Affordable homes are built with ballots every bit as much as they are built with bricks and drywall. Advocates for expanded housing affordability need to be a significant voting block in the 2018 election. Start planning your Our Homes, Our Votes campaign today.
Use NLIHC resources
For years, NLIHC has supported the work of housing organizations engaging in elections by providing a simple, fill-in-the-blanks planning form that walks through the essential process of creating a full voter engagement effort. To explain the pieces of an effective campaign, there is also an explanatory guide document. Find these important tools at www.nlihc.org/library/voter-engagement. Over the coming months, NLIHC will provide additional resources on aspects of Our Homes, Our Votes such as conducting candidate surveys, organizing transportation on election day, hosting candidate forums, and maintaining an effective voter database. Check the Our Homes, Our Votes webspace for periodic updates.
The guide and plan documents for Our Homes, Our Votes divide voter engagement into three important phases:
- Registration—Expanding the pool of eligible voters in low income communities and subsidized properties.
- Education—Making sure voters have the information they need about candidates, and making sure candidates are engaged about housing affordability issues.
- Mobilization—Getting out the vote! Putting in so much work to register and educate voters will only matter if they make it to the polls.
Voter engagement is not new to housing organizations. The following articles provide spotlights on how some groups are already working to achieve the vision of Our Homes, Our Votes.