September 17, 2024 • 15 mins
Erika L. Anthony, a native New Yorker, is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cleveland VOTES. Cleveland VOTES is a nonpartisan, democracy-building movement that works to reconstruct and strengthen power through active participation of our collective partners. Erika has held executive and senior positions with the Ohio Transformation Fund, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and Oriana House, Inc. She also serves on a number of boards and commissions in Cleveland. Erika holds a B.S. in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Public Administration from the Maxine G. Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Zihart Radio's CEOs.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You should know.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss Elections, in voting, Elections in voting, hot
topics right now. Except when folks feel like their vote
doesn't matter. The team at Cleveland Votes is doing the
hard work of enfranchising the disenfranchised for ten years. We
sat down with CEO Erica Anthony to learn more. Erica,
(00:25):
I think that voting is on everybody's minds, whether some
people want to vote for certain candidates or don't want
to vote for certain candidates. There's voter participation drives all
over the place, and there's also the feeling that in
some cases we're trying to suppress votes. Can you talk
to me a little bit about the importance of voting
and why you founded Cleveland Votes.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, definitely, and thank you so much for having me today.
I want to channel one of my teammates, our senior strategist, Leak,
so she often encourages us and to remember that our
vote is not just for us, it's really for our
entire community. And so, you know, if we're thinking of
the act of voting, which is what it is, there's
many ways to be civically engaged voting is one of
(01:10):
those ways. If we only look at it as a
singular act or a singular day, that we're doing something
for myself, then we're not really thinking about what an
equitable democracy is.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
The democracy is not for a person, It is for
the people.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And so when we think about it being for the people,
there is a collective responsibility that all of us have
to contribute in some shape or form to really mitigate
the challenges in the turmoil that we're seeing in our community.
That we all have to be change agents and really
thinking about, wow, what does my again, one act do
(01:45):
to the collective whole of humanity and to our society.
So for us it is a challenging time. There have
been many changes this year. We are a nonpartisan organization
and so our tagline is Educate, connect and empower. It
is important to us that we're not telling people how
to vote.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
We are wanting to make.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Sure that they have access to the tools so they
can make the best and most informed decision. For at
least the last ten years and probably more, you know,
we've been in this era of mis and disinformation and
so a lot of people just check out, and I
don't blame them, right, if someone that does this work
every day. I was just saying to the ups man
and my elevator yesterday, you know, I'm tired of getting
(02:25):
the text messages also, you know, and it's like, obviously,
I'm committed to this work, but sometimes you know, you
don't know how the information is coming to you. You
don't know if you can trust the information. And so
we've taken great pride over the last ten years in
creating space in our community that we are one of
those many trusted resources that people can go to so
(02:45):
again they can make the best and most informed decision. So,
while there have been many changes, most notably with our
presidential candidates, we have to think beyond even what's at
the top of the ticket. Here in Ohio, specifically, we
have our US Senate rate, we have Supreme Court races.
Depending on the community that you live in, you might
have a school levee, you might have a local council
(03:07):
race happening. And so when we think about our day
to day activity, and I always try to tell people,
you know, transport yourself to you know, what does your
day to day life look like. You may have a family,
you may be in school, you may be seeking services
for healthcare or education services in some shape or form.
We're all actively involved in our democracy, whether you're doing
(03:27):
work at Cleveland Votes or legal Women Voters or other entities.
You're living in a society that is dictated by decisions
made by politicians, right, end of story. And so it's
a question that we have to ask ourselves do we
want more access, to be more more equitable access?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Right? And if we do, then we have to be
change agents.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You kind of answered my next question already, which is great,
as I was going to ask. As someone who personally
has always participated in the democracy and kind of actually
enjoys the election day, I often wonder what disenfranchises people.
Why do they check out of the system, is because
they feel like it's already stacked against them or their
(04:05):
vote doesn't matter. And I think you answered some really eloquently.
How they get disinfranchised, How do we re engage them?
How do you and Cleveland Votes bring them back to
becoming a voter?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, I mean I think first we have to acknowledge
the reality of what's happening. By design, there are individuals
who have power in our country, in our state locally
who do want to suppress the vote. They do want
to limit who has access to the vote, and so
understanding that things are by design, we have to figure
out how to undesign them right. And part of undesigning
(04:38):
them is having honest and transparent conversations with folks.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'll take us back four years.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We were not only working on the presidential election, but
we were also doing census work. And it was the
first year that this US Census was made available online.
People are philipping out. They're like, you know, I do
all these other transactions online, but I don't know if
I want to share this level of detail about my
personal life, my whole household, and my family's life. And
we had to help them and educate them to understand
(05:07):
that the reason why we take the census is so
our communities have access to resources, right and historically black
and brown communities have been undercounted. So if we just
think about the city of Cleveland alone, as a majority
black city, what would it mean if we had an
undercount But we're going to get less resources not because
we have less people, but because less people took the census,
(05:28):
and that for the federal government is going to you know,
conduct a calculation that's going to say orright, Cleveland, you're
only getting this and maybe that's only ninety percent of
what we should or received. But having an undercount is
what leads to that. So part of how we engage
people is we're truth tellers, right, we call it as
it is. You know, we really try to make sure
that when we don't know an answer or we don't
(05:49):
know what the pathway looks for a particular issue or
a policy, we say that. But we also give them suggestions,
for one, how they can learn, how they can be involved,
and how they can engage. The second way we do
this is through really creative programming. You know, this work
for some may seem boring and you know, just a
little dry.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
We are not dry. We are not boring Cleveland bous.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
We like to turn it up so I can tell
play hard, hard, work hard, right, And so you know,
we think about ourselves as the person that we're serving, right,
we're servings to the community. And so when I think
about and my team thinks about an event or training
or workshop things.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Of that nature, what would I like to go to, right?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I don't want to just sit in a room and
hear a bunch of people talk to me and lecture
me and tell me what I'm supposed to do. No, Instead,
we're going to flip that on the script and we're
going to have fun. So one of the initiatives that
we introduce this year is more than My Art. We
are engaging with local artists and creatives in Cleveland and
we're saying to them, whether you identify as an activist
or not, just by the choice you've made to be
(06:46):
an artist, you are communicating a message. And what would
it look like if that message was told in a
way that helps us better tell our story?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Right, there's multiple ways to tell a story. We're here
on a podcast today.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Narrative and storytelling is so I tend to lean toward
the geeky stuff like research and stats, and that serves
a purpose for certain audiences, but not for all audiences.
So it's really empowering the artists and the creatives to say,
how can we make sure you know all that we
want you to know about elections and voting and then
help us more effectively engage people. So, as an example,
(07:19):
one of the groups is doing an event next week
called Slam Dunk the Vote. We are partnering with the
cavs and a local rec center and we're going to
have this fun family event, right, but we're also going
to educate people. We're going to register people at this
event and they're going to be able to understand how
they can be involved in the election.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
We're talking with Erica and Anthony, co founder of Cleveland Votes.
You' founded this ten years ago. Did you have any
idea it would last as long or be as big.
Talk to me about what led you to this work
and what the future looks like.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, so myself, I'm our co founder Crystal Brian Ajiman.
We didn't wake up one day and say we want
a co found on organization. We were both actively working
in the re entry space here Cleveland, supporting individuals who
have been impacted by the car soold system. And there
are a lot of urban myths about if I have
been convicted, can I vote? No? Those laws look do
(08:09):
look different in every state, but thankfully, here in Ohio,
it is actually a pretty seamless process. When someone returns
from incarceration, all they have to do is reregister. But
a lot of people don't know that both those impacted
by incarceration and the greater community well.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
And I think there's a fear there right going to happen?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Right, Where's my information going to go? Where's going to
track me?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You know?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Are they going to come to my house and ask
for information?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And so we really started this project and explicitly saying
project with an intention of just educating people coming out
of our Ohio prisons, in our local jail.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
That grew very organically.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Obviously, there are other populations that have been historically disenfranchised,
and so the more that we were out there, the
more that we were engaging with community, it just, over
the course of a number of years, is very organically
began to grow.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How can folks who are listening to the podcast today
get in evolved? How can they either engage with some
of your events to become more informed voters, or how
can they support the organization to help it continue to
grow and expand with this important.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Mission tons of ways.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
First stop is our website Cleveland votes dot com, Cleve
vote excuse me, don't you to my own website, so
thel votes dot com. That is our one stop shop.
We have an amazing communications team that is actively always
trying to make sure everything is up to date, and
so we actually have a voter activation page. On that
page you will find information including our twenty twenty four
(09:33):
election guide, So if you are starting to research and
think about what's going to be on the ballot, that's
a great guy to check out. And then we have
a myriad of resources Secretary of State, the Board of Elections,
and a bunch of our partners as well. We also
have an events page, so we have events kicking off
starting actually next week. Next week is National Voter Registration Day.
We can't just do a day, so we do a
(09:53):
week of action that's going to roll into rally for
the Culture, and then next month we also have an
event called pull Up to the Polls. So all those
events are on our website. I think the best way
to stay connected is signing up for our newsletter. We
don't indudate folks, We only send two out a month.
And then if you're a social media person, I think
definitely checking us out on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, slash x,
(10:15):
and Facebook. I think what I want to encourage people
to do is not only support us and support the
events that we're hosting, which is all in collaboration. We're
not doing any of our events by ourselves and our partners, but.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Also think about what do you want to do?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So we encourage people to think about, you know, making
an election plan that's not just about election day, but
also you know, what are other ways that you may
want to get involved. The Board of Elections is always
looking for poll workers. Those are paid positions. If you
have the availability to work on election day, that's a
great way to support. There's a national organization called Election Protection.
As we talked about a moment ago. We know that
(10:51):
some people experience challenges, and so having volunteers who can
be on the ground listening and making sure that everyone
is having a safe experience is really important. Tons of
nonprofits we just funded twenty six organizations earlier this summer
who are out actively working in the field. They all
I'm sure would greatly benefit from a volunteer or two.
(11:13):
And then also just thinking about what you can do
with your own little nucleus. Right, I tell people, you know,
don't forget about the neighbors and the families and the
cousins and the uncles. Right, can you just send a
quick group tat you know or group text to your
family and friends and say, hey, are you registered? The
deadline is October seventh. So it's just around the corner,
you know, make it a family fun event. You know,
That's how I started. You know, I went to the
(11:34):
polls with my parents right well before I even understood
where I was going and what I was watching and
what I was observing. But I was right there and
next to my mom and dad while they were casting
their ballot, as young as probably three or four years old.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Let's play MythBusters then, because you busted the myth about
incarcerated individuals, and we know in some states they can't vote. Yeah,
what are some of the other more common or even
more interesting misconceptions about the voting day or or the
voting process.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
So in twenty twenty three, legislation came into effect House
Bill four five eight that did actually change what is
acceptable as forms as far as the forms of ID.
So right now, in order to cast your ballot in person,
and that curves if you vote early or if you
go on election day, you have to have an unexpired
(12:22):
driver's license or state ID. In the past you were
accepted to, or forms of ID that were accepted included
things like a utility bill or a bank statement. Those
are no longer accepted, So it's really important that folks
have the proper form of ID. Another myth I think
is around accessibility. So we just did this whole series
(12:42):
around disability, individuals with disability and making sure they have access.
Anyone that has a disability is legally supposed to receive
curb side voting. They don't have to say what the
disability is. They just have to name that for the
workers at the Board of Elections. And at that point,
the Board of Elections will send out a bipartisan team,
a Republican and a Democrat, so that there is fair
(13:05):
equity and making sure that no one is being swayed
a certain way, and they will bring that person their
ballot and they will make sure that they sit there
and watch them complete their ballot and they bring it
back in. And so just understanding that for folks not
to feel intimidated if they have any physical mobility issues,
that they should still be receiving a fair and equitable
way to cast their ballot.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I think that's the most interesting and important thing we
can put out there today, is that while it may
not be as simple as brushing your teeth, it is
very easy to vote in Ohio, if you take one
or two steps and that vote really does matter and
that democracy is really important. So, Eric, anything you'd like
to add to the listeners as far as yes, we're
(13:47):
close as we record this podcast, we're close to both
the voter registration deadline and the actual November fifth general election,
but obviously there are elections in twenty twenty five and
twenty twenty six that matter. It's not just the presidential year.
Anything you want to share with the listeners that might
help them or might help our other folks get more
access to voting and help keep supporter suppression from becoming
(14:09):
a reality.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I invite folks to really think about civic engagement
as a spectrum. Right, There's not one way to be
actively involved, and so really it's about your own personal passion.
I say to folks often, you know, I'm not necessarily
the person that's going to be down at the protest,
not because I don't support that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Form of activism.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I just think I have different skill sets and different gifts,
and it's really about how do we blend our collective
gifts together to affect change, right, So me working with
folks that maybe are rallying for a particular cause again
I'm the geeky one, right, so I will be the
one helping write legislation or write some policy language or
things of that nature. It doesn't have to be the big,
grandiose thing. And I think that sometimes why people get intimidated.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
They're like, well, I.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Can't organize an event, I can't organize a rally. I
can't you know, do a lobby day or things of
that nature. Keep it simple, right. It could be a
porch conversation with your neighbors, right. It could be just
having coffee with your neighbors at one person's house and say, hey,
let's fill out our ballots together, right, and we can
have our computers out, we can have information up about
what's on the ballot, and let's do this together. It
(15:14):
could be writing postcards to your neighbors reminding them that
the election is coming up, or deadlines and things of
that nature. So really thinking about one, what are you
interested in? What are you passionate about? And then what's
the best way to exercise that passion in a way
of activating for change.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Cleveland Votes is at cil votes dot com. Yes, Erica Anthony,
this has been a fascinating conversation. Thanks for coming in today,
Thank you so much for having me, and this has
been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's show is produced
by Bob COATESID I'm Keith Hotchkiss. We'll see you next time.
This is Zihart Radio's CEOs.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You should know.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss Elections, in voting, Elections in voting, hot
topics right now. Except when folks feel like their vote
doesn't matter. The team at Cleveland Votes is doing the
hard work of enfranchising the disenfranchised for ten years. We
sat down with CEO Erica Anthony to learn more. Erica,
(00:25):
I think that voting is on everybody's minds, whether some
people want to vote for certain candidates or don't want
to vote for certain candidates. There's voter participation drives all
over the place, and there's also the feeling that in
some cases we're trying to suppress votes. Can you talk
to me a little bit about the importance of voting
and why you founded Cleveland Votes.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, definitely, and thank you so much for having me today.
I want to channel one of my teammates, our senior strategist, Leak,
so she often encourages us and to remember that our
vote is not just for us, it's really for our
entire community. And so, you know, if we're thinking of
the act of voting, which is what it is, there's
many ways to be civically engaged voting is one of
(01:10):
those ways. If we only look at it as a
singular act or a singular day, that we're doing something
for myself, then we're not really thinking about what an
equitable democracy is.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
The democracy is not for a person, It is for
the people.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And so when we think about it being for the people,
there is a collective responsibility that all of us have
to contribute in some shape or form to really mitigate
the challenges in the turmoil that we're seeing in our community.
That we all have to be change agents and really
thinking about, wow, what does my again, one act do
(01:45):
to the collective whole of humanity and to our society.
So for us it is a challenging time. There have
been many changes this year. We are a nonpartisan organization
and so our tagline is Educate, connect and empower. It
is important to us that we're not telling people how
to vote.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
We are wanting to make.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Sure that they have access to the tools so they
can make the best and most informed decision. For at
least the last ten years and probably more, you know,
we've been in this era of mis and disinformation and
so a lot of people just check out, and I
don't blame them, right, if someone that does this work
every day. I was just saying to the ups man
and my elevator yesterday, you know, I'm tired of getting
(02:25):
the text messages also, you know, and it's like, obviously,
I'm committed to this work, but sometimes you know, you
don't know how the information is coming to you. You
don't know if you can trust the information. And so
we've taken great pride over the last ten years in
creating space in our community that we are one of
those many trusted resources that people can go to so
(02:45):
again they can make the best and most informed decision. So,
while there have been many changes, most notably with our
presidential candidates, we have to think beyond even what's at
the top of the ticket. Here in Ohio, specifically, we
have our US Senate rate, we have Supreme Court races.
Depending on the community that you live in, you might
have a school levee, you might have a local council
(03:07):
race happening. And so when we think about our day
to day activity, and I always try to tell people,
you know, transport yourself to you know, what does your
day to day life look like. You may have a family,
you may be in school, you may be seeking services
for healthcare or education services in some shape or form.
We're all actively involved in our democracy, whether you're doing
(03:27):
work at Cleveland Votes or legal Women Voters or other entities.
You're living in a society that is dictated by decisions
made by politicians, right, end of story. And so it's
a question that we have to ask ourselves do we
want more access, to be more more equitable access?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Right? And if we do, then we have to be
change agents.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You kind of answered my next question already, which is great,
as I was going to ask. As someone who personally
has always participated in the democracy and kind of actually
enjoys the election day, I often wonder what disenfranchises people.
Why do they check out of the system, is because
they feel like it's already stacked against them or their
(04:05):
vote doesn't matter. And I think you answered some really eloquently.
How they get disinfranchised, How do we re engage them?
How do you and Cleveland Votes bring them back to
becoming a voter?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, I mean I think first we have to acknowledge
the reality of what's happening. By design, there are individuals
who have power in our country, in our state locally
who do want to suppress the vote. They do want
to limit who has access to the vote, and so
understanding that things are by design, we have to figure
out how to undesign them right. And part of undesigning
(04:38):
them is having honest and transparent conversations with folks.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'll take us back four years.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We were not only working on the presidential election, but
we were also doing census work. And it was the
first year that this US Census was made available online.
People are philipping out. They're like, you know, I do
all these other transactions online, but I don't know if
I want to share this level of detail about my
personal life, my whole household, and my family's life. And
we had to help them and educate them to understand
(05:07):
that the reason why we take the census is so
our communities have access to resources, right and historically black
and brown communities have been undercounted. So if we just
think about the city of Cleveland alone, as a majority
black city, what would it mean if we had an
undercount But we're going to get less resources not because
we have less people, but because less people took the census,
(05:28):
and that for the federal government is going to you know,
conduct a calculation that's going to say orright, Cleveland, you're
only getting this and maybe that's only ninety percent of
what we should or received. But having an undercount is
what leads to that. So part of how we engage
people is we're truth tellers, right, we call it as
it is. You know, we really try to make sure
that when we don't know an answer or we don't
(05:49):
know what the pathway looks for a particular issue or
a policy, we say that. But we also give them suggestions,
for one, how they can learn, how they can be involved,
and how they can engage. The second way we do
this is through really creative programming. You know, this work
for some may seem boring and you know, just a
little dry.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
We are not dry. We are not boring Cleveland bous.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
We like to turn it up so I can tell
play hard, hard, work hard, right, And so you know,
we think about ourselves as the person that we're serving, right,
we're servings to the community. And so when I think
about and my team thinks about an event or training
or workshop things.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Of that nature, what would I like to go to, right?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I don't want to just sit in a room and
hear a bunch of people talk to me and lecture
me and tell me what I'm supposed to do. No, Instead,
we're going to flip that on the script and we're
going to have fun. So one of the initiatives that
we introduce this year is more than My Art. We
are engaging with local artists and creatives in Cleveland and
we're saying to them, whether you identify as an activist
or not, just by the choice you've made to be
(06:46):
an artist, you are communicating a message. And what would
it look like if that message was told in a
way that helps us better tell our story?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Right, there's multiple ways to tell a story. We're here
on a podcast today.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Narrative and storytelling is so I tend to lean toward
the geeky stuff like research and stats, and that serves
a purpose for certain audiences, but not for all audiences.
So it's really empowering the artists and the creatives to say,
how can we make sure you know all that we
want you to know about elections and voting and then
help us more effectively engage people. So, as an example,
(07:19):
one of the groups is doing an event next week
called Slam Dunk the Vote. We are partnering with the
cavs and a local rec center and we're going to
have this fun family event, right, but we're also going
to educate people. We're going to register people at this
event and they're going to be able to understand how
they can be involved in the election.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
We're talking with Erica and Anthony, co founder of Cleveland Votes.
You' founded this ten years ago. Did you have any
idea it would last as long or be as big.
Talk to me about what led you to this work
and what the future looks like.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, so myself, I'm our co founder Crystal Brian Ajiman.
We didn't wake up one day and say we want
a co found on organization. We were both actively working
in the re entry space here Cleveland, supporting individuals who
have been impacted by the car soold system. And there
are a lot of urban myths about if I have
been convicted, can I vote? No? Those laws look do
(08:09):
look different in every state, but thankfully, here in Ohio,
it is actually a pretty seamless process. When someone returns
from incarceration, all they have to do is reregister. But
a lot of people don't know that both those impacted
by incarceration and the greater community well.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
And I think there's a fear there right going to happen?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Right, Where's my information going to go? Where's going to
track me?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
You know?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Are they going to come to my house and ask
for information?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And so we really started this project and explicitly saying
project with an intention of just educating people coming out
of our Ohio prisons, in our local jail.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
That grew very organically.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Obviously, there are other populations that have been historically disenfranchised,
and so the more that we were out there, the
more that we were engaging with community, it just, over
the course of a number of years, is very organically
began to grow.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How can folks who are listening to the podcast today
get in evolved? How can they either engage with some
of your events to become more informed voters, or how
can they support the organization to help it continue to
grow and expand with this important.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Mission tons of ways.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
First stop is our website Cleveland votes dot com, Cleve
vote excuse me, don't you to my own website, so
thel votes dot com. That is our one stop shop.
We have an amazing communications team that is actively always
trying to make sure everything is up to date, and
so we actually have a voter activation page. On that
page you will find information including our twenty twenty four
(09:33):
election guide, So if you are starting to research and
think about what's going to be on the ballot, that's
a great guy to check out. And then we have
a myriad of resources Secretary of State, the Board of Elections,
and a bunch of our partners as well. We also
have an events page, so we have events kicking off
starting actually next week. Next week is National Voter Registration Day.
We can't just do a day, so we do a
(09:53):
week of action that's going to roll into rally for
the Culture, and then next month we also have an
event called pull Up to the Polls. So all those
events are on our website. I think the best way
to stay connected is signing up for our newsletter. We
don't indudate folks, We only send two out a month.
And then if you're a social media person, I think
definitely checking us out on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, slash x,
(10:15):
and Facebook. I think what I want to encourage people
to do is not only support us and support the
events that we're hosting, which is all in collaboration. We're
not doing any of our events by ourselves and our partners, but.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Also think about what do you want to do?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So we encourage people to think about, you know, making
an election plan that's not just about election day, but
also you know, what are other ways that you may
want to get involved. The Board of Elections is always
looking for poll workers. Those are paid positions. If you
have the availability to work on election day, that's a
great way to support. There's a national organization called Election Protection.
As we talked about a moment ago. We know that
(10:51):
some people experience challenges, and so having volunteers who can
be on the ground listening and making sure that everyone
is having a safe experience is really important. Tons of
nonprofits we just funded twenty six organizations earlier this summer
who are out actively working in the field. They all
I'm sure would greatly benefit from a volunteer or two.
(11:13):
And then also just thinking about what you can do
with your own little nucleus. Right, I tell people, you know,
don't forget about the neighbors and the families and the
cousins and the uncles. Right, can you just send a
quick group tat you know or group text to your
family and friends and say, hey, are you registered? The
deadline is October seventh. So it's just around the corner,
you know, make it a family fun event. You know,
That's how I started. You know, I went to the
(11:34):
polls with my parents right well before I even understood
where I was going and what I was watching and
what I was observing. But I was right there and
next to my mom and dad while they were casting
their ballot, as young as probably three or four years old.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Let's play MythBusters then, because you busted the myth about
incarcerated individuals, and we know in some states they can't vote. Yeah,
what are some of the other more common or even
more interesting misconceptions about the voting day or or the
voting process.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
So in twenty twenty three, legislation came into effect House
Bill four five eight that did actually change what is
acceptable as forms as far as the forms of ID.
So right now, in order to cast your ballot in person,
and that curves if you vote early or if you
go on election day, you have to have an unexpired
(12:22):
driver's license or state ID. In the past you were
accepted to, or forms of ID that were accepted included
things like a utility bill or a bank statement. Those
are no longer accepted, So it's really important that folks
have the proper form of ID. Another myth I think
is around accessibility. So we just did this whole series
(12:42):
around disability, individuals with disability and making sure they have access.
Anyone that has a disability is legally supposed to receive
curb side voting. They don't have to say what the
disability is. They just have to name that for the
workers at the Board of Elections. And at that point,
the Board of Elections will send out a bipartisan team,
a Republican and a Democrat, so that there is fair
(13:05):
equity and making sure that no one is being swayed
a certain way, and they will bring that person their
ballot and they will make sure that they sit there
and watch them complete their ballot and they bring it
back in. And so just understanding that for folks not
to feel intimidated if they have any physical mobility issues,
that they should still be receiving a fair and equitable
way to cast their ballot.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I think that's the most interesting and important thing we
can put out there today, is that while it may
not be as simple as brushing your teeth, it is
very easy to vote in Ohio, if you take one
or two steps and that vote really does matter and
that democracy is really important. So, Eric, anything you'd like
to add to the listeners as far as yes, we're
(13:47):
close as we record this podcast, we're close to both
the voter registration deadline and the actual November fifth general election,
but obviously there are elections in twenty twenty five and
twenty twenty six that matter. It's not just the presidential year.
Anything you want to share with the listeners that might
help them or might help our other folks get more
access to voting and help keep supporter suppression from becoming
(14:09):
a reality.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I invite folks to really think about civic engagement
as a spectrum. Right, There's not one way to be
actively involved, and so really it's about your own personal passion.
I say to folks often, you know, I'm not necessarily
the person that's going to be down at the protest,
not because I don't support that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Form of activism.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I just think I have different skill sets and different gifts,
and it's really about how do we blend our collective
gifts together to affect change, right, So me working with
folks that maybe are rallying for a particular cause again
I'm the geeky one, right, so I will be the
one helping write legislation or write some policy language or
things of that nature. It doesn't have to be the big,
grandiose thing. And I think that sometimes why people get intimidated.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
They're like, well, I.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Can't organize an event, I can't organize a rally. I
can't you know, do a lobby day or things of
that nature. Keep it simple, right. It could be a
porch conversation with your neighbors, right. It could be just
having coffee with your neighbors at one person's house and say, hey,
let's fill out our ballots together, right, and we can
have our computers out, we can have information up about
what's on the ballot, and let's do this together. It
(15:14):
could be writing postcards to your neighbors reminding them that
the election is coming up, or deadlines and things of
that nature. So really thinking about one, what are you
interested in? What are you passionate about? And then what's
the best way to exercise that passion in a way
of activating for change.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Cleveland Votes is at cil votes dot com. Yes, Erica Anthony,
this has been a fascinating conversation. Thanks for coming in today,
Thank you so much for having me, and this has
been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's show is produced
by Bob COATESID I'm Keith Hotchkiss. We'll see you next time.
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