There's an old saying in fishing: you go where the fish are. If you want to catch a redfish, you don't stand in the parking lot of the bait shop. If you want people to read a Voters Guide, you don't wait for them to show up at the League's door. (We don't have a door. We have a PO box in Hallettsville, and nobody hangs out there.)
This fall, the League of Women Voters of South Central Texas is printing 35,000 nonpartisan Voters Guides for the November 3 Midterm Elections for our five counties. They'll show up in all 12 of our local newspapers starting the week of October 5. But not everyone gets a paper. So we're asking members to take guides out into the wild: the places our neighbors already go, sit, wait, gossip, and buy chicken feed.
Where the people are
Think about where you spend twenty minutes with nothing to read. That's where the guide belongs.
- Places people wait. Nail salons, beauty shops, barbershops, the tire shop, the oil-change place, the dentist's office, the laundromat. A captive audience with time on their hands is a Voters Guide's best friend.
- Rural hubs. Feed stores, hardware stores, the electric co-op office, and the livestock auction barn on sale day.
- Food and coffee. Kolache bakeries at 6:30 a.m. are where real democracy happens. Also diners, meat markets, and the gas station that doubles as the town's living room.
- Community halls. Church fellowship halls, VFW and Legion posts, SPJST and KJT halls, food pantries, and day care centers, where parents pass through twice a day.
Always ask the manager first is a good rule of thumb. But then comes the awkward part: "Who are you, who sent you, and what is the League?"
Here's the truth. When a stranger walks into a nail salon with a stack of papers about an election, people get a little wary. Are you with a campaign? A party? Are you about to sell them a timeshare in Port Aransas? These are fair questions. Most of our neighbors have never heard of the League, and a lot of election-season paper is trying to sell them something.
So here's a cheat sheet of responses for the most common reactions. Feel free to use what you like and come up with some new ones of your own.
At the nail salon
Q: Is this for a candidate?
A: Nope. No candidates, no parties, no sides. Every candidate gets the same questions and answers in their own words, printed side by side. It's like the nail polish color chart: every shade's right there, and you pick the one you like. We just hold up the chart.
At the beauty shop
Q: Who's paying for this?
A: The League of Women Voters. We're a nonprofit, we've been at it since 1920, and we never support or oppose any candidate or party. Think of it as the style book you flip through before you sit in the chair. Better to see all the options before anybody picks up the scissors.
Q: Ladies only?
A: Not at all. Men are members too. The name is just from 1920 and we're too sentimental to change it.
At the hardware store:
Q: What's the catch?
A: No catch. It's free, there's no sign-up, and nobody will call you. You know the rule: measure twice, cut once. This is the measuring part. Measure twice, vote once.
At the feed store:
Q: I already know who I'm voting for.
A: Good for you! Take one anyway. It's like the label on a feed sack: protein, fat, and fiber printed the same way for every brand, so you can compare. And there are a lot of races on the ballot, all the way down to the ones nobody talks about at the café.
At the bakery:
Q: Is this one of those slanted things?
A: That's exactly what we work hard to avoid. It's like the bakery case: everything's behind the same glass with the same little label, and you choose. We'd never tell you sausage-and-cheese beats poppyseed. Candidates write their own answers, and if anybody looks good or bad in there, they did it themselves.
At the auction barn:
Q: What's the League of Women Voters?
A: A bunch of neighbors who think voting works better when people know what they're voting on. We're the sale catalog, not the auctioneer. We list every lot, and we never bid. We've got about a hundred members across Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Gonzales, and Lavaca counties, and we put out voters guides and help folks get registered and find out how and where to vote.
At the tire shop:
Q: I don't really follow politics.
A: That's okay, neither does your tire, but you still check the tread before a long drive. Ten minutes with this while they rotate your tires, and you'll know what's on your ballot.
At the laundromat:
Q: Too much to read.
A: Do it like laundry. Sort first. Find the races on your ballot, skip the rest, and read one race per load. You'll be done before the dryer buzzes.
At the day care center
Q: Who has time?
A: It's the grown-up version of picture day. Everybody lined up, same background, same lighting, no retakes. Takes five minutes, and you can read it in the car line.
Let me offer a few other tips:
- Smile, don't preach. You're not there to talk about candidates or issues. If someone wants to argue politics, hand them a guide and say, "It's all in there, side by side."
- Short beats complete. One friendly sentence works better than a speech about the League's founding.
- Leave the door open. If someone seems curious, mention the guide is also online at VOTE411.org, and point them to our website.
- Say thank you. The manager who let you put a stack by the register is doing democracy a favor. Tell them so.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Pick three places in your town where people wait, browse, or linger. Ask nicely. Leave a stack. Check back next week. Early voting starts October 19, and Election Day is November 3, so the window is short.
The Guides are ready. Our neighbors are getting their nails done and buying fence staples right now. Let's go where they are.