Why Politics? - Because Meaningful Change Starts with Participation
By Nina Iyer
My parents immigrated from Chennai, India to Manhattan in the mid-nineties, when the airwaves and dinner parties were dominated by discussions of President Clinton’s reelection efforts and nuanced conversations about tax reform. They were shocked by how closely politics intermingles with pop culture in our country. They loved the decadence of town halls and presidential debates. They were enthralled by the normalcy of door-to-door campaigning and candidate merchandise and were certain that the American people were incredibly invested in their politics. But when the 1996 presidential election came around in November, they were shocked by a 49% turnout. Less than half of the voting population had actually turned out to vote.
In comparison, India boasts the world’s single largest democratic election despite its 1.3 billion denominator and immense diversity. Voter turnout rates neared 70% of the voting age population in the 2019 election for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the legislature. Though the day-to-day practicalities of ensuring clean food, running water, and safe transportation take the front seat in a developing nation, voting is a privilege nobody takes for granted.
Though the United States has registered marginally higher voter turnouts in the years since, the issue remains that as passionate as many Americans are, particularly the 18 - 24 age group, we struggle to physically find our way to the polls. It is an issue that is particularly important to me, as an Indian-American who has seen the positive effects of having more voices heard in my parents’ home country. I graduated from high school just in time for the 2020 election, and resolved to spend my summer knocking on doors and handing out pamphlets on the street. Perhaps if we just told more people about what was happening, I reasoned, they would remember when the time came to vote.
The COVID-19 pandemic struck as we neared my senior summer, directly impacting the way election materials spread. Driven by a surprising abundance of free time and the urge to fight misinformation and connect with voters, my friend and I set out to share an information campaign in our home state of New Jersey. We created informative and simple pamphlets that would walk the user through the processes of registering and voting respectively. When the time came to distribute the pamphlets, we were struck by the magnitude of what we were embarking on and debated how to best reach the populations that had shown the greatest apathy in past elections.
Given the polarized climate, we felt that the election would be won not by the loudest voices in the room, but the quieter observers in the back. Using years of historical data, I was able to identify the biggest “problem areas” - towns with the lowest voter turnout rates in the counties with the lowest voter turnout rates. We assembled a list of key locations and spent weeks reaching out to mayors, councilmen and women, school boards, and principals, asking them to pass our guides on through their websites and email chains. Hearing about voting from trusted members of your local community, we felt, would add the personal touch that digital ads from larger-than-life candidates could not.
In the end, an estimated 66% of eligible voters participated in the 2020 election, a historical high, and my own state of New Jersey saw a 9.4% leap in voter participation. This proved my parents’ initial perception of our country: we are indeed passionate people invested in our political future.
After completing a year in college and gaining a deeper understanding of the electoral process, I joined New Politics in the summer of 2021 with the hopes of contributing to another potential solution to our issues with voter apathy - finding candidates that people will be motivated to go out and vote for. I gained insight into the difficulties of fundraising for a bipartisan organization in a culture where many popular donors are decisively partisan. Through my keystone project of developing a potential candidate database, I discovered an incredible untapped opportunity to promote community leaders with histories of action and impact who may not have the resources of knowhow by themselves to rise to state and national politics.
The immense troves of donor and candidate data that I was privileged to manage spoke volumes about the dearth of diversity in politics and the importance of organizations that commit themselves to breaking down existing barriers. Perhaps the most meaningful of my experiences came from conversations with potential candidates who look to the future with hopes about raising awareness and representation for all people. With a growing toolbox, I am excited to see what impact I can make in 2022, 2024, and beyond in getting my generation out to the polls.