Stand up and Be Counted

Rex Fuller

Anyone who’s watched television in Colorado for five minutes has probably picked up that 2014 is an election year and Colorado is a battleground state for several important candidates and issues that affect the LGBT community. During the 2012 elections, exit polls indicated that LGBT voters played a significant impact in many important election races and issues nationwide, but while LGBT votes do make a difference, low voter turnout, especially for mid-term elections, continues to be a problem. Mindy Barton, Legal Director of the GLBT Community Center, has been working to address these shortfalls and increase voter registration among the LGBT community.

“Registering to vote is a key component in influencing the outcome of elections,” Mindy says. “We know that politicians listen to communities that actively participate in the system of civic engagement. If we want politicians to listen to the needs of LGBT community members, that’s what we need to do: get out there and register to vote and then actually vote on Nov. 4.”

The Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which means it is a non-partisan group and generally The Center cannot take a stand on candidates or issues. However The Center can actively encourage voters to participate.

For the last several years, The Center has been a part of the Colorado Participation Project. “The goal is get various organizations to get their clients to register to vote and promise to vote during the election,” Barton explains. “We know that if people put their name on a postcard and promise to vote, they’re more likely to actually mail that ballot back in when the time comes.”

Center staff and volunteers have been busy engaging visitors in the voter registration process. The Center hosted a National Voter Registration Day event on Sept. 23, attended by Denver County Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson. Center volunteers have also made voter registration forms available at The Center’s front desk in both English and Spanish. “We also have a website where people can easily register online,” Mindy says. “Sometimes people think voter registration is complicated but it’s not. It’s a really, really simple form.”

Recent changes to voter registration laws have made it even simpler this year. “People can register all the way through and including Nov. 4,” Mindy says. “Ballots are expected to start mailing in early October. It is an all-mail ballot this year. If voters don’t receive their ballot by late October, they can go down to a voter registration center and actively participate there.”

Whether you register online or in person, Mindy says that the most important thing is to vote and make sure that LGBT voices are playing an active role in this election. “We are hoping that 100 percent of the participants at The Center will actually participate in the election come November.”