Why Vote Then?

The elections are almost here! In Miami after five days of early voting we have learned one big lesson: the system is still flawed. This is not a surprise to Miamians, in 2000 we saw the theft of elections through intentional efforts as well as through negligence and a broken process. In 2004 we saw much of the same with less fanfare. Now as these historic elections draw near there are concerns of voter disenfranchisement from the left and voter fraud from the right.

Here we are in 2008. I can put over 10 hours of music on a machine smaller than a credit card, I can vote for the next pop star using my cell phone, I can raise money for various causes online with personal appeals, but low-income people of color cannot be assured that their votes will count. With disenfranchisement through a system of organized chaos at the polls – not to mention legal disenfranchisement through laws against ex-felons voting and crazy ID laws – it is clear that democracy through voting is a bankrupt ideal. When disenfranchisement follows lines of historic oppression traced all the way from chattel slavery, to land ownership in order to vote,  to literacy tests at the polls, we see that the democracy we have is not really set up to serve a majority, it is set up to defend a system that depends on disenfranchisement, on the lack of democracy.

So why vote then? Here is the rub. The right to vote has been hard fought for and won. It has been at the crux of most popular struggles against oppression and for the expansion of democratic and human rights in the US. As long as we live under the assumption of democracy, as it is currently maintained, we need to expand and defend the right to vote. There is plenty that can be accomplished through voting that sets up the conditions for deeper systematic change.

But the fight for the vote should not be the start and end of fighting for another world. The idea that voting IS democracy serves to demobilize political activity the day after elections. The Democrats and Republicans are notorious for closing up shop and getting the hell out of town leaving behind invigorated bases confused as to what is next. 

We must organize. And organize all the time. We must build the collective power on the daily basis and take action often to move towards a truly democratic and liberated society. As organizers we must respond to real world conditions, understand the common sense we are working in, and shift the debate and move people to action. It is not enough to get out the vote every four (or two) years. Movements are built (and eventually won) through direct action, consciousness raising, leadership development, and winning material gains. It is through the practice of fighting, winning and losing that we build our capacity to develop winning strategies and the practice of true democracy in our organizations.

But elections are a real world event. As organizers we need to understand the opportunities elections open up for us. Below are two examples of how organizing can interact with electoral work to build and expand our movements.

First, elections lead to a large increase in concerted civic activity. It is a time of high civic participation with millions of people taking action at the same time, to participate in a collective decision making process. The scale of participation during elections is beyond what I could imagine in a community organizing campaign at the local level. There is opportunity here to expand our reach beyond our current membership and base. Through electoral work, with quick hits on the doors, and the intention of simply mobilizing to the polls, community organizations can increase their reach and support in the community, and measure it through voting. Organizers can use elections to speak about issues to an electorate that is united through amplified engagement.

Second, elections are prime time for shifting the debate and engaging in the war of ideas. This work can primarily happen through the use of ballot initiatives. Ballot initiatives are often used as a strategic point of intervention for right wing strategists. On the surface these initiatives are framed as voting on particular issues, and even bureaucratic changes to the functioning of government. But at their roots they are backed by deeper ideologies. Neoliberal policies, anti-abortion initiatives, and anti-gay marriage initiatives reflect an ideological push to the right, a limiting of human rights and an entrenchment of white, straight, male power. Ballot initiatives rely on unifying otherwise disparate groups of people, creating a majority voice where one actually does not exist.

We must learn from this strategic thinking. Campaigns defending against regressive ballot initiatives offer an opportunity for discussion of the deeper root causes and ideologies that impact our constituencies.  We can start to put out ballot initiatives ourselves; ones that are based on progressive values of true democratic governance and self determination, affordable housing and the right to the city, living wages and the right to unionize, and more.  It is useful to consider these initiatives as strategies to create opportunity for power and progressive values.

So here we are, a week away from electing a new president of the U.S.A. In Florida we are facing a handful of ballot initiatives, one that adds an amendment to our state constitution that permanently bans any civil union, such as domestic partnership, outside of heterosexual marriage (gay marriage itself is already banned). On Election Day itself, and for weeks after, we will learn how bad the disenfranchisement and barriers to voting were for low-income people of color. In this context maybe the suggestions above come a little late. But right now is the time to be thinking about what happens on November 5^th. No matter who is elected, no matter what balloit initiatives are passed, how do we as community organizers – as fighters for racial justice, for gender justice, for economic justice – go on the offensive, and advance our fights? Like it or not, things are changing, regardless of whether we believe in how it is happening or not.

Joseph Phelan is a 2008 Taproots Fellow and a contributor to the Movement Vision Lab.