Thank you everyone that was able to join us for our webinar What Happens After November 3?. For those who were not able to attend or would like to re-watch it, we have made the recording available here.

Friday October 23, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm. 

Many of us have focused our advocacy passion and organizing energy on November 3. Through Create the Vote, the arts and cultural community has stepped up to play our part educating and advocating to our audiences for a complete census count and increased voter registration and turnout.  

Our voter education efforts are ongoing and the outcome of the election is still weeks away.  However, in the months following the election, a new Congress will be seated and the new two-year legislative session begins here in Massachusetts. For arts and cultural supporters, this means there our shared work advocating for an inclusive, strong and publicly supported arts and cultural sector in Massachusetts continues. 

Join MASSCreative and the Create the Vote Steering Committee to hear what we can expect in the coming months for arts and cultural advocacy and learn from arts and cultural activists who have incorporated advocacy into their creative practice. 

On September 11, the Create the Vote Steering Committee hosted Creating the Vote: How to Actually Take Action, a webinar to help artists, culture workers and creative organizations think about the ways to support and strengthen our democracy. You can watch a recording of the webinar here. 

Check out the resources mentioned in the webinar below.

As we approach the September 1 primary, volunteers and staff from candidate campaigns are busy reaching out to voters via calls and texts to urge support for their candidates. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about a candidate’s platform and issues - especially how the candidate sees arts and culture as a vital part of community cohesion and economic vibrancy for their district. Instead of quickly and politely signing off, be sure to engage the candidate or their campaign in a quick conversation on arts and culture. Here are three questions that we encourage voters ask to learn more about a candidate’s support for arts and culture:

• What is the candidate’s cultural policy platform? Urge candidates to check out the Cultural New Deal for Cultural and Racial Justice and the Americans for the Arts Action Fund’s 2020 Arts Platform Positions. 
  
  
• How does the candidate see arts and culture playing a role to advance their top campaign priorities?
  
  
• According to the Mass Artists Leaders Coalition’s By Artists, For Artists 2018 report, arts and creatives vote at high rates. How will the candidate address the crisis creative workers and the cultural community currently faces as a result of COVID-19?

When candidates get more questions on an issue they are more inclined to develop policies that support the issue. By asking questions you help ensure the issues and challenges facing the creative community rise to the top. 

Fall 2020 is a pivotal year for civic engagement and there is paying work available to ensure a strong and healthy democracy in our nation and commonwealth. 

While the presidential election often takes center stage, a wide array of local and national elections (Nov. 3) and Massachusetts primaries (Sept. 1) are taking place this year, with the potential to shape the future of the Commonwealth. Additionally, 2020 is a Census year. Census data directly impacts the allocation of billions of Federal funding dollars, as well as determines congressional, state, and local district boundaries. It is vital that we complete the count in Massachusetts to ensure everyone is represented.

UPDATE: As of 8/24/20 Secretary Galvin recommends mail-in ballots be delivered directly to local election offices instead of sent by mail. Learn more via MALC's blog post. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic currently affecting the safety of in-person polls, a number of states across the country have adapted to expand mail-in-voting, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We're encouraging our creatives to #CreateTheVote and vote by mail, to both protect your own health and safety, but also to protect the health and safety of your communities. However, we recognize that this process is new to many and presents its own complications. That's why the #CreateTheVote campaign has put together some resources to help you figure it out!

On July 6, Secretary of State Bill Gavin announced that Gov. Charlie Baker had signed an H.4820 into law. The new legislation extends the early voting period and grants all Massachusetts residents the option to vote by mail in the 2020 state primary and general elections.

Create the Vote Steering Committee partner MassVOTE has put together this helpful FAQ to help you understand the bill and how it affects voting in the age of COVID-19.

The 2020 Census is happening now! Every ten years, the nonpartisan U.S. Census Bureau counts the population of the United States and the data impacts government decisions for the next ten years! Take the Census today and encourage your loved ones to get counted at https://2020census.gov/en.html. The response deadline (previously extended due to COVID-19) has been shortened to September 30th.