Take action this week for voting rights and safe voting access.

Voting is one of the most important opportunities we have as Americans to say what kind of a country we want to live in. And at a time when there are so many threats in our lives—to our health, to our safety, to our environment, and to our ability to meet our basic economic needs—we have to make sure everyone who has a right to vote is able to exercise it in the 2020 elections.

#DefendTheVote4PH:

Join the Defend the Vote for Public Health Week of Action

Our voting rights and our ability to stay safe when we vote this year are clearly at risk. But obstacles to voting are nothing new. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was meant to eliminate the barriers that state and local governments set up to prevent African Americans from voting. And since the Supreme Court invalidated the Voting Rights Act in 2013, voter suppression tactics have gone into high gear: Photo ID laws, polling location closures, purges of the voter rolls, and other efforts to suppress the vote have resulted in longer wait times. In 2018, Black and Latinx voters waited an average of 45 percent longer than white voters to vote on election day.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new set of challenges: Instead of expanding safe voting options to prevent the spread of COVID-19, some state and local governments have closed polling places and are limiting early voting. At the same time, the US Postal Service has removed mailboxes and taken actions that have reduced confidence in mail-in voting, which for many people is probably the safest option of all.

Failing to ensure safe voting options is an affront to the public’s health. Discouraging civic participation means that the communities that are shouldering the lion’s share of the coronavirus pandemic will be less likely to be able to exercise their right to vote for the candidates who share their values and priorities. It also means that, as a nation, our physical and mental health could suffer. Civic engagement is a social determinant of health, and without it and the feeling of self-determination it provides, we cannot achieve our full potential to be healthy.

Prevention Institute stands with those who are organizing to protect voters’ health by making sure voting takes place in an environment where the risk of spreading COVID-19 and the obstacles to voter participation are as minimal as possible:

Public Health Awakened has launched a campaign called Defend the Vote for Public Health! Please join Prevention Institute in taking action this week. Click here for the social media toolkit.
ASTHO is leading the Vote Safe Public Health Coalition, whose goal is to assure all Americans have the opportunity to safely vote in the 2020 election and prevent transmission of COVID-19. Click here for social media messages: #VoteSafe4PublicHealth
The Union of Concerned Scientists is circulating a health expert sign-on letter to protect vulnerable populations during the 2020 elections, because the pandemic has exacerbated existing barriers to election participation.

We also urge you to make a plan for how you will vote this November, and encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to do the same. Today is National Voter Registration Day! Visit vote.org for information on registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, learning about early voting or vote-by-mail options in your area, finding your polling place, and becoming a poll worker.

*Photo credit: PoetrE26

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