National Voter Education Week: Empowering Voters for Informed Participation

National Voter Education Week (NVEW) is an annual nonpartisan campaign held during the first full week of October. It serves as a crucial resource, equipping voters with the necessary tools and information to confidently participate in elections. This initiative aims to empower individuals to make their voices heard at the ballot box by focusing on voter education, bridging the gap between registration and actually casting a ballot.

Understanding the Importance of Voter Education

Today's generation of new voters is enthusiastic about civic participation but often faces systemic barriers and a lack of knowledge about the voting process. Voter education is essential to overcome these challenges, especially for newly eligible voters. By providing accessible and comprehensive information, NVEW empowers individuals to navigate the democratic process with confidence.

Key Objectives of National Voter Education Week

During this week of interactive education, NVEW partners focus on several key objectives:

Finding polling locations: Helping voters identify their designated polling place.
Understanding the ballot: Providing clear explanations of the candidates and issues on the ballot.
Making a plan to vote: Encouraging voters to develop a strategy for when and how they will vote.

Taking Control: Preparing to Vote

Your ballot isn’t a pop quiz; you can review it beforehand to understand the candidates running for federal, state, and local offices, as well as any ballot measures or amendments. By taking the time to research and understand your ballot, you can confidently cast your vote in alignment with your values and beliefs. By taking just a little time before you vote, you can make your voting process easy and stress-free.

Most local elections offices provide sample ballots, allowing voters to familiarize themselves with the content ahead of time. Use your sample ballot as a cheat sheet to know everything on your ballot ahead of time and can refer to it on Election Day!

Navigating the Election Landscape: Resources and Strategies

With the abundance of information available during election season, it's crucial to discern trustworthy sources from misinformation.

Identifying Reliable Information

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by election information-some of it misleading or even completely false. Slow down. Check your feelings. If something makes you feel angry or afraid, pause. Ask yourself why someone might want you to feel that way. Look at the language. Is it full of ALL CAPS, exclamation points, or name-calling? Check the source. Who wrote or posted it? What are their credentials? Cross-check. Ask yourself: Is this account authentic?

To determine what is accurate, turn to trusted, nonpartisan sources. State and local election officials are responsible for overseeing the elections that you participate in, which includes communicating with voters. When in doubt, check out official resources from your state’s election director or your local election administrator. The National Association of Secretaries of State also administers a campaign called #TrustedInfo2024. They amplify official election information through their social media channels. Remember, not all information found on social media platforms is trustworthy. Additionally, be cautious of information obtained from AI chatbots like ChatGPT or search engines that integrate generative AI, as they may not always provide accurate or reliable information.

Remember to pause before sharing any story you encounter to verify its authenticity. Especially when a headline seems sensational, clickbait, or emotionally charged - you should think critically and question if the information is simply trying to get a rise out of you to continue spreading. Make sure to check the source of the material and verify that it is impartial and credible while also making claims based on evidence and/or named sources. You should also consider any pre-existing bias with a source and how that can affect their reporting of the situation.

Utilizing Nonpartisan Resources

If you’re unsure who to vote for, start by researching candidates using trusted, nonpartisan resources like BallotReady, Ballotpedia, Vote411, and Guides.Vote. These platforms provide comprehensive information about candidates’ platforms and positions on various issues. Identify the key issues that matter most to you, such as healthcare, education, the economy, or the environment, and compare how different candidates address these concerns. Additionally, you can use nonpartisan voter guides that summarize candidates’ positions without endorsing any candidate. Participate in local candidate forums, debates, and town hall meetings to hear directly from the candidates.

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Understanding Your Ballot

There will be items on your ballot that range from local ballot measures to state and federal candidates. Often, state and local elections affect our lives in a more personal and immediate way than federal elections. Your vote matters for every race, but it can make an especially big impact in your local community. You might even have the power to decide policy directly through ballot measures and referendums. You should have all the information you need to make the decisions that will impact your everyday life.

When you look up your ballot beforehand, you can read explanations that you understand, rather than the complicated legal jargon that might be on your ballot. Bring your notes or sample ballot to reference and remember how you want to vote. This also helps you get in and out of the voting booth quickly- and helps the line move more quickly for everyone!

The Impact of Local Elections

Yes! While not every state or community is holding elections in 2025, more than 100 million eligible US voters will have a chance to vote in local or statewide elections this year. Offices like governor, state legislator, and other influential state-level offices may be on your ballot in addition to city or county elections to determine offices like mayor and city or county council. You may even see a few ballot initiatives (or similar term) that lets you directly vote on the passage of a new state law or amendment. Democracy doesn’t get any more direct than that! While these elections may get less publicity than federal elections, these tend to be the ones with the most immediate impact on your everyday life!

Local elections impact your life in very visible ways. Many issues with national profiles, such as immigration and LGBTQIA+ rights, can impact your community in vastly different ways based on how your local government acts on federal or state-level decisions. Local elections are often decided by just a few votes, so just one vote cast can make a significant difference to local turnout and organizing efforts. These are ways - specific to your city or town, county, or state - that allow you to have a very direct, local impact on your community! These can be referred to in lots of different ways depending on where you live: ballot measures, referendums, propositions, constitutional amendments and more. Ballot measures, veto referendums, and propositions typically impact state law, while constitutional amendments change state constitutions. Your local town or city may even place local measures on the ballot for implementing taxes and raising funds.

Key Issues in Local Elections

Affordability & Housing: The rising cost of rent, food, tuition, and other basics makes it harder to live, learn, and thrive. If you’ve struggled to afford rent or groceries, taken on debt to pay for school, or worked multiple jobs just to get by - your vote matters in local and state elections that decide what your life costs.
Public Safety & Criminal Justice: Public safety affects how safe you feel at school, in your neighborhood, and in public spaces.
Environment & Climate: From clean water to safe air and flood prevention, environmental decisions impact your health and future-right now and where you live.
Transportation & Infrastructure: Transportation affects how you access jobs, school, healthcare, and even fun.

Addressing Voter Suppression

If it's one thing we know, voting is made difficult for us on purpose. Making voter information harder to access is a form of voter suppression. This Voter Education Week, NAACP continues to provide the resources needed to guide Black voters during election season.

Your Voting Checklist

Understanding how voting works is the first step to voting with confidence. Here are 5 steps to gain more knowledge on voting.

Your Voting Options

Registering to vote can take less than 10 minutes to complete. Being away from home is no excuse for not voting! An informed voter is a prepared voter. Enter your information to see who and what will be on your ballot in this upcoming election.

Ensuring Election Integrity

Every year, election administrators and workers across the nation work tirelessly so Americans have the freedom to elect our leaders and representatives. Election Hero Day is a national day of recognition held each year the day before Election Day.

In the United States of America, individual states determine their own election laws, which can include when and how people vote and important deadlines in the process. Within those states, sometimes local jurisdictions are able to establish their own unique laws and practices as well. There are over 10,000 election jurisdictions in the United States. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the ways that people can vote in your state so that you can choose the option that works best for you. Each state has either a chief election official or a statewide board of elections in charge of elections for the whole state. The name for this official or board varies from state to state, but most often, there is a Secretary of State or a State Election Director in charge of elections. These positions are designed to be nonpartisan to ensure fair and impartial election processes. You can find out who runs elections at the state level in your state here.

Ballot Counting and Verification

During elections, ballots are counted through a meticulous and nonpartisan process designed to ensure accuracy, transparency, and integrity. After polls close, these bipartisan teams verify and seal ballots and storage devices, which are then transported to a central location for counting. Votes from machines are uploaded to a central system, where officials verify and audit the results before reporting unofficial outcomes on election night. They are received, verified, and prepared for scanning before Election Day. Once verified, they are scanned and counted alongside in-person votes, with strict chain-of-custody procedures and bipartisan oversight. Both types of ballots are subject to post-election audits to confirm the accuracy of the count.

Certification and Audits

After an election, there is a period of time called the certification period. During this time, election officials count every ballot, check for duplicates, verify voter status, and give voters a chance to correct mistakes on their ballot. Results aren’t verified until this period is complete. Every state has both Republican and Democratic election observers, who are subject to the same rules and have equal access to the vote count process.

Cybersecurity Measures

In addition, cybersecurity measures are increasingly critical in ensuring the integrity of the election process. States implement various cybersecurity protocols to protect voting systems from cyber threats, such as hacking and tampering. These measures include robust firewalls, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and continuous monitoring of systems for suspicious activity.

Provisional Ballots

A provisional ballot is one that is counted after review from an election official, instead of being counted on the spot. They can also be referred to as “challenge ballots” or “affidavit ballots.” Provisional ballots are there to make sure you aren’t excluded from the voting process if your eligibility to vote is deemed uncertain. If you end up casting a provisional ballot, make sure you follow up with your local election office, because in some states, the burden falls on you to make sure your provisional ballot counts like a normal ballot. After you cast your ballot, election officials will work to verify your eligibility as a voter. If you are confirmed to be an eligible voter, your provisional ballot will be counted.

Recounts and Disputes

In the event of disputes or recounts, states have established procedures to ensure a fair resolution. Recounts can be automatically triggered by a close margin, requested by a candidate, or mandated by law. The process involves re-tabulating votes under strict supervision, often with bipartisan observers present. Disputes over election results may also be addressed through legal challenges, with courts making final determinations.

Election Result Timelines

The timeline for election results varies by state due to differences in laws and procedures. On Election Night, unofficial results are typically reported, but final results can take several days to weeks. States have specific deadlines for certifying election results, generally ranging from a week to a month post-election.

Getting Involved

Becoming a poll worker is one of the best ways to support democracy and a great way to make some extra money. Poll workers (also called election judges or temporary election workers, depending on your state) check people in at the polling place, hand out ballots, and make sure voting is a positive and empowering experience for everyone. When there aren’t enough poll workers, voters can face barriers to casting their ballot, including longer lines and fewer polling locations. Most states pay poll workers for their service and welcome people as young as 16 to serve. You can also add your poll worker experience to your resume!

Volunteer with Election Protection - Help ensure voting goes smoothly for voters across the country. There are plenty of ways to get involved. You can monitor polling places for voter suppression efforts or you can watch social media for misinformation and disinformation. You can also connect with voters to help them learn their rights or navigate the voting process and cast their ballot securely and safely.

Promoting Trust in Elections

Navigating conversations about trust in our elections can be complex, especially given the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation. One of the most effective ways to promote understanding and trust in election systems within your community is by sharing this page with your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues. Research has shown that people are more likely to trust information when it comes from someone they know and trust. By sharing credible and informative resources like this page, you can help empower others to engage in informed discussions and make evidence-based decisions about election-related issues. You can also volunteer with a local or national nonprofit (such as the League of Women Voters) to access educational materials and resources on election systems, voting rights, and election integrity.

Celebrating Voter Education

Host an event in your community! You don’t have to just celebrate during National Voter Education Week. Voter education can happen any time ahead of the election.

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