Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1472975
Ron Sniffin Executive Director, WEA rsniffin@wyoea.org (307)214-3389 Elections can be extremely close. In 2020, House District 14 was decided by just one vote; House District 18 by only 10, and Senate District 6 by only 75. Add to this the fact that primary elections typically have a low turnout. This means that adding just a few more votes for your candidate can make the difference in an election. Why are we devoting so much effort to elections? Because elected officials ultimately decide everything that happens in your schools. Vote! Our students' future depends on it! Please sign our Voting Pledge (learn more on page 15) and be sure to bring this copy of WEA News with you to the polls to reference the candidates endorsed by WEA PACE for their support of public education (on page 6). You can also access our list of WEA PACE-endorsed candidates at bit.ly/weapace-2022 or by scanning the QR code below with your phone or other internet-connected smart devices. E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R Throughout this edition of WEA News, you will read about the importance of electing friends of education. To do this, we need votes! Not only do we need your vote, but we need you to convince your family and neighbors to vote for WEA PACE-recommended candidates! We also need to get people who do not normally vote to cast their ballots for our endorsed candidates! Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts are the most effective tool we have to ensure the candidates you support will be elected. GOTV efforts are aimed at increasing voter turnout in specific elections. GOTV efforts typically attempt to register voters, then get them to vote by absentee ballot, early voting, or election day voting. There are two main types of GOTV efforts. The first type is general voter registration campaigns and enc ouragement to vote, conducted by electoral authorities or nonpartisan organizations. One nonpartisan organization working on this effort is the Equality State Policy Center. WEA is a founding member of ESPC and will work with them to increase voter registration and turnout efforts. Please get in touch with me if you want to help with these efforts! The second type of GOTV targets potential voters who are likely to vote a particular way. WEA PACE will focus on endorsed candidates' campaigns, especially those in critical races. It is more cost- effective to encourage voting by 100 supporters who did not vote in the past than it is to convince 50 voters to switch support from one party to the other. F r o m t h e P l e a s e M a k e a P l a n t o G e t t o t h e P o l l s ! Y o u r V o t e M a t t e r s ! Ron Sniffin Executive Director, WEA Scan now to view the list of WEA PACE-endorsed pro-public education candidates 5