HomeCulture of Voting & Civic Participation

What is a Culture of Voting?

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, volunteer-led organization inspired by a vision of a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate.

As a chapter of one of the oldest and most respected grassroots organizations in the United States, our South Central Texas League works toward this vision in Colorado, Fayette, DeWitt, Gonzales, and Lavaca Counties by strengthening our community’s cultre of voting. By that, we mean we’re a community that votes – with our voting numbers matching our greater voter registration numbers.

Why a culture of voting? We chose "culture" because it is most often described as everything that comes together to shape the way of life of a community and is passed down from generation to generation. As such, it includes a community's traditions, spoken and unspoken rules, codes of behavior, manners, dress, language, rituals, and art. We want "everyone votes" to become part of our South Central Texas culture.

We’re doing this because we believe when more people vote, everyone benefits from a more vibrant, connected, and resilient community! When people vote, they are saying that they care about our community and everyone living here.

Our dream is that voting joins polka, dominoes and kolaches as one of our community’s special traditions! We are working for the day when others from across Texas and the United States notice how great our voter turn-out is, election after election, year after year. And when asked about why this happening, someone will say "Voting is what we do here!"

What is Our Plan?

We are inspired by the Texas Association of School Boards Sample Culture of Voting Resolution. By adopting a Culture of Voting resolution, a local School Board can commit to strengthening the culture of voting in its community by encouraging its staff and eligible students to vote. There is nothing about how to vote; this resolution is simply about acting on a belief in the importance of voting by voting.

The sample resolution offers a menu of actions that are appropriate for school districts but could easily be tweaked for use by any organzation - businesses, civic and community organizations and governmental entities. This menu includes such things as:

Informing (or reminding) employees, students, and constituents of the importance of voting;
Informing employees, students, and constituents about when and where they may vote;
Encouraging employees, students, and constituents to participate in voter education programs;
Encouraging employees, students, and constituents to be informed voters by doing their homework on candidate’s positions and qualifications;
Providing opportunities to register to vote;
Implementing administrative procedures that provide time during the early voting period for employees to vote;
Seeking opportunities to coordinate with appropriate nonpartisan, nonprofit volunteer organizations to encourage and facilitate efforts to create a culture of voting.

Our plan involves reaching out over in a concerted fashion over the next year to invite other South Central Texas to join us in working to strengthen the culture of voting in our area by adopting a Culture of Voting resolution and moving the practical menu of options that works for their organization into action to encourage their eployees, members, customers and volunteers to vote in every election!

Indicators of Progress?

Here are some possible indicators of progress:

Voting participation in all elections increases over time.
Voting participation in all elections is consistently higher than the state and national averages.
When asked about voting, people say, “This is what we do here,” or something similar. Just like it is assumed that “on time” means arriving 10 minutes or more early, it is assumed that when elections come around, everyone votes.
Early voting periods and election days are seen as special times in our community – with businesses making it easier for their employees to vote with friendly reminders, access to the League’s nonpartisan Voters Guides, and approved time off to vote.
It becomes “normal” for organizations and businesses to encourage their employees, volunteers, and constituents to vote.
Our voting numbers in South Central Texas are getting some attention, with people asking, “What is it about South Central Texas that makes it the top voting area in Texas?”
Civic participation – including running for office – is seen as “the thing to do,” and we rarely have elections when voters don’t have a choice between two candidates.

How Can You Help?

You can join us in our Culture of Voting campaign in a number of ways!

Take a look at our sample Culture of Voting resolution
Invite us to make a presentation about the Culture of Voting to your organization
Talk with others in a group to which you belong about comfortable steps you can take to encourage voting
Customize the Culture of Voting resolution for your organization
Ask your board or organizational leadership to adopt a culture of voting resolutions
Share a story about how your actions are making a difference in the voting partcipation among your staff, members or constituents
Help us spread the word!

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