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Anyone active in groups working on community issues eventually comes face-to-face with elected or appointed government officials. Local, state and federal government provide public services - roads, schools, sewers, fire and police protection - and determine policies that shape private practices - zoning, industrial and residential development, and employment practices, to name a few. Elected officials, and those appointed by elected officials, make decisions that affect our personal lives and the general well-being of our communities. Even though government shapes so much of our lives, most people don't vote.

Joy Johnson, chairperson of PHAR (Public Housing Association of Residents), a VOP affiliate in Charlottesville, says that the biggest challenge to encouraging people to register to vote is connecting the act of voting to people's real lives.

"It's easier to find information on how to play the lottery than it is to find out what voting has to do with the things you care about in your life. Television and radio tell you over and over again what you stand to win if you buy a lottery ticket; how many times have you seen an ad that says if you want to save affordable housing in your neighborhood, improve the schools, or increase the minimum wage, you need to vote? I've seen city council meetings and committee meetings in the General Assembly where the votes of two or three elected officials make all the difference in whether a proposal passes or gets killed. Any effort to register voters needs to include education on how the people we elect determine the outcome on schools, economics, jobs, affordable housing, and the other things real people care about in our everyday lives."

PHAR began last year to educate public housing residents in Charlottesville on how electoral politics has a direct impact on their lives, and to register people to vote.

"If you want to do a voter registration drive, call your local Registrar of Voters and get the applications and other information you need. The League of Women Voters will train your members to register people if you need help. But plan to do education work, too, because most unregistered people aren't automatically going to want to fill out applications or vote," said Joy.

Most people think that politicians don't care about them, and the complicated rules of party politics serve to exclude many people from participating in partisan politics. But non-partisan voter participation - encouraging people to register, questioning candidates from all parties on where they stand on issues you care about, and getting people to go to the polls, can make a difference. Both the outcome of local elections and the actions of candidates once they are elected can be shaped by new voters holding candidates accountable for their positions and actions on issues.

Joy recommends the following steps for a local group that wants to begin a non-partisan voter registration drive:

1. Do some advertising first.

Put up posters or send flyers in your community letting people know how voting is connected with things they care about in their own lives - affordable housing, schools, jobs, road construction, etc. Announce your voter registration drive.

2. Get registration forms and other materials from the local Registrar of Voters.

Application forms need to be filled out completely and accurately, or the Registrar can't enter the registration. So be prepared to help anyone who has trouble completing the form, and check applications to see they are complete before turning them in to the Registrar. Local Registrars can also provide you with brochures with information on registration and voting procedures, or you can obtain them directly from the State Board of Elections in Richmond (1-800-552-9745). People can register to vote at any time during the year, but in order to vote in an upcoming election, you must register at least 29 days before the election. Voters must be U.S. citizens, residents of Virginia, and at least 18 years old; 17-year-olds can register if they will be 18 by the next general election.

People who have been convicted of felonies must have their voting rights restored by the Governor before they can register. Contact the Secretary of the Commonwealth, P.O. Box 2454, Richmond, VA 23201-2454 to apply. People who have been judged mentally incompetent by a circuit court must apply to the court for reinstatement of competency before being able to register.

3. Hold a training session for your members who will commit to registering voters.

Walk people through the steps of registering people (the League of Women Voters is usually willing to help with this if you need it.)

Ask members to practice talking about how voting connects with what is going on in the community - talk about the local political arena and how it affects both personal and community life. Members will have to talk to unregistered people and help them see that registering and voting can make a difference, so practice (role-play) having conversations with people who don?t see what difference it makes. Try to connect the need to vote to a long-term view of history. Joy said, "Martin Luther King encouraged people to vote. What difference did it make then? What kinds of changes came about during the Civil Rights Movement? What kinds of things do we need to change now? How can exercising our right to vote have an impact on jobs, housing, education?"

4. Use a two-pronged approach to reach unregistered voters.

a. Go door-to-door in pairs contacting unregistered voters. Leave an application and come back later to pick it up; check to make sure the application is complete.

b. Hold an event - a social event like a picnic or pizza party - where people can register and talk to each other at the same time. It?s also possible to set up a voter registration table at community events - after church services on Sunday, high school sporting events, etc. Contact the church or organization sponsoring the event to make arrangements.

5. Evaluate what you learned in doing the voter registration drive and consider future efforts.

Ask members to reflect on what they learned from their efforts to register voters. What worked best and what needs to be improved? How else can the group encourage people to participate in electing public officials? Some groups hold non-partisan candidate forums during election season to ask candidates where they stand on issues of concern to their members. Others hold accountability sessions with elected officials at various times during the year to ask them to account for how they've acted on community concerns. Some groups call all the people they registered just before the next election to remind them to go to the polls and vote for the candidates of their choice.

Non-profit tax-exempt groups must be non-partisan

Non-profit organizations exempt from taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code cannot endorse or contribute to campaigns for candidates for office, and cannot work for specific candidates or groups of candidates. A good manual for organizations exempt under Sections 501(c) (3) or 501(c)(4) of the tax code is: Playing by the Rules: Handbook on Voter Participation and Education Work for 501(c)(3) Organizations. It?s available from the Independent Sector, 1828 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, (888) 860-8118.

As individuals, people can of course support any candidate they choose. The point of non-partisan voter participation is not to endorse specific candidates, but to hold all candidates and elected officials accountable to what Joy calls "the real needs in real people's lives."