We’re All in This Together
Environmental Voter Project: Your Voice Can Make a Difference
By Nancy Nickerson
Have you wondered if your vote in an election makes any difference at all? That was the question posed to me recently while I was making phone calls for the Environmental Voter Project (EVP). Yes, your voice can matter!
EVP has been around for nearly a decade, and has been able to engage non-voters, turn them into voters, and help shift legislators’ policy positions. Polling shows that people for whom climate change is the biggest issue are in the demographic least likely to vote.
EVP is nonpartisan and nonprofit, focused on accurately identifying non-voting environmentalists and converting them into a critical mass of consistent voters. In fact, 251 randomized control trials measure the impact of their outreach. Since 2015 they have helped turn 1,824,260 non-voting and seldom-voting environmentalists into consistent super voters (https://www.environmentalvoter.org/results).
Encouraging Environmental Voters
EVP does not ask individuals to take positions or support candidates. Rather, EVP urges participation in the process by voting. Their research highlights that getting folks to turn out for elections generally (not only ones that may have environmental questions on the ballot) is effective in getting them to establish a voting habit. Once someone votes for the first time, they’re much more likely to vote again. Therefore, EVP treats every election—local, state, and federal—as a high-leverage opportunity to turn non-voters into voters. And data reveal that politicians are much more inclined to listen to their voting constituents.
EVP uses proven voter-turnout messaging based on the latest behavioral science. Volunteers canvass, call, text, mail, and send digital ads to target environmentalists before every election. (Learn more: ABC news piece).
Phone bank with us!
As an EVP volunteer, I have taken part in several phone-banking sessions. The sessions are highly organized and start with a Zoom meeting, where I can see many volunteers from around the country making calls at the same time I am.
You need a laptop or tablet and phone. Instructions are clear, and a script (with lots of contingency scenarios) is provided. Debriefing at the session completion provides an opportunity to offer feedback. And despite glitches, the potential for connecting with citizens, and helping change behavior and policy outcomes, motivates me to continue. I hope to participate in a postcard campaign later this spring or summer.
Nancy Nickerson is a volunteer with the Portland Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (where she first learned of EVP).
Portland CCL is planning weekly letter writing parties from 4 to 6 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month. For location and more information, contact portlandme@citizensclimatelobby.org.
