Organized by the CT Democracy Center, the Go Big. Vote Local Series has been a collaborative effort among community organizations to raise voter turnout among Hartford\u2019s diverse community, said Barbara Glassman Dell of the CT Democracy Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of times people just feel like \u2018oh, it is what it is, it\u2019s local elections, it\u2019s not important\u2019 but actually when you think about it, those are the most important because it\u2019s where you live,\u201d Dell said in a phone interview. \u201cIf there are barriers\u2026or you have been disenfranchised where you feel like you haven’t been represented\u2026what ends up happening is a small pool of people essentially are making decisions and so how do we empower people to feel invested\u2026that essentially your vote is your voice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, Connecticut saw a state-wide decline in voter turnout rates<\/strong>\u2014particularly in major cities<\/a>, including New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford and within the democratic party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n About 58.6 percent of eligible voters casted a ballot in 2022\u2014a slight decline from 2018, when the voter turnout rate reached 65.2 percent. Voter turnout did hit a record high in 2020 at nearly 80 percent<\/a>, but this has not surprised most as it is well known that more people vote in larger, federal elections than in state or local elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c25 percent of the tax revenues we collect as a country are spent at the local level,\u201d said Director Tanya Rhodes Smith of Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work. \u201cThat\u2019s an enormous amount of investment that gets directed and decided on the local level and when very few people participate in a local election those folks have more power than the folks who aren\u2019t participating.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hartford has the largest Hispanic\/Latino community in the state as these residents represent 44 percent of the capital\u2019s population. About 36 percent of Hartford residents identify as Black, 13 percent as white, 3 percent as Asian or Pacific Islander, and 4 percent as another race\/ethnicity, according to Smith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe diversity of Hartford is really important when we talk about voter turnout because there are barriers to turnout,\u201d said Social Action Committee Chair Kristen Clark of Hartford Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. \u201cThe process of voting is not easy for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speakers at Tuesday\u2019s event emphasized how aspects of our daily lives are largely decided on the local and state level, including public education, infrastructure, public safety, social services, access to healthcare, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHartford ranks amongst the lowest turnout and there are some reasons for that\u2026a highly mobile population, multiple languages, and barriers of information,\u201d Smith explained. \u201cAll of those barriers\u2014language, information, logistics\u2014contribute to this engagement barrier, so the barrier that says \u2018my vote doesn\u2019t matter, nothing changes\u2019. That is very significant for a lot of people, at least 40% of people don\u2019t vote because of that engagement piece, because those structural barriers really feed those narratives, which we know are false, voting matters a lot especially on the local level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ongoing Series<\/a> also includes an editorial cartoon exhibit\u2014\u201cRunning For Office\u201d which runs from Sept. 8 to Nov. 13\u2014a discussion with historian Dr. Matthew Warshauer<\/a> on the history of political cartoons, a conversation with Editorial Cartoonist Bob Englehart on Oct. 21, an Election Cake Bake-Off on Nov. 4, and Caricature Workshop on Nov. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the Voter Registration Celebration, Smith and Clark spoke on a panel about the importance of local elections and how barriers affect voter turnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s really trying to engage that person who thinks their vote doesn\u2019t matter, or they\u2019re not able to vote and really dispelling some of those myths. That is the work that we all need to be doing if we want to have a truly democracy that is a voice for the people,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a variety of resources available online on voting and upcoming elections that residents are still not aware of. Smith and Clark emphasized the importance of having personal conversations to motivate potential voters and connect them with existing resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are partnering with other civic community organizations to do some kind of grassroots efforts,\u201d Clark shared. \u201cYou really do have to go door to door\u2026you really have to get to where the people are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/StateHouseOUTSIDE-3-1024x683.jpg\")
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