Vote For the Issues that Matter to You

OVEC is a member group of the Our Children, Our Future campaign, which is urging you to vote twice this year! Don’t worry… this is totally legal:

Vote in the primaries, to help choose the lawmakers who will represent you. Then vote again (right now!) to choose the ISSUES that you want to fight for in the coming years.

The issues with the most votes will become the 2016 Our Children, Our Future Commitment.

Make sure you have your say: Vote here!

OVEC thinks it would be a good idea to require some outdoor education as part of school kids’ curriculums in West Virginia. There’s much to learn from nature, as our executive director, Janet Keating notes in Rich Louv’s excellent book on the topic, Last Child in the Woods. If you want to vote for this idea, it is #9 in Pillar: Great Education & Jobs.

OVEC’s work with the WV Citizens for Clean Elections is all about strengthening democracy. So, we hope, under Pillar: Strengthening Democracy we hope you will vote for #34 (top choice) and #33 (second choice; you get to vote for four more in this pillar).

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Healthy Kids & Families Coalition, a key group in the Our Children, Our Future campaign notes:

I’m voting twice this primary season, because I don’t think that democracy is a spectator sport. I will vote for my representatives, but I want them to know that my participation does not end on election day. That’s why I am also voting for the issues that matter to my family. No matter who gets elected, I want them to know that I will be fighting—long after election day—for the real change that our children need.

The Our Children, Our Future 2016 Commitment is not just a piece of paper with a dozen issues on it. For the next 6 months, we will distribute the commitment at festivals, candidate forums, and door-to-door. We’ll ask voters to sign-on and pledge their support. We will also take the Commitment to every single candidate for state office and ask them to respond to our issues. Then we will publish a VOTER GUIDE with their responses, so voters can get educated.

You can vote now on-line. We also encourage folks to bring some ballots to their congregations, community group, or even just a meeting you are attending. Sign-up here if you need ballots!

If you have questions, contact the campaign’s regional organizers: George@ourfuturewv.org in the north; Careyjo@ourfuturewv.org in the south/west; LeeAnn@ourfuturewv.org in the east.