Information about candidates, issues could help get more voters to the polls, infrequent voters and experts say

For decades, Anna Everett, 45, only voted sporadically, usually in presidential elections. It was hard to learn about local races, she said. 

“The process itself was so overwhelming for me,” Everett said. “I wasn’t a voter because I didn’t know how to vote. … I didn’t know how to make a decision. I didn’t know how to find my voice. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t think that’s probably an uncommon story either.”

Two years ago, Everett stopped skipping elections. She learned that the Washington voter commission sent out a sample ballot with information on how to learn more about each race. That resource simplified researching candidates and issues, she said. 

When she moved to Memphis, Everett said she found herself with no idea what district she was in or which candidates she could vote for. In Washington, she felt like she had a “snorkel” in the ocean, she said. She tried searching for information online, but found the process “overwhelming.” 

She’s not alone: In a survey of about 160 people conducted by Stand for Children, 70% of whom didn’t vote in the last election, a majority of respondents said “more information about candidates and issues” would make them more likely to vote in future elections. 

Not knowing enough about candidates or issues was the second most common reason why respondents did not vote. The first was that they were “too busy with work/school/family responsibilities.” 

Diane Brown, a member of the League of Women Voters Memphis-Shelby County, said access to information is particularly important in local elections, which often see the lowest rates of turnout. 

“It’s the mayors and the city and county councils and the school boards; those are the people that impact your lives,” Brown said. “It’s local folks who control potholes, policing, streetlights, schools, all that kind of stuff, and I don’t know that we message that enough.” 

In her research, she’s found that the “number one thing” to encourage turnout is when people hear the message from people they trust. There are resources available, she said, like voter guides by local news organizations, websites like Ballotpedia and the League of Women Voters’ vote411.org, but they don’t always get to the people that need them. 

People shouldn’t have to hope that the right resources will reach them, Everett said. High school students should be taught how to effectively research candidates, and libraries could offer sessions on voting. When people register to vote for the first time in Tennessee, she said, they should be given a guide.

“Tell us where the resources are: Here’s how to contact your local Democratic Party office, your local Republican Party office, here’s how to contact the local election commission, something to give us a little bit of an idea of what to do,” she said. 

Rachael Goodwin Spriggs, statewide director of power building with The Equity Alliance, said providing access to easy-to-understand information has been key to convincing infrequent and non-voters to vote. While some organizations focus on high-frequency voters, the Equity Alliance has “been at everybody’s door.” 

They’ve been sharing sample ballots, encouraging people to vote all the way through the multiple pages on the ballot and tying the concept of voting to practical discussions about food insecurity and the cuts to SNAP benefits made last year, she said. 

As early voting continues, they’ve seen encouraging signs of voting numbers outpacing the last midterm election, Spriggs said. They’ve returned to people they talked to earlier in the year and identified as supporters, finding that those people are turning out to vote at rates higher than the general electorate. 

“A lot of times we talk over voters’ heads, and they don’t see how voting will impact them,” Spriggs said. “I think people are feeling like this is a historical moment, and if we don’t do something now, it may be too late. I think that is what’s kind of encouraging people.”

Candidates, logistics can impact turnout

Akil Graham, 20, a student at Tennessee Tech who has family in Memphis, has never voted. He was constantly told that he should vote growing up, he said, but questions its value since he doesn’t see politicians keeping their promises. 

Graham’s cousin pushes him to watch news about elections and to learn about candidates,  he said. 

“He always tells me, you’re one person, that’s times 100,000 or whatever, cause other people are still thinking the same as you,” Graham said. “That’s true, but I don’t know. I just don’t see a benefit in it, honestly.” 

Graham said he believes younger people are less likely to vote because they haven’t learned about politics in-depth. He remembers being told that the U.S. President Barack Obama was “cool,” but not anything deeper with regard to his policies. Now, he thinks he could be convinced to vote if there were a candidate who he trusted: Someone like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

“If there was like a Mamdani-type politician in Tennessee or going for president, I think I would actually look into it a little bit more and then actually vote,” Graham said. 

Brown, who is also a poll worker, said it’s true that individual candidates can make a difference in inspiring voters to turn out to the polls. However, even when that’s the case, the “mechanics of voting” can make for an additional barrier.

In the primary, Brown met a voter who had arrived at her polling place eager to vote for State Rep. Justin J. Pearson for Congress. But when she looked at her ballot, Pearson’s name wasn’t there, and she almost left upset without voting at all. Brown explained to her that redistricting meant the voter was in District 8, not District 9, where Pearson is running. 

Other barriers include finding a ride to the polls, making sure voters have their ID and confusion when poll workers ask if a voter wants a machine or hand-marked ballot, Brown said. 

“I think the allure of a candidate, yes, that’s important and being able to look eyeball to eyeball with them is important, but I also think that those of us who are blessed to have a car to go to the polls whenever we want to, I don’t think we have an appreciation for the most part for the mechanics of getting to the polls,” Brown said.