Community Health Vote is excited to announce its new website –
www.communityhealthvote.net. Launched today, the site features a wealth of national and state resources designed for health centers to incorporate voter registration into their services, including ACA health insurance enrollment. The
Community Health Vote Websitecontains a Health Center Voter Registration Toolkit that can be downloaded in as well as voter registration guides for all 50 states and answers to frequently asked questions about voter registration in the states. We have also worked with Rock the Vote to create a simple
online voter registration platform that can be accessed by just a click from the ACA online marketplace or on any computer, tablet, or smartphone with a printer.
On Wednesday, January 22nd at 2 PM Eastern, we will be hosting a national webinar to provide an introduction to the Community Health Vote website, its training resources and online voter registration platform. We invite you to
attend this free webinar and learn how you and your health center can participate in Community Health Vote this year.
Register here.
As may know, Community Health Vote is a project begun in 2008 supported by the National Association of Community Health Centers, the Fair Elections Legal Network, and Nonprofit VOTE. The goal of Community Health Vote is to involve as many Federally Qualified Health Center organizations (FQHCs) as possible in integrating nonpartisan voter registration efforts and engaging their over 22 million patients. In 2012, over 180 health centers reported registering or updating registrations for over 25,000 people and collecting some 10,000 additional “pledge to vote” contacts. The results were dramatic, with those registered or contacted by health centers turning out to vote at a rate 6% higher than the general population. A result made even more significant given the fact that health center patient populations are among the least likely to vote.
In addition to the health centers that have participated in nonpartisan voter registration activities as part of Community Health Vote in the past, many centers also offer ongoing voter registration assistance as part of their Medicaid and WIC application and renewal process to comply with the National Voter Registration Act. As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brings millions of Americans to health centers to enroll in health insurance, we have a unique opportunity to integrate voter registration into these and other health center services.
Nonpartisan voter engagement can help health centers meet their organization’s mission and maximize effectiveness by educating and engaging the public. By fully and energetically working to engage staff, board, and patients, health centers can help ensure that the promise of our democracy is fully realized. The Community Health Vote program is conducted in a completely nonpartisan manner in compliance with the law governing their 501c3 status. In the meantime, if you have questions or want more information, contact Marc Wetherhorn at
mwetherhorn@communityhealthvote.net or 540-942-3862.
