1.
Help to register more voters --
Find out the many possible ways how, either through your Church or as a
private citizen! Now is the time to register new voters!
2. Help Get Out the Vote by making calls and knocking on doors!
3. Become familiar with the best legal guidance regarding what pro-life groups and Churches can do at election time.
4. Letters to the Editor -- Be sure to get hard-hitting
letters into your local daily papers about candidates and issues! You can
influence many people! See instructions and sample letters at www.priestsforlife.org/letters
5. Encourage your pastor to use the resources available below for preaching, bulletin inserts, and educational booklets
for the Church bookrack or library.
6. Organize small groups to study the US Bishops' document
Living the Gospel of Life. Our study guide on this
document can be used individually online, or by groups in your Church,
organization, or home.
7. Use your social media platforms and websites to spread the word about issues, candidates, and political responsibility! See our suggested tweets and memes here. Make links to our sites and to other political sites. Make your own website to help people take part in the elections or to spread information about the candidate of your choice.
8. Use your email list to broadcast helpful election
information, such as the material on this site.
9. You may be needed in your community to help distribute
voter guides on the weekend prior to the election. An election can be decided
based on how many voter guides are given out! If you can help in this effort,
fill in the form above and indicate
the kind of help you can provide or check with your local or state respect life organizations to
see what is planned. And please note that you DO have the right to distribute
these fliers in Church parking lots. See this legal
letter for information. Moreover, if you are thrown out of the parking lot,
you can always move onto the public sidewalk or other public property adjoining
the Church, and you should strongly insist on your right to remain there.
10. Make use of early voting, which in many states, can be done without needing a special reason -- you can vote before Election Day, thus
decreasing the chances that something unexpected will prevent you from getting
to the polls. Promote this idea to others. Also make sure that those who will be
out of town on Election Day, or who are homebound, request and send in an
absentee ballot.
11. When Election Day approaches, you can increase the number
of votes for the right candidates by calling your friends and urging them to go
to the polls. On Election Day, take the day off from work and help people get to
the polls if they need a ride or someone to watch their children, or some other
form of assistance.
12. Become a Poll Worker or Poll Watcher. There is a particular need for help in the 2023 and 2024 elections and being a poll worker or watcher are critical to the success of an election.
Poll workers perform roles such as checking in voters, directing them to the ballot booth and generally trying to make Election Day operations run according to Election law.
Poll watchers are typically political party or candidate appointees who serve as the eyes and ears to ensure there are no problems at their assigned polling place. The designated watchers can be on the lookout for things like complaints about voting machine glitches, voters being turned away or too many ballots being handed to a voter.
Specific duties and compensation vary depending on location. Go to the National Association of Secretaries of State to find the website for your State. For more information go to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission regarding poll working and poll watching.
13. Support the candidate of your choice by making a financial
contribution and/or working on his or her campaign. (The amount of money you can
contribute to a specific candidate is limited by law. Once you have reached the
legal limit, contribute to organizations like ours which work to advance
particular positions which the candidates of
your choice support.) Also, show support for your candidate by means of yard
signs, bumper stickers, pins, and envelope stickers!
14. Read a good book or two about the election and pass it along.
See also:
What to do on Election Day to Mobilize Voters
What Individuals Should Do
What Organizations Should Do
What Parishes Should Do
Read Fr. Frank's Perspective on Polls