union members about the issues that are important to working families and the importance of voting for candidates who support our working family interests. Union members and retirees, sign up for a Labor Neighbor FUNbank today, and recruit three of your Union Sibs to do the same.

Finally, have you completed the Census? A complete and accurate count in the 2020 census is vital to working families in every corner of our country, but the enumeration period ends soon, so complete the census here today. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year for health clinics, fire departments, our schools, roads, highways, and so much more. Labor counts. Be sure you and three friends complete the census today and be counted.

Y’all thought I was going to pen this article today without saying THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIVES?!?! This is the most important election of our lives, make your voice heard this fall and get ready to vote!

Cherika Carter is Political and Strategic Campaigns Director for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Cherika can be reached at ccarter@wslc.org.