Whether you’re headed to the ballot box on November 6th, voting early, or mailing in your absentee ballot, you have the opportunity to affect tremendous change this election. If you’re voting in federal, state, municipal, or local elections, your voice matters!
This year, we’ve seen proposals raised to roll back crucial regulations that protect wildlife and their homes at both the federal and state level. Now, more than ever, it’s important for us to show up at the polls this fall to speak out for our most treasured species.
When you cast your vote, look for choices and candidates that will help our treasured species in one — or all — of the following ways:
- Recover declining wildlife through on-the-ground programs and support.
- Restore habitat — from native plant gardens and grasslands to crucial coastal wetlands, marshes and nesting beaches.
- Reduce water pollution, especially for rivers, wetlands and smaller streams that now are at greater risk.
- Limit dangerous carbon and methane pollution in our air that are the main drivers of climate change.
- Protect our wild public lands and waters, and not open them up for oil, gas, mining or commercial development.
If you live in the following states, your state ballot includes initiatives that the National Wildlife Federation has an official position on. Read below to find out more:
- California: Vote YES on Prop 3 – Water Bond
- Colorado: Vote NO on Amendment 74 – Just Compensation for “Takings” by Government Regulation
- Denver, Colorado: Vote YES on 2A For the Future of Denver’s Parks, Natural Areas, and Wildlife
- Connecticut: Vote YES on Question 2 – Legislative Requirements to Transfer State Properties Amendment
- Florida: Support Initiative 9 – Ban Offshore Drilling and Ban Indoor Vaping
- Georgia: Check YES for the Outside Stewardship Act
- Montana: Support Initiative 186 – Mining and Clean Water
- Nevada: Vote YES on Question 6 – Renewable Energy Standards Initiative
- Washington: Support Initiative 1631 – Carbon Price
Not sure how to research issues and candidates? We’ve compiled a list of resources you can use to inform your vote:
- Ballot Ready (https://www.ballotready.org/): Put in your address to be guided through a comparison of candidates and ballot initiatives from the federal to municipal level. You can choose areas of interest, including Environment / Energy, to compare candidates’ statements on each issue.
- Congress.gov (https://www.congress.gov/): You can search incumbent candidates’ voting records here to see whether they have previously supported wildlife-friendly measures.
- ProPublica Represent (https://projects.propublica.org/represent): Track how incumbent candidates voted relative to the majority and to their party with this tool – browse the most recent bills or type a specific measure, lawmaker, or address into the search bar.
- Ballotpedia (https://ballotpedia.org/): You can use Ballotpedia’s Simple Ballot Lookup tool (note – you can proceed without entering your email address) to identify initiatives and candidates on your ballot. Descriptions of the initiatives include what a “yes” or “no” vote means in the context of the question, as well as detailed summaries of the ballot measure and which groups or candidates are advocating for it.
Many people may think midterm elections are not as important as presidential elections, but your vote this election season will help shape the American political landscape for at least the next two years. Your voice matters – vote!