Voting is Public Health 2024
We’re back with the 2024 edition of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) Campaign! This is a non-partisan effort focusing on encouraging SPH students (and others) to register and vote in the November election.
As it turns out, voting and civic engagement in general are good for health – both individual and community! Rx Civic Engagement: Keeping the Public Engaged in Public Health. And, public health has an important role to play in improving this social determinant of health: Safe and Accessible Voting: The Role of Public Health
Civic engagement has the potential to improve individual health, and to change policy to positively impact the social determinants of health. Talking about how policy is made and how to influence it is a regular part of my Marketing Public Health course. School of Public Health students often comment how helpful this is for understanding their role in changing policy in order to impact social determinants.
There are some concerns about being involved in politics or political discussions due to their potential to be polarizing, and a fear of crossing a line into “lobbying,” which is prohibited in our partially government-funded positions. The good news is that we can do a lot to encourage students toward civic engagement without polarizing debates or inappropriate lobbying. Often, this is called a GOTV effort, or Get Out The Vote. It is not telling people HOW to vote; it is just encouraging them TO vote.
Since voting is public health, we are taking a proactive approach by posting fliers throughout campus sending emails to our faculty and students to encourage registering and voting. We will also host informational booths during 2024 SPH Fall orientation and PSU Viking Day Sept 30 at noon in Vanport. Stop by to get a ‘Voting is Public Health’ sticker to show your support.
Check to make sure your voter registration is up-to-date!
- Oregon: https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/pages/myvote.aspx?lang=en
- Washington: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters
For additional resources for promoting voting/civic engagement as public health:
The Privilege Gap and Our Response to the COVID Pandemic – Has a call to action for civic engagement at the end. Power is the ability to make or influence decisions.