Few people, at least when you speak with them, question the importance of voting. It’s a given. But what people say and what they do are different. Millions and millions of people don’t vote. There are many reasons that they choose to abstain. A key step toward increasing voter participation rates is figuring out which subgroup has the most promise and explaining why voting is important in ways that truly resonate with them. 

This is a substantial opportunity. According to Statista, 53.2% of eligible voters did not do so in the 2022 midterms. The Pew Research Center reports that 36% did not do so in the 2024 presidential election. The good news is that those percentages actually are a slight improvement over time. Still, that’s a lot of blank ballots and a lot of work to be done.  

Vote This Time did a quicky poll at BlueSky during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The results tend to validate the thinking that led to the launch of this site: The biggest and potentially most impactful source of votes is nonvoters and sporadic voters (let’s shorthand them as NSVs).

The poll question was “What is the most effective way to win the midterms?” The responses: 

• • Attract voters from the other party: 25.9% (7 votes)
  • Discourage voters from the other party: 18.5% (5 votes)
  • Get nonvoters/sporadic voters to vote: 37.0% (10 votes)
  • Focus on first time eligible voters: 18.5% (5 votes)

Never Underestimate the Importance of Voting

Yes, only 27 responses. The site is only getting started and it was a holiday week (and other rationalizations…). The results, as limited as they are, make sense though the poll is far too small to be definitive. The idea behind this site is that courting NSVs is more efficient and promising than trying to wrestle away voters who already have a stated preference and a partisan position. 

It’s reasonable to assume that people coming off the sidelines to vote will do so roughly in accordance with existing polling if, of course, the polls are roughly accurate. If so, the Democrats will benefit. Indeed, my feeling is that non/sporadic voters NSVs will lean more heavily toward the Democrats. Many of these folks probably don’t vote or vote rarely because they think that the two parties are the same. My supposition is that this group will be more amenable to voting because they are beginning to rea

lize that the two parties are very different and fear the direction in which the country is headed.  

Hopefully, the party or some aligned groups will spend the money and do the work that will bring NSVs to the polls. The upside of educating those on the sidelines why voting is important is enormous. It seems that the path towards reaching these folks is far easier than the other groups in the mini poll.

It will take creative thinking, however. It’s hard to appeal to a group that doesn’t like or do something. How would you put together a website or social media platform that aims at people who don’t like baseball? It sounds pretty difficult and ultimately pointless. Luckily, appealing NSVs is a bit easier. It’s possible to break down the NSV monolith by catering to each category.

For instance, the pitch to NSVs with student loans isn’t about why voting is important or that it is an obligation. It is that you and your wallet are far better off in an America in which Democrats pass legislation regarding student loans than a Republican America in which your salary is garnished. The same bottom-line approach should be taken for issues related to seniors, educators, those wrestling with healthcare insurance and so on. In other words, focus on the demographic and its needs and present voting as a tool for meeting that challenge. Forget, at least for now, vote shaming or high-minded civics lectures.