July 16, 2020 • 37 mins
Welcome to Episode 7 of No Need to Ask podcast. My name is Amani Duncan and I will be your host on this journey.
Erin Geiger-Smith is a journalist who has written for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times among other leading publications, and has worked at Reuters covering legal news. She graduated from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, the University of Texas School of Law, and the University of Texas at Austin.
"Thank You for Voting" is straightforward about how long Black Americans, women, and Native Americans, among others, had to fight for the right to vote, and about our current problems with low voter participation and voting inequality.
But it also highlights how we can do better, and features a fascinating group of people -- some well known, some who just saw a problem and decided to do their part to fix it -- already doing the work to increase voter turnout. The young reader edition has most of the same information, just in an age-appropriate way.
Thank You for Voting: the Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth about Voting in America
Praise for Thank You for Voting
"If you want to celebrate your essential right as a citizen and encourage others to do the same, Thank You for Voting provides an engaging and concise tutorial of what it means to cast your ballot -- past, present, and future. Read this book! (And be sure to vote.)"
-- Ann Patchett
Geiger Smith's "handy owner’s manual to the democratic process removes any excuse for not showing up at the ballot box. ... Intelligent, spirited, and especially valuable to budding activists and first-time voters."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"Illuminating and accessible"
-- Publisher's Weekly
"Thank You for Voting serves up the context and concrete action items every registered and to-be registered voter needs to be part of ensuring … increased voter turnout."
-- Denver Public Library Friday 5 at 5
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to another edition of no need to ask
podcast.
My name is Amani Duncan, and Iwill be your host on this
journey.
For this episode.
I have the pleasure of speakingwith Aaron Geiger Smith, who is
a journalist turned author.
The book that we will discussthat Aaron wrote is one that I
(00:23):
feel is so timely and soimportant.
It's entitled.
Thank you for voting.
So without further ado, let'swelcome Erin to no need to as
podcasts.
Hi Erin.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hi, thanks so much for having me.
I'm excited to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Thank you for making yourself available, you know,
with everything going on.
Um, boy, there's a lot going onbetween this novel pandemic, you
know, and all of the civilunrest that we're dealing with
with black lives matters, andthen we can't forget voting,
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Right?
And that all goes together.
It turns out things cometogether.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It's time for change across the board.
It's, you know, we are forced tolook at the way we interact with
each other and, and the way welive, we're forced to look at,
um, our political environmentand most importantly, who will
be voted into lead this countryof ours.
Um, so thank you for voting.
(01:28):
Um, it's received tremendousreviews and everyone it is
currently available.
Um, online, you could go toAmazon and as always, I will
make sure there is a link, adirect link in the episode
description.
Um, but Aaron, I read that theoverall goal of the book is to
increase voter turnout byhelping voters feel more
(01:50):
educated, empowered, andinspired.
Yes.
I have a new voter first timevoter
Speaker 2 (02:02):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (02:02):
We were talking and, you know, kind of just going
through the importance of votingwith him and you know, how the
process works and pretty muchaddressing any questions that he
had.
And funny enough, the onequestion he had was, well, you
actually had two questions.
The first one was, where do Igo?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Right?
Absolutely.
Last question.
Always.
What do I wear?
Oh, I like that.
Listen.
I think, you know, you want toconsider when you're doing
something important, you'd liketo look your best, whatever
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Was, he was a little tentative about the whole
process.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Absolutely.
You know, I learned so muchwriting this book, but one of
the things was that can beintimidating.
And of course it can, anytimeanything you're doing for the
first time, it's intimidating.
Um, I also realized, you know,as we all explore, um, the
different ways that privilegehas infected, affected our lives
(03:15):
and different privileges.
One of the things that Irealized was that my mom took me
to vote as I was growing up.
And not only did she do that,I'm from a tiny town.
And so voting was you drive twominutes in front of our little
library, walk in, you know, thepoll workers.
I mean, one of the things I sayin the children's edition of
(03:36):
this book is I enjoyed itbecause I'm a nosy person, which
is why I'm a reporter.
And so you walked in, I heard mymom chat with the poll workers.
I listened for any good gossip.
She would vote.
And it took 10 minutes.
So voting to me was this age ofsay you did and be a pretty easy
thing to do in writing thisbook.
(03:57):
I learned because there arehurdles in places like voter ID
and just all these differentthings that you need to know
depending on which state youlive in.
And if you've never done itbefore, it's strange and
unusual.
And, and you know, here, when Igo to vote New York city, I
don't know any of the pollworkers obviously.
And if you're a young person,you go in the poll workers may
(04:18):
not look like you.
They may are likely to be mucholder than you, right?
So it's just a thing that weneed to do so much better about
educating and normalizing.
And I think discussing what youdo or don't need to wear is a
great conversation to come asyou are, is the answer.
But, you know, it's all these,these little and big things we
(04:41):
need to do so much better abouttalking about and starting to
talk about to would be voters.
You know, when they're younger,
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I completely agree.
Yeah.
It was just, it was soinsightful because we, you know,
my husband and I, we just didn'tthink he would ask these types
of questions and then really,you know, through continuous
conversation really nailed downthat he was, he was, I wouldn't
say scared, just extremelytentative of the unknown, which
(05:13):
could sway a young person toavoid it completely.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah.
That was, I grew to appreciatethat as an issue so much, um,
what 18 year old loves to go dosomething they've never done
before that they don't knowenough about what 40 year old
likes to go do something thatthey've never done before that
they know nothing about.
Um, so that's why in the book, Ifocus so much on process.
(05:39):
I mean, it starts with thehistory of how different groups
got the vote.
And I think that's so importantto know.
And then the middle section is,um, what gets people to vote,
how you can help your friends.
Um, and then I have explainersof voting topics that everyone
finds confusing, likegerrymandering and polling media
and, um, you know, so thosethings that we all have
(06:00):
questions on.
Um, but I made sure to end thebook with a checklist of what
you can do today, what you needto do 40 days out, 30 days out,
10 days out, and then onelection day to make things
easier for you.
And to make sure you canconvince all your friends to
join you too.
So practical was so important tome because the more I learned,
(06:21):
the more I realized that's wherewe're not doing well enough for,
for our kids and our friends andour colleagues.
So
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Exactly.
I love how you format it.
The book I love that it is inthree sections, you know, how we
got the vote, how to get peopleto vote and no, before you vote,
um, it makes it just reallyconcise and less intimidating.
I also, I, it really does.
(06:49):
I also appreciate how, um,straightforward it is and how
you, you know, discuss thehistory of voting, um, the long,
you know, battle blackAmericans, women, and native
Americans among, uh, many hadto, you know, fight for the
right to vote.
Um, and then you, you know, youeven touch on our current
(07:10):
problems about low voterparticipation and voting
inequality.
We can literally turn to
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It's cotton was kind of our first eye-opener during
[inaudible] and then, yeah.
And then Georgia had extremelylong lines.
Um, you know, I think long linesare something that we're
learning to look at in a betterway, which is everyone can vote.
And that's one of the bestthings about us, and that's
(07:37):
true, but what's not true isit's not easy for everyone to
vote.
And, you know, long lines arevoter suppression.
You can't exactly one.
Anytime we're expecting anyoneto wait an hour, much less seven
hours means something has gonewrong.
It may be, it may have been apurposeful thing to try to keep
(07:59):
people not from voting, or itmight have been poor planning
and under-staffing, or amechanical problem with the
machines, but whatever it is ithas to be addressed.
Um, and I think we're startingto all as voters and, um,
citizens focus so much more onthose issues.
And I think that that's such animportant thing, just
(08:19):
understanding voter suppressionand what it is and where it
comes from is obviously thefirst step of making
improvements.
Um, and so that's why I wantedto highlight both the history of
look, how long those fights tovote were and how specific and
strategic people had to be, um,you know, with seeing the black
lives matter protest.
(08:40):
It's so easy to immediatelythink about the civil rights
protest.
Um, the violence at Selma that,you know, finally led nearly
directly to the voting rightsact and then even the women's
suffrage, which I think so manyof us look at as we see the
parades and the pictures ofwomen in these white dresses.
And it's almost thought of as agreat thing that happened, and
(09:01):
it is small and we're nearingthe hundredth year anniversary
of the 19th amendment.
And that is a thing tocelebrate, but you have to also
look at that.
It was a 70 plus year fight, afull generation, multiple
generations of women fightingfor the vote.
And, um, that movement was notwithout its racial difficulties
at all.
(09:21):
And, you know, as we celebratethe hundredth anniversary, it's
so important that every time wetalk about it, we note the giant
asterisk that it has, which isit gave women all right to vote,
but it didn't mean all womenwere able to vote.
So it would be, you know, from1920, until 1965 with the voting
rights act were so many groups,including black Americans,
(09:42):
obviously Asian Americans,native Americans, we're continue
to not be able to easily voteand so many parts of the
country.
So it's just part of the book.
I don't want to talk about thehistory when I talk about the
history is wanting to celebrateand note those milestones, but
point out how hard it was to getthere.
And then the things that cameafter that made it a continuous
(10:06):
struggle, you know, episode thisvery second.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I really appreciate that point of view because, you
know, whatever movement, I mean,the black lives matter black
lives matters movement isturning out to be the biggest
movement in American history.
And I always caution people, orI should say, remind people that
(10:34):
you do have a right to know thehistory behind the history.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah.
I respond really.
I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Exactly.
Because if you want to be anactivist or if you want to do
your part big or small, you needto, you know, be, come from a
place of facts and knowledge.
Um, so that you're able to speakconfidently on any issue.
(11:02):
Right.
But I want to go back to votersuppression and just ask your,
your point of view on it.
Voter suppression is not new.
It's, it's been a part of thefabric of America, um, in some
shape or form.
Okay.
And so the fact that it's stillgoing on now, I, I have to
(11:25):
think, you know, is it justsystemic?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yes.
I think that's the short answer.
Yes.
Um, yeah.
You know, from the beginning ofthe country, you know, even at
the start, when they'reconsidering who all should have
the vote, it wasn't as if theidea to give women and black
Americans, the vote didn't existeven at the start of the
(11:52):
country, in some cases, womenand free black men.
Um, and then it was, you know,taking in a way as time went on.
But the point is that the ideawas there.
I think in all of thesesituations, someone knows the
right thing to do from thestart.
It's just not always done.
It's like the someone knows theright thing to do, and it's
getting to the point of whereenough people decide to do the
(12:16):
right thing.
Um, and that is that ebbs andflow of our voting rights
history.
And any time that the vote wasexpanded almost immediately,
some people gotten back rooms orat the very front of the room
and decided how to narrow it.
I mean, that happened after the15th amendment, which gave, um,
(12:36):
black men the right to vote.
And, you know, that's was sortof the start of Jim Crow laws
that lasted until 1965.
Um, and still today, when wehave voter suppression laws,
they're often referred to as JimCrow like laws.
Um, and I think that's anaccurate description.
Um, so it is just unfortunatelypart of our voting history and,
(12:59):
you know, for the basic reasonthat people who have power like
to keep it.
And I mean, it just is, is, isthe way it is, which is why it's
important.
Anytime you vote to think aboutthat elective elected official
is going to do and how theythink about voting rights.
I really hope that part of thebook is having people think
(13:20):
about voting rights as part of aqualification for their elected
officials.
Um, you know, I very much stressthat I I'm a democracy true
believer in that I really wantevery single person to vote
everyone.
And so I almost, you know, anyof these laws make barriers for
young people or black Americansor Latino Americans or native
(13:44):
Americans.
I just, I like still, even afterall these years at a cellular
level, don't understand the ideaof being American and then
trying to take away someone'svote.
Um, but I wish we could all comein and have that and then
understand all the issuesresearching the history.
It was, it's hard.
It is a hard thing too.
(14:05):
Of course you love your country.
And then you realize, youthought you knew all of its
flaws.
And then you look at thetimeline and it hits you like a
ton of bricks, honestly.
Um, but then the next side ofthat is I covered the history
and then I went and toconferences with young people,
getting people out to vote.
Yeah.
I mean, I went from truly kindof wrapping up the history, um,
(14:28):
to really starting the fullreporting of the book.
And the first thing I did was goto, um, Yara Shahidi, the young
actress and activist has anamazing organization called 18
by 18.
That for both what was hoped tobe a story that didn't work out,
the luckily was able to use allof it in the book.
And I just went from the darkhistory to this, you know, also
(14:52):
it helped that it was in sunnyLA and the grass was green
literally.
And with all these young people,more than a hundred young people
from all 50 States, thereforethe sole purpose of learning how
to get their peers to vote andget them more civically
involved.
And it was just amazing.
I mean, that is the true wordfor it.
(15:13):
And so as dark as our historysometimes is when you look at
these people, these youngpeople, especially who are just
doing their part to make thingsbetter.
Um, and you know, one of thethings that URS said at that
conference is they just want tomake it a little easier for
young people to vote.
And that's all that we allshould be doing.
(15:36):
And it is, there are verydifficult things, you know, you
need systemic change, you needchanges in laws, all of these
things, but if all adults andyoung people choose five friends
or colleagues that they're goingto make sure and vote, that's a
game changer.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Absolutely.
Sometimes when we look at thestains that are on the fabric of
America and decide that we needto say no more, right?
The task at hand could feel sobig that it may turn people off.
Like, Oh my gosh, where do weeven start?
(16:11):
This is insurmountable.
This is hundreds and hundreds ofyears of suppression.
And the list goes on and on.
So I always recommend to peoplestart small, start small.
Like it's almost like the pebblethat you're throwing into the
ocean.
(16:31):
And at first it just makes thislittle, this little ripple, but
then you continue to throw moreand more pebbles, bigger rocks.
And eventually you have themomentum to create a wave.
Um, so what Yara said is soimportant, you know, it may seem
like, well, that's it, right?
Of course that's not, it it'sjust a starting point.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, the other thing that if you do have someone who
says, that's not it there's datato back up that it's in a huge
way that any voting experts, youtalk to says the biggest
influence on getting people tovote is you it's you on your
friends and your family and yourcolleagues because getting
(17:14):
someone to vote, especiallythey're more likely to vote if
it's a personal connection,which is why one of the only
things that really makes adifference that candidates can
do is having big canvassing,Kings knocking on doors.
That's a little different thecoronavirus era, but that's one
of the things that everyoneagrees works is the candidate or
a representative orrepresentative of the cause or
(17:36):
whatever it is.
You're trying to get pastknocking on doors and talking to
people and answering questionsin a genuine way.
And that flows down to youtalking to your friends and
family.
And I made sure to say in thebook, your online friends counts
here.
I mean, that's using socialmedia is hugely important.
And so that number one, theexperts say that's works.
(17:58):
So it's not a small thing.
And then the other data pointthat I was most almost of all
the, of all the data in thebook, and there's a lot moved
by, was that in 2014.
So comparing midterm election,the midterm election, because
presidential elections alwayshave higher turnout across the
board.
So when you're, when you'relooking at midterm, you compare
(18:19):
midterm to midterm.
So for 2014, 18 to 29 year olds,our youngest voter voted at 20%
like terrible.
Some statistics say 19 someday21, but we'll say 20% in 2018
after the March for our livesmovement, which was huge for
young people in B building upthe 2018 midterms.
(18:44):
And, you know, climate change isa huge issue for young people.
There was so much more peoplespeaking out about that, just
all the activism that happenedleading up to the 2018 midterms
that jumped from that about 20%to 36%.
Wow.
16%.
Wow.
Turnout leap is massive.
(19:04):
I mean, massive.
So all of these young peoplethat are doing all of this work
just wanted to build on it.
So the hope for 2020 is thatthat young people voter turnout,
which is the lowest of any grouphas been for a long time.
They're a hard group to get tovote.
And again, I don't think it'sbecause of apathy.
(19:26):
I think it's because we as grownup fully grown up, don't do a
good job of educating them.
I don't think it's on them.
I think it's on us.
And I think everyone should, ifyou're going to complain about
young people not voting andyou're outside of that age group
or at the top of that age group,by the time you're going to stop
, it's time to do your part aswell.
(19:48):
Let's think of it as, as on you,but they are doing a ton of work
in their own with their ownpeers.
And so I have hope for 2020.
I really, I really do.
And I do.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I do too.
You know, it's, the youth willlead the way every generation,
the youth stand up.
And I am so proud of today'syouth.
Um, they are so bold, so vocal,they are staring racism and
inequality squarely in the eyes.
(20:21):
And I'm not saying that it'sonly the youth with these, uh,
civil unrest movements, but theyare the majority.
And so therefore I feelencouraged that if this black
light, just for example, theblack lives matters movement is
the biggest movement in Americanhistory led by the youth.
(20:45):
There's nothing that can't be,as far as I'm concerned, there's
nothing that can't, that canstand in their way,
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Still moving.
How, um, that, that, thatmovement, the black lives matter
movement, the participants spanall races.
And that obviously is going tobe the difference maker.
I'm a white woman and I havenieces who are also white and
they're 16 and 18.
And the brilliance that comesfrom their Instagram and the way
(21:16):
that they speak about speakingout in the way that they do
speak out, um, is something thatI would have neither know nor
thought.
And I mean, I certainly haveconsidered myself then and would
now as someone who wanted theworld to be a better place and
hoped for quality and all ofthose things, but I was nowhere
(21:37):
near where they are as far asexpressing it and talking about
being an ally and all of thosethings that it is clear to all
of us now, the importance ofthose steps.
I mean, it is, it is this reallyimpressive.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
It is.
Um, you know, and that's why,you know, I always say I'm
cautiously optimistic becauseyou know, like I stated earlier,
we've been here before,
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right.
And there's so much work to do.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
There's so much work to do.
And I've seen the stop start,stop, start.
So I'm cautiously optimistic,but that's beginning to
dissipate because of theconsistency and the, and the
fervor that is continuing.
I'm just very encouraged.
(22:25):
And I think the importance is tonot separate the issues.
Again, it could feel daunting,but voters voting rights is a
part of, like you mentionedearlier, civil rights, it's not
separate, it's not separate.
So if we want equality acrossthe board, if we want all lives
(22:46):
to matter, voting goes righthand in hand.
So I just feel like right nowwith everything going on, it can
feel exhausting, but I actuallyfeel, I I'm excited because I
feel like we're at the precipiceof change, real change.
Um, not just, you know, tickinga box that we've seen so many
(23:09):
times before people are, arerealizing that their voices
together is so powerful
Speaker 2 (23:18):
In both the adult book and the young readers
version, which is eight to 12.
I talk about taking your kids tovote, but not just taking them
along, but questions that thekids can ask the parents and
what the parents should tell thechildren.
So, um, you know, if you're,you're a kid, I have to say, you
know, the night before help lookup where you're polling places,
(23:41):
um, if you're the parent showthem that you are, you know, go
to vote.org or any of those toshow that you are registered,
tell them that you had toregister 30 days in advance, or
if you're at a state where youcould register tomorrow, you
know, state specific answers.
Um, but also to tell your childwhen you would have first been
able to vote, you know, as a,I'm a white woman in Texas, I
(24:04):
would have been able to vote inthe primary, um, just before the
1920 amendment.
So you could vote in Texas as awhite woman a little earlier.
Um, and, but, you know, if youare a black woman in Georgia,
we'll go back to there, say youtwo could have voted in 1920,
but there were all thesereasons.
And, you know, if you can, as aparent, find out when your
(24:26):
grandmother or grandfathervoted, so you can kind of share
that story.
Um, when I was writing the book,my mom pointed out to me that my
great grandmother was born in1900.
So she would have been among thefirst women who were able to
vote, um, when she turned 21,you know, he was like on that.
And I know I loved, I lovedincredible.
(24:48):
Um, so, you know, talk aboutthings like that, talk about who
you're voting for and not justpresident, but that you also
vote for mayor.
If you're voting for schoolboard, that's something kids can
really understand, um, you know,school board members make
decisions on extracurricularactivities and, you know,
whatever it is that your kid isinto that next, what you're
(25:11):
voting for to thinks theyunderstand city council members
decide on, you know, if it's astoplight or, you know, whether
it's a new restaurant can havesidewalk seating, if you're in
New York, you know, whatever itis, um, that's a little lower
than the city council level.
And you have just connect thosethings to things that the kids
can understand and bring in boththe history and current
(25:36):
procedures.
If you're in a state where youhave to have an ID, tell them,
you know, I have to bring thisID and this, this kind of ID
works.
Um, normalizing the process isvery much.
And then another thing that Iforced my own son to do is to
ask the poll worker a question,whatever it is, you know, can he
feed the thing into the machinewhen he was three, he wants to
(25:58):
ask a very important, relevantquestion about Batman, you know,
whatever it doesn't matter.
The point is that those peopleare there to help you and
they're not scary.
Um, and so, yeah, it's all it'sabout normalizing.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
And then, you know, you can kind of
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Make it a little fun by asking all these questions
and then, you know, the next dayto make sure and say, who won,
who didn't, this is why, um, Ithink it's important for parents
to tell their children whothey're voting for, because I
think that that helpsunderstand, not just understand
family values, but also whatsort of decisions that those
(26:37):
officials are going to make.
Um, but you know, where possibleI do urge to say, this is why
someone might vote for the otherside, you know, there are there
issues like that they couldunderstand, but it just helps
them know why politics actuallyis important to their lives
because it isn't politics, it'seducation, it's healthcare it's,
(26:57):
um, it's, it's all of thosethings.
And it is easy to be superannoyed with all of these
politicians by the time phoningday comes, if you are seeing
commercials constantly andscience constantly, the news is
overwhelming.
So it's important to like takeaway that the politics of it and
make the actual impactimportant.
(27:18):
So I, I think there's ways tosort of make it fun for, for
your kids and just something youdo, you know, make sure you
bring them to that primary raceand the city council runoff and
all of those things.
So they also know that votingisn't every four years, it's
really often in America.
Um, and so keeping keeping thatin mind is something I think is,
(27:41):
is good for kids and will helpthem be voters, you know, start
raising that 18 to 29 turnoutrate.
That's right.
When you have an eight year old
Speaker 1 (27:49):
That's right.
Make it matter while they'reyoung.
So I have two questions.
So you mentioned, you know, youdid, obviously you did so much
research for this book and youspoke to so many, uh, young
activists.
Um, did you come across anyonethat, or a group of, of young
(28:10):
adults that were like, I have nointerest in voting,
Speaker 2 (28:13):
You know, you would get that, you know, it do two
answers.
Number one, I was for reportingthe book and figuring out what
people are trying to do.
Right.
I was often at places wherepeople were engaged, but
certainly in, you know, Iattended and really great event
that, um, endeavor that talentmedia agency, Nashville called
(28:34):
party at the polls, where theyhad, um, seeing in the morning,
and then there was a walk soearly boat, which was just such
a great
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In Chicago with a chance, the rapper, they did a
party to the polls as well.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It's so it's such a great idea and something that
people can be more of.
I mean, I think we've alsogotten so much better at using,
um, or celebrities have gottenbetter at using their outreach
and more specific ways.
So not just showing up at arally and saying vote, but
turning it into action items,which is the most important
thing I think.
(29:12):
Um, but you know, certainly inthe crowd at that, for instance,
there were people who had beenbrought by friends to come see
the free morning concert, youknow, Sheryl Crow and Jason
Isbell and all these wonderfulartists, um, who were a little
like, why am I here again?
But I think, you know, theanswer that I try to give to
(29:36):
people, especially, you know,that that question comes up even
from active of why should I voteif I live in it's all red or
blue because of the electoralcollege.
And people feel like their votedoesn't matter, but there's a
few things that seem to helppeople get over that hump, which
number one is pointing outsomething like, like you do as
(30:00):
you're teaching your kids,pointing out something that
matters to them on a local leveland saying, you know, this is
what we're voting for.
The coronavirus has given us avery stark example of how
important our mayors are, howimportant our governors are and
not just this, but how muchpower they have, you know, Hey,
make decisions that affect yourlives.
(30:21):
Usually, you know, all the time.
That's true.
It is true on a moment to momentbasis right now.
So is pointing that out topeople that this is something
that actually impacts you andthat you can and should make a
choice about.
It's usually helpful.
Also just helping people make aplan, you know, doing the,
alright, let's look up rightnow.
(30:42):
Are you registered?
If you're not to register rightnow and then helping, if it's
really close to the election,say, all right, let's look up
your polling place.
Let me help you do that.
Um, do you have a job where youwork a shift from 4:00 PM to
10:00 PM?
Okay.
Well, let's put on your calendarthat you're going to vote
directly after lunch that day,you know, really people who are
(31:03):
uncertain about voting or thinkit doesn't matter.
If you can just get past thatfirst hump of this is why it
matters.
Then helping make a plan isreally important.
Um, and then the last thing forlike the sort of bigger, why my
vote, isn't gonna change thepresidential election type
argument, which, I mean, I thinkit helps to concede that.
(31:26):
Yes, you're probably right.
You're right vote.
Isn't a presidential election.
True.
But when you go vote forpresident, all of those other
things are on the ballot too.
So while you're there, you mightas well choose a president.
Yeah.
It's the top of the ticket.
(31:46):
Isn't so important.
Number two, to argue that yourvote does matter is even if
you're in a state that's all redor all blue and say you live in
a blue state, but you're a redvoter.
Well, the elected officialsshould still know how many
people feel that way becausethey don't just serve elected
officials.
(32:07):
It should not just serve thosethat voted for them.
Their jobs is to serve everybodyand they should know.
So how people feel the only wayif you live in a state, you
know, opposite.
If you live in a state that'smostly red and you'd like to
turn it blue.
Well, how was it ever going toturn blue if you don't show up
(32:30):
and vote?
And so the people who makedecisions about how much money
to put into races, how muchdollars to give if they don't,
that there are a significantnumber of people or a growing
number of people or a tinynumber of people they would like
to get, you know, make a biggernumber, a larger number of
people would just, you're givinga way.
(32:52):
I have Hamilton too in my headcurrently for my six year old,
but I'm just like, phoning isyour shot or shot to tell people
how you feel and you gotta doit, you know, your phone does.
It just does matter.
Um, and I, I do, I amsympathetic to the electoral
(33:14):
college arguments, but I just,you still got to show up, um,
and represent your ideals andthe ideals you would like your
leaders to have.
And the more people who thinklike you, the closer you get to
those ideals being put intolaws,
Speaker 1 (33:31):
I agree that this is such a great conversation.
You know, I was a part andreally helping out with the New
York chapter of I am a voter.
I love them.
And I was so pleased when youshared that there's a chapter
I'm talking about.
I am a voter in what they'redoing and using the members, uh,
(33:54):
influence, uh, like youmentioned earlier with endeavor
and their, a party at the pollsin Nashville to really bring
people together and, andpossibly give them that reason
why they should be, uh,participating, um, in all
elections.
Right?
So,
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Sorry, I didn't mean to rap, but I, to talk brag,
however you want to call itabout, I am a voter a minute.
What I love so much about thatis, um, you know, one of the
cofounders, Madonna, Dioni her,she wanted to normalize, voting
in a way that it's just part ofwho you are and it's something
you do every time.
And I do think, I think thatthat language is powerful.
(34:35):
Um, and so seeing thateverywhere and having people
that you idolize or respect orwhatever you do, them saying it,
and then for them putting itdirectly into action of
registering to vote.
And let me tell you, who'svoting today.
Let me tell you deadlines.
And all of those things are justso important.
(34:55):
I mean, you know, if everyonecould say I am a voter, it would
change the world.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
And even I am a future voter.
I love that.
And it just hearkens to what youwere saying, like start them
young, start normalizing thisprocess at a very young age.
And then it just becomes a, youknow, a part of the fabric of
their lives.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
It really is.
And if you, you know, anotherthing that people who work with
young voters, um, all say isthat, you know, if you get
someone to vote in the firstelection, they're probably gonna
vote in the second.
If they vote in the third,you're very likely to have a
lifetime voter.
You know, it's a, it's a habit,absolutely habit, um, you know,
good, a good habit.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
We can, all we can all pick up.
We all need to have this goodhabit.
Well, Aaron, I just want tothank you again for taking the
time out of your day to be on noneed to ask podcasts.
This book is so important.
Friends.
I will link it in thedescription.
I encourage you to not only getthe adult version, but also get
(36:00):
the children's version for ageseight to 12 years old, we need
to start normalizing the votingprocess.
De-stigmatize it, make sureeveryone feels comfortable.
And if we get them at a youngage and make it a part of their
habit, then we'll haveconsistent future voters.
(36:24):
And that is something thatobviously we all need.
So thank you for boating.
Thank you, Aaron, for makingthis book available until we
meet again, be safe, be well andgo vote.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
[inaudible].
Welcome to another edition of no need to ask
podcast.
My name is Amani Duncan, and Iwill be your host on this
journey.
For this episode.
I have the pleasure of speakingwith Aaron Geiger Smith, who is
a journalist turned author.
The book that we will discussthat Aaron wrote is one that I
(00:23):
feel is so timely and soimportant.
It's entitled.
Thank you for voting.
So without further ado, let'swelcome Erin to no need to as
podcasts.
Hi Erin.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hi, thanks so much for having me.
I'm excited to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Thank you for making yourself available, you know,
with everything going on.
Um, boy, there's a lot going onbetween this novel pandemic, you
know, and all of the civilunrest that we're dealing with
with black lives matters, andthen we can't forget voting,
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Right?
And that all goes together.
It turns out things cometogether.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It's time for change across the board.
It's, you know, we are forced tolook at the way we interact with
each other and, and the way welive, we're forced to look at,
um, our political environmentand most importantly, who will
be voted into lead this countryof ours.
Um, so thank you for voting.
(01:28):
Um, it's received tremendousreviews and everyone it is
currently available.
Um, online, you could go toAmazon and as always, I will
make sure there is a link, adirect link in the episode
description.
Um, but Aaron, I read that theoverall goal of the book is to
increase voter turnout byhelping voters feel more
(01:50):
educated, empowered, andinspired.
Yes.
I have a new voter first timevoter
Speaker 2 (02:02):
[inaudible]
Speaker 1 (02:02):
We were talking and, you know, kind of just going
through the importance of votingwith him and you know, how the
process works and pretty muchaddressing any questions that he
had.
And funny enough, the onequestion he had was, well, you
actually had two questions.
The first one was, where do Igo?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Right?
Absolutely.
Last question.
Always.
What do I wear?
Oh, I like that.
Listen.
I think, you know, you want toconsider when you're doing
something important, you'd liketo look your best, whatever
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Was, he was a little tentative about the whole
process.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Absolutely.
You know, I learned so muchwriting this book, but one of
the things was that can beintimidating.
And of course it can, anytimeanything you're doing for the
first time, it's intimidating.
Um, I also realized, you know,as we all explore, um, the
different ways that privilegehas infected, affected our lives
(03:15):
and different privileges.
One of the things that Irealized was that my mom took me
to vote as I was growing up.
And not only did she do that,I'm from a tiny town.
And so voting was you drive twominutes in front of our little
library, walk in, you know, thepoll workers.
I mean, one of the things I sayin the children's edition of
(03:36):
this book is I enjoyed itbecause I'm a nosy person, which
is why I'm a reporter.
And so you walked in, I heard mymom chat with the poll workers.
I listened for any good gossip.
She would vote.
And it took 10 minutes.
So voting to me was this age ofsay you did and be a pretty easy
thing to do in writing thisbook.
(03:57):
I learned because there arehurdles in places like voter ID
and just all these differentthings that you need to know
depending on which state youlive in.
And if you've never done itbefore, it's strange and
unusual.
And, and you know, here, when Igo to vote New York city, I
don't know any of the pollworkers obviously.
And if you're a young person,you go in the poll workers may
(04:18):
not look like you.
They may are likely to be mucholder than you, right?
So it's just a thing that weneed to do so much better about
educating and normalizing.
And I think discussing what youdo or don't need to wear is a
great conversation to come asyou are, is the answer.
But, you know, it's all these,these little and big things we
(04:41):
need to do so much better abouttalking about and starting to
talk about to would be voters.
You know, when they're younger,
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I completely agree.
Yeah.
It was just, it was soinsightful because we, you know,
my husband and I, we just didn'tthink he would ask these types
of questions and then really,you know, through continuous
conversation really nailed downthat he was, he was, I wouldn't
say scared, just extremelytentative of the unknown, which
(05:13):
could sway a young person toavoid it completely.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah.
That was, I grew to appreciatethat as an issue so much, um,
what 18 year old loves to go dosomething they've never done
before that they don't knowenough about what 40 year old
likes to go do something thatthey've never done before that
they know nothing about.
Um, so that's why in the book, Ifocus so much on process.
(05:39):
I mean, it starts with thehistory of how different groups
got the vote.
And I think that's so importantto know.
And then the middle section is,um, what gets people to vote,
how you can help your friends.
Um, and then I have explainersof voting topics that everyone
finds confusing, likegerrymandering and polling media
and, um, you know, so thosethings that we all have
(06:00):
questions on.
Um, but I made sure to end thebook with a checklist of what
you can do today, what you needto do 40 days out, 30 days out,
10 days out, and then onelection day to make things
easier for you.
And to make sure you canconvince all your friends to
join you too.
So practical was so important tome because the more I learned,
(06:21):
the more I realized that's wherewe're not doing well enough for,
for our kids and our friends andour colleagues.
So
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Exactly.
I love how you format it.
The book I love that it is inthree sections, you know, how we
got the vote, how to get peopleto vote and no, before you vote,
um, it makes it just reallyconcise and less intimidating.
I also, I, it really does.
(06:49):
I also appreciate how, um,straightforward it is and how
you, you know, discuss thehistory of voting, um, the long,
you know, battle blackAmericans, women, and native
Americans among, uh, many hadto, you know, fight for the
right to vote.
Um, and then you, you know, youeven touch on our current
(07:10):
problems about low voterparticipation and voting
inequality.
We can literally turn to
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It's cotton was kind of our first eye-opener during
[inaudible] and then, yeah.
And then Georgia had extremelylong lines.
Um, you know, I think long linesare something that we're
learning to look at in a betterway, which is everyone can vote.
And that's one of the bestthings about us, and that's
(07:37):
true, but what's not true isit's not easy for everyone to
vote.
And, you know, long lines arevoter suppression.
You can't exactly one.
Anytime we're expecting anyoneto wait an hour, much less seven
hours means something has gonewrong.
It may be, it may have been apurposeful thing to try to keep
(07:59):
people not from voting, or itmight have been poor planning
and under-staffing, or amechanical problem with the
machines, but whatever it is ithas to be addressed.
Um, and I think we're startingto all as voters and, um,
citizens focus so much more onthose issues.
And I think that that's such animportant thing, just
(08:19):
understanding voter suppressionand what it is and where it
comes from is obviously thefirst step of making
improvements.
Um, and so that's why I wantedto highlight both the history of
look, how long those fights tovote were and how specific and
strategic people had to be, um,you know, with seeing the black
lives matter protest.
(08:40):
It's so easy to immediatelythink about the civil rights
protest.
Um, the violence at Selma that,you know, finally led nearly
directly to the voting rightsact and then even the women's
suffrage, which I think so manyof us look at as we see the
parades and the pictures ofwomen in these white dresses.
And it's almost thought of as agreat thing that happened, and
(09:01):
it is small and we're nearingthe hundredth year anniversary
of the 19th amendment.
And that is a thing tocelebrate, but you have to also
look at that.
It was a 70 plus year fight, afull generation, multiple
generations of women fightingfor the vote.
And, um, that movement was notwithout its racial difficulties
at all.
(09:21):
And, you know, as we celebratethe hundredth anniversary, it's
so important that every time wetalk about it, we note the giant
asterisk that it has, which isit gave women all right to vote,
but it didn't mean all womenwere able to vote.
So it would be, you know, from1920, until 1965 with the voting
rights act were so many groups,including black Americans,
(09:42):
obviously Asian Americans,native Americans, we're continue
to not be able to easily voteand so many parts of the
country.
So it's just part of the book.
I don't want to talk about thehistory when I talk about the
history is wanting to celebrateand note those milestones, but
point out how hard it was to getthere.
And then the things that cameafter that made it a continuous
(10:06):
struggle, you know, episode thisvery second.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I really appreciate that point of view because, you
know, whatever movement, I mean,the black lives matter black
lives matters movement isturning out to be the biggest
movement in American history.
And I always caution people, orI should say, remind people that
(10:34):
you do have a right to know thehistory behind the history.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah.
I respond really.
I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Exactly.
Because if you want to be anactivist or if you want to do
your part big or small, you needto, you know, be, come from a
place of facts and knowledge.
Um, so that you're able to speakconfidently on any issue.
(11:02):
Right.
But I want to go back to votersuppression and just ask your,
your point of view on it.
Voter suppression is not new.
It's, it's been a part of thefabric of America, um, in some
shape or form.
Okay.
And so the fact that it's stillgoing on now, I, I have to
(11:25):
think, you know, is it justsystemic?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yes.
I think that's the short answer.
Yes.
Um, yeah.
You know, from the beginning ofthe country, you know, even at
the start, when they'reconsidering who all should have
the vote, it wasn't as if theidea to give women and black
Americans, the vote didn't existeven at the start of the
(11:52):
country, in some cases, womenand free black men.
Um, and then it was, you know,taking in a way as time went on.
But the point is that the ideawas there.
I think in all of thesesituations, someone knows the
right thing to do from thestart.
It's just not always done.
It's like the someone knows theright thing to do, and it's
getting to the point of whereenough people decide to do the
(12:16):
right thing.
Um, and that is that ebbs andflow of our voting rights
history.
And any time that the vote wasexpanded almost immediately,
some people gotten back rooms orat the very front of the room
and decided how to narrow it.
I mean, that happened after the15th amendment, which gave, um,
(12:36):
black men the right to vote.
And, you know, that's was sortof the start of Jim Crow laws
that lasted until 1965.
Um, and still today, when wehave voter suppression laws,
they're often referred to as JimCrow like laws.
Um, and I think that's anaccurate description.
Um, so it is just unfortunatelypart of our voting history and,
(12:59):
you know, for the basic reasonthat people who have power like
to keep it.
And I mean, it just is, is, isthe way it is, which is why it's
important.
Anytime you vote to think aboutthat elective elected official
is going to do and how theythink about voting rights.
I really hope that part of thebook is having people think
(13:20):
about voting rights as part of aqualification for their elected
officials.
Um, you know, I very much stressthat I I'm a democracy true
believer in that I really wantevery single person to vote
everyone.
And so I almost, you know, anyof these laws make barriers for
young people or black Americansor Latino Americans or native
(13:44):
Americans.
I just, I like still, even afterall these years at a cellular
level, don't understand the ideaof being American and then
trying to take away someone'svote.
Um, but I wish we could all comein and have that and then
understand all the issuesresearching the history.
It was, it's hard.
It is a hard thing too.
(14:05):
Of course you love your country.
And then you realize, youthought you knew all of its
flaws.
And then you look at thetimeline and it hits you like a
ton of bricks, honestly.
Um, but then the next side ofthat is I covered the history
and then I went and toconferences with young people,
getting people out to vote.
Yeah.
I mean, I went from truly kindof wrapping up the history, um,
(14:28):
to really starting the fullreporting of the book.
And the first thing I did was goto, um, Yara Shahidi, the young
actress and activist has anamazing organization called 18
by 18.
That for both what was hoped tobe a story that didn't work out,
the luckily was able to use allof it in the book.
And I just went from the darkhistory to this, you know, also
(14:52):
it helped that it was in sunnyLA and the grass was green
literally.
And with all these young people,more than a hundred young people
from all 50 States, thereforethe sole purpose of learning how
to get their peers to vote andget them more civically
involved.
And it was just amazing.
I mean, that is the true wordfor it.
(15:13):
And so as dark as our historysometimes is when you look at
these people, these youngpeople, especially who are just
doing their part to make thingsbetter.
Um, and you know, one of thethings that URS said at that
conference is they just want tomake it a little easier for
young people to vote.
And that's all that we allshould be doing.
(15:36):
And it is, there are verydifficult things, you know, you
need systemic change, you needchanges in laws, all of these
things, but if all adults andyoung people choose five friends
or colleagues that they're goingto make sure and vote, that's a
game changer.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Absolutely.
Sometimes when we look at thestains that are on the fabric of
America and decide that we needto say no more, right?
The task at hand could feel sobig that it may turn people off.
Like, Oh my gosh, where do weeven start?
(16:11):
This is insurmountable.
This is hundreds and hundreds ofyears of suppression.
And the list goes on and on.
So I always recommend to peoplestart small, start small.
Like it's almost like the pebblethat you're throwing into the
ocean.
(16:31):
And at first it just makes thislittle, this little ripple, but
then you continue to throw moreand more pebbles, bigger rocks.
And eventually you have themomentum to create a wave.
Um, so what Yara said is soimportant, you know, it may seem
like, well, that's it, right?
Of course that's not, it it'sjust a starting point.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, the other thing that if you do have someone who
says, that's not it there's datato back up that it's in a huge
way that any voting experts, youtalk to says the biggest
influence on getting people tovote is you it's you on your
friends and your family and yourcolleagues because getting
(17:14):
someone to vote, especiallythey're more likely to vote if
it's a personal connection,which is why one of the only
things that really makes adifference that candidates can
do is having big canvassing,Kings knocking on doors.
That's a little different thecoronavirus era, but that's one
of the things that everyoneagrees works is the candidate or
a representative orrepresentative of the cause or
(17:36):
whatever it is.
You're trying to get pastknocking on doors and talking to
people and answering questionsin a genuine way.
And that flows down to youtalking to your friends and
family.
And I made sure to say in thebook, your online friends counts
here.
I mean, that's using socialmedia is hugely important.
And so that number one, theexperts say that's works.
(17:58):
So it's not a small thing.
And then the other data pointthat I was most almost of all
the, of all the data in thebook, and there's a lot moved
by, was that in 2014.
So comparing midterm election,the midterm election, because
presidential elections alwayshave higher turnout across the
board.
So when you're, when you'relooking at midterm, you compare
(18:19):
midterm to midterm.
So for 2014, 18 to 29 year olds,our youngest voter voted at 20%
like terrible.
Some statistics say 19 someday21, but we'll say 20% in 2018
after the March for our livesmovement, which was huge for
young people in B building upthe 2018 midterms.
(18:44):
And, you know, climate change isa huge issue for young people.
There was so much more peoplespeaking out about that, just
all the activism that happenedleading up to the 2018 midterms
that jumped from that about 20%to 36%.
Wow.
16%.
Wow.
Turnout leap is massive.
(19:04):
I mean, massive.
So all of these young peoplethat are doing all of this work
just wanted to build on it.
So the hope for 2020 is thatthat young people voter turnout,
which is the lowest of any grouphas been for a long time.
They're a hard group to get tovote.
And again, I don't think it'sbecause of apathy.
(19:26):
I think it's because we as grownup fully grown up, don't do a
good job of educating them.
I don't think it's on them.
I think it's on us.
And I think everyone should, ifyou're going to complain about
young people not voting andyou're outside of that age group
or at the top of that age group,by the time you're going to stop
, it's time to do your part aswell.
(19:48):
Let's think of it as, as on you,but they are doing a ton of work
in their own with their ownpeers.
And so I have hope for 2020.
I really, I really do.
And I do.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I do too.
You know, it's, the youth willlead the way every generation,
the youth stand up.
And I am so proud of today'syouth.
Um, they are so bold, so vocal,they are staring racism and
inequality squarely in the eyes.
(20:21):
And I'm not saying that it'sonly the youth with these, uh,
civil unrest movements, but theyare the majority.
And so therefore I feelencouraged that if this black
light, just for example, theblack lives matters movement is
the biggest movement in Americanhistory led by the youth.
(20:45):
There's nothing that can't be,as far as I'm concerned, there's
nothing that can't, that canstand in their way,
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Still moving.
How, um, that, that, thatmovement, the black lives matter
movement, the participants spanall races.
And that obviously is going tobe the difference maker.
I'm a white woman and I havenieces who are also white and
they're 16 and 18.
And the brilliance that comesfrom their Instagram and the way
(21:16):
that they speak about speakingout in the way that they do
speak out, um, is something thatI would have neither know nor
thought.
And I mean, I certainly haveconsidered myself then and would
now as someone who wanted theworld to be a better place and
hoped for quality and all ofthose things, but I was nowhere
(21:37):
near where they are as far asexpressing it and talking about
being an ally and all of thosethings that it is clear to all
of us now, the importance ofthose steps.
I mean, it is, it is this reallyimpressive.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
It is.
Um, you know, and that's why,you know, I always say I'm
cautiously optimistic becauseyou know, like I stated earlier,
we've been here before,
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right.
And there's so much work to do.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
There's so much work to do.
And I've seen the stop start,stop, start.
So I'm cautiously optimistic,but that's beginning to
dissipate because of theconsistency and the, and the
fervor that is continuing.
I'm just very encouraged.
(22:25):
And I think the importance is tonot separate the issues.
Again, it could feel daunting,but voters voting rights is a
part of, like you mentionedearlier, civil rights, it's not
separate, it's not separate.
So if we want equality acrossthe board, if we want all lives
(22:46):
to matter, voting goes righthand in hand.
So I just feel like right nowwith everything going on, it can
feel exhausting, but I actuallyfeel, I I'm excited because I
feel like we're at the precipiceof change, real change.
Um, not just, you know, tickinga box that we've seen so many
(23:09):
times before people are, arerealizing that their voices
together is so powerful
Speaker 2 (23:18):
In both the adult book and the young readers
version, which is eight to 12.
I talk about taking your kids tovote, but not just taking them
along, but questions that thekids can ask the parents and
what the parents should tell thechildren.
So, um, you know, if you're,you're a kid, I have to say, you
know, the night before help lookup where you're polling places,
(23:41):
um, if you're the parent showthem that you are, you know, go
to vote.org or any of those toshow that you are registered,
tell them that you had toregister 30 days in advance, or
if you're at a state where youcould register tomorrow, you
know, state specific answers.
Um, but also to tell your childwhen you would have first been
able to vote, you know, as a,I'm a white woman in Texas, I
(24:04):
would have been able to vote inthe primary, um, just before the
1920 amendment.
So you could vote in Texas as awhite woman a little earlier.
Um, and, but, you know, if youare a black woman in Georgia,
we'll go back to there, say youtwo could have voted in 1920,
but there were all thesereasons.
And, you know, if you can, as aparent, find out when your
(24:26):
grandmother or grandfathervoted, so you can kind of share
that story.
Um, when I was writing the book,my mom pointed out to me that my
great grandmother was born in1900.
So she would have been among thefirst women who were able to
vote, um, when she turned 21,you know, he was like on that.
And I know I loved, I lovedincredible.
(24:48):
Um, so, you know, talk aboutthings like that, talk about who
you're voting for and not justpresident, but that you also
vote for mayor.
If you're voting for schoolboard, that's something kids can
really understand, um, you know,school board members make
decisions on extracurricularactivities and, you know,
whatever it is that your kid isinto that next, what you're
(25:11):
voting for to thinks theyunderstand city council members
decide on, you know, if it's astoplight or, you know, whether
it's a new restaurant can havesidewalk seating, if you're in
New York, you know, whatever itis, um, that's a little lower
than the city council level.
And you have just connect thosethings to things that the kids
can understand and bring in boththe history and current
(25:36):
procedures.
If you're in a state where youhave to have an ID, tell them,
you know, I have to bring thisID and this, this kind of ID
works.
Um, normalizing the process isvery much.
And then another thing that Iforced my own son to do is to
ask the poll worker a question,whatever it is, you know, can he
feed the thing into the machinewhen he was three, he wants to
(25:58):
ask a very important, relevantquestion about Batman, you know,
whatever it doesn't matter.
The point is that those peopleare there to help you and
they're not scary.
Um, and so, yeah, it's all it'sabout normalizing.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
And then, you know, you can kind of
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Make it a little fun by asking all these questions
and then, you know, the next dayto make sure and say, who won,
who didn't, this is why, um, Ithink it's important for parents
to tell their children whothey're voting for, because I
think that that helpsunderstand, not just understand
family values, but also whatsort of decisions that those
(26:37):
officials are going to make.
Um, but you know, where possibleI do urge to say, this is why
someone might vote for the otherside, you know, there are there
issues like that they couldunderstand, but it just helps
them know why politics actuallyis important to their lives
because it isn't politics, it'seducation, it's healthcare it's,
(26:57):
um, it's, it's all of thosethings.
And it is easy to be superannoyed with all of these
politicians by the time phoningday comes, if you are seeing
commercials constantly andscience constantly, the news is
overwhelming.
So it's important to like takeaway that the politics of it and
make the actual impactimportant.
(27:18):
So I, I think there's ways tosort of make it fun for, for
your kids and just something youdo, you know, make sure you
bring them to that primary raceand the city council runoff and
all of those things.
So they also know that votingisn't every four years, it's
really often in America.
Um, and so keeping keeping thatin mind is something I think is,
(27:41):
is good for kids and will helpthem be voters, you know, start
raising that 18 to 29 turnoutrate.
That's right.
When you have an eight year old
Speaker 1 (27:49):
That's right.
Make it matter while they'reyoung.
So I have two questions.
So you mentioned, you know, youdid, obviously you did so much
research for this book and youspoke to so many, uh, young
activists.
Um, did you come across anyonethat, or a group of, of young
(28:10):
adults that were like, I have nointerest in voting,
Speaker 2 (28:13):
You know, you would get that, you know, it do two
answers.
Number one, I was for reportingthe book and figuring out what
people are trying to do.
Right.
I was often at places wherepeople were engaged, but
certainly in, you know, Iattended and really great event
that, um, endeavor that talentmedia agency, Nashville called
(28:34):
party at the polls, where theyhad, um, seeing in the morning,
and then there was a walk soearly boat, which was just such
a great
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In Chicago with a chance, the rapper, they did a
party to the polls as well.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It's so it's such a great idea and something that
people can be more of.
I mean, I think we've alsogotten so much better at using,
um, or celebrities have gottenbetter at using their outreach
and more specific ways.
So not just showing up at arally and saying vote, but
turning it into action items,which is the most important
thing I think.
(29:12):
Um, but you know, certainly inthe crowd at that, for instance,
there were people who had beenbrought by friends to come see
the free morning concert, youknow, Sheryl Crow and Jason
Isbell and all these wonderfulartists, um, who were a little
like, why am I here again?
But I think, you know, theanswer that I try to give to
(29:36):
people, especially, you know,that that question comes up even
from active of why should I voteif I live in it's all red or
blue because of the electoralcollege.
And people feel like their votedoesn't matter, but there's a
few things that seem to helppeople get over that hump, which
number one is pointing outsomething like, like you do as
(30:00):
you're teaching your kids,pointing out something that
matters to them on a local leveland saying, you know, this is
what we're voting for.
The coronavirus has given us avery stark example of how
important our mayors are, howimportant our governors are and
not just this, but how muchpower they have, you know, Hey,
make decisions that affect yourlives.
(30:21):
Usually, you know, all the time.
That's true.
It is true on a moment to momentbasis right now.
So is pointing that out topeople that this is something
that actually impacts you andthat you can and should make a
choice about.
It's usually helpful.
Also just helping people make aplan, you know, doing the,
alright, let's look up rightnow.
(30:42):
Are you registered?
If you're not to register rightnow and then helping, if it's
really close to the election,say, all right, let's look up
your polling place.
Let me help you do that.
Um, do you have a job where youwork a shift from 4:00 PM to
10:00 PM?
Okay.
Well, let's put on your calendarthat you're going to vote
directly after lunch that day,you know, really people who are
(31:03):
uncertain about voting or thinkit doesn't matter.
If you can just get past thatfirst hump of this is why it
matters.
Then helping make a plan isreally important.
Um, and then the last thing forlike the sort of bigger, why my
vote, isn't gonna change thepresidential election type
argument, which, I mean, I thinkit helps to concede that.
(31:26):
Yes, you're probably right.
You're right vote.
Isn't a presidential election.
True.
But when you go vote forpresident, all of those other
things are on the ballot too.
So while you're there, you mightas well choose a president.
Yeah.
It's the top of the ticket.
(31:46):
Isn't so important.
Number two, to argue that yourvote does matter is even if
you're in a state that's all redor all blue and say you live in
a blue state, but you're a redvoter.
Well, the elected officialsshould still know how many
people feel that way becausethey don't just serve elected
officials.
(32:07):
It should not just serve thosethat voted for them.
Their jobs is to serve everybodyand they should know.
So how people feel the only wayif you live in a state, you
know, opposite.
If you live in a state that'smostly red and you'd like to
turn it blue.
Well, how was it ever going toturn blue if you don't show up
(32:30):
and vote?
And so the people who makedecisions about how much money
to put into races, how muchdollars to give if they don't,
that there are a significantnumber of people or a growing
number of people or a tinynumber of people they would like
to get, you know, make a biggernumber, a larger number of
people would just, you're givinga way.
(32:52):
I have Hamilton too in my headcurrently for my six year old,
but I'm just like, phoning isyour shot or shot to tell people
how you feel and you gotta doit, you know, your phone does.
It just does matter.
Um, and I, I do, I amsympathetic to the electoral
(33:14):
college arguments, but I just,you still got to show up, um,
and represent your ideals andthe ideals you would like your
leaders to have.
And the more people who thinklike you, the closer you get to
those ideals being put intolaws,
Speaker 1 (33:31):
I agree that this is such a great conversation.
You know, I was a part andreally helping out with the New
York chapter of I am a voter.
I love them.
And I was so pleased when youshared that there's a chapter
I'm talking about.
I am a voter in what they'redoing and using the members, uh,
(33:54):
influence, uh, like youmentioned earlier with endeavor
and their, a party at the pollsin Nashville to really bring
people together and, andpossibly give them that reason
why they should be, uh,participating, um, in all
elections.
Right?
So,
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Sorry, I didn't mean to rap, but I, to talk brag,
however you want to call itabout, I am a voter a minute.
What I love so much about thatis, um, you know, one of the
cofounders, Madonna, Dioni her,she wanted to normalize, voting
in a way that it's just part ofwho you are and it's something
you do every time.
And I do think, I think thatthat language is powerful.
(34:35):
Um, and so seeing thateverywhere and having people
that you idolize or respect orwhatever you do, them saying it,
and then for them putting itdirectly into action of
registering to vote.
And let me tell you, who'svoting today.
Let me tell you deadlines.
And all of those things are justso important.
(34:55):
I mean, you know, if everyonecould say I am a voter, it would
change the world.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
And even I am a future voter.
I love that.
And it just hearkens to what youwere saying, like start them
young, start normalizing thisprocess at a very young age.
And then it just becomes a, youknow, a part of the fabric of
their lives.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
It really is.
And if you, you know, anotherthing that people who work with
young voters, um, all say isthat, you know, if you get
someone to vote in the firstelection, they're probably gonna
vote in the second.
If they vote in the third,you're very likely to have a
lifetime voter.
You know, it's a, it's a habit,absolutely habit, um, you know,
good, a good habit.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
We can, all we can all pick up.
We all need to have this goodhabit.
Well, Aaron, I just want tothank you again for taking the
time out of your day to be on noneed to ask podcasts.
This book is so important.
Friends.
I will link it in thedescription.
I encourage you to not only getthe adult version, but also get
(36:00):
the children's version for ageseight to 12 years old, we need
to start normalizing the votingprocess.
De-stigmatize it, make sureeveryone feels comfortable.
And if we get them at a youngage and make it a part of their
habit, then we'll haveconsistent future voters.
(36:24):
And that is something thatobviously we all need.
So thank you for boating.
Thank you, Aaron, for makingthis book available until we
meet again, be safe, be well andgo vote.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
[inaudible].
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