This Online Guide Makes It Super Easy To Vote Pro-Choice In The Midterms
If the upcoming midterm elections feel a little overwhelming, you're not alone. #VoteProChoice-an organization that educates voters on the importance of pro-choice candidates-reports that 58 percent of American women of reproductive age now live in a state considered either hostile or extremely hostile to abortion rights. As times become increasingly trying for women in America, the midterms are crucial-this is our shot at better protecting our reproductive rights.
With that being said, it's not always clear if a candidate has a woman's best interests in mind. Historically, voters have turned to online voter guides-which offer information about each candidate's stance on key issues-to help build their ballots ahead of election day. But in these guides, women's rights (which encompass reproductive rights, health care, education, and more) are usually lumped into one generic category.
But #VoteProChoice is changing the game for voters who want to deliberately advance women (which, TBH, should be everyone). The organization just launched a massive pro-choice voting guide-the largest of its kind in the U.S.-that breaks down the pro-choice endorsements that every single candidate has received.
Start by plugging in your zip code, and #VoteProChoice will pull up all of the candidates you can vote for in the midterm elections in a handy chart-all the way down the ballot.
A green checkmark indicates that candidate has been endorsed by that specific organization (i.e. the organization recommends a vote for that candidate if you want to vote in-line with what that organization stands for). The list of endorsers includes pro-choice organizations like Planned Parenthood, EMILY's List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and more, plus checkmarks for anti-choice organizations so voters can see who has been endorsed by anti-choice (pro-life) organizations. Any of these organizations sound new to you? Hover over the each logo for a description of what they stand for, then click "add to ballot" if they're about what you're about. (If they're a candidate who prioritizes pro-choice, they get a green checkmark in the #VPC Recommends column.)
The platform was founded by Heidi Sieck-who got her start working for Planned Parenthood in college and was arrested multiple times during the Kavanaugh protests-under the umbrella of Democrats.com prior to the 2016 presidential election.
"30 percent of the people who voted in 2012 for the president didn’t vote down ballot," Sieck explained to ELLE.com when asked how the project got started. "So we thought with Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket, we wanted pro-choice voters to be voting all the way down the ballot because we needed folks to be electing great, pro-choice voters in every election."
#VoteProChoice also reports that 70 percent of voters in America are pro-choice, so why are reproductive rights even an issue?
"We all know how [that election] turned out, so when we were trying to decide if we wanted to keep this campaign going, we decided that it was absolutely essential because reproductive freedom was already at stake in America, that we must continue to work on electing down-ballot, pro-choice candidates more than ever," Sieck continued. "So in 2017, we really focused on that strategy, really endorsing down-ballot, pro-choice candidates and providing a voter guide. And then in 2018 we just blew that strategy farther open, and we now have done significant strategic work in critical elections where reproductive freedom is at stake.”
Register to vote in the midterm elections here, and build your pro-choice ballot with #VoteProChoice here.
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