With the end of the 2018 midterm election, it can be easy to fall out of politics. But there are many different ways to stay politically active in between elections and they are much easier than you think.
Do your research:
Educate yourself on who represents you on a federal, state, and local level. Find your representatives’ names, contact information, and links to their homepages here by clicking “Find your representatives” at the top and typing in your current address. Also, educate yourself on activists fighting for justice across the country. Understand how they create change and raise awareness and don’t be afraid to support or join them.
Educate yourself on issues that are important to you:
Apps like Countable and Votespotter can help you focus on specific issues. They provide background information, arguments for and against the issues, and ways to contact your representatives.
Donate:
Find charities that give to a cause important to you, but make sure you do your research about them. This website can help you determine which charities are trustworthy.
Educate others:
One of the easiest and most effective ways to create change is to respectfully educate others.
It doesn’t matter if it’s at your school or at a Thanksgiving dinner, engage in discussion with friends and family.
Subscribe to a publication:
Don’t let your views get influenced by false information. Find a few reliable news sources to keep up with current events and try not to fall victim to bias, even if it matches your own.
Volunteer:
If you want to do some hands on work and get some extra experience, go volunteer. Whether it’s at a hospital, church, homeless shelter, or even at your polling place, volunteering is a great way to stay politically active and benefit your community. Volunteer at places and with organizations that are important to you. If you don’t know where to start, check out this website.
Peer pressure others:
If you know someone who is eligible to vote but isn’t registered, help them get registered. If you know people who are not eligible to vote, educate them about certain politicians and issues and even get them to volunteer with you.
Vote in the next election:
If you voted in the last election, that’s great! But don’t stop there. Keep on voting. Every election and every vote matters. This last midterm election greatly improved as over 113 million people participated, making this the first midterm election ever to surpass 100 million votes. However, only about 49% of the eligible voter population actually participated. Continue to vote in every election and encourage others to vote for that number to reach 100%.
Voting is a great way to get involved with politics, but it’s not the only way. Don’t let the end of an election stop you from getting involved with politics.