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9.01.2024

Babies Can’t Vote, but You Can! ZERO TO THREE Think Babies™ Election Toolkit

In this election cycle, educate your community and vote for candidates who you know will make the needs of families with young children a priority once elected. There are many ways you can use the tools here to call on 2024 candidates to Think Babies™ and make their potential a priority, including: 

• Post on social media to raise awareness about infant-toddler issues and ask candidates where they stand on the policies and investments that babies and families need. 
• Spread the word about issues in your community through newsletters, blogs, social media, or via email and call on your community to amplify infant and toddler issues. And encourage others to join you to Be a Big Voice for Little Kids™.   
• Vote.

ZERO TO THREE created Think Babies™ to bring attention to what babies and their families need to thrive and urge policymakers to prioritize the needs of infants, toddlers, and families and invest in our future. 

Think Babies™ Election Toolkit will help you prepare to vote and raise awareness about issues that impact infants, toddlers and families in your community. 

Engaging Candidates at Events

“Town hall” meetings or candidate forums are a great time to share your concerns with candidates. Candidates regularly hold these sessions throughout the campaign cycle. They are often open to the public and include a question-and-answer session – giving you the opportunity to share the Think Babies™ message and ask the candidates where they stand on infant-toddler issues.

• Find an Event: Sign up for a candidate’s emails or newsletters, and follow their social media accounts to get updates. Check back to learn when they may be hosting public forums. 
• Prepare: Once you have identified an event, prepare a brief statement or question using the worksheet below to get you started. Always remember to pose open-ended questions. 
• Follow up: Staff are a critical link in educating candidates and elevating issues. Don’t forget to get contact information of key staff and follow up. Be sure to provide them with your contact information as well and remind them about your areas of expertise – they may want to follow up with you down the road!

Questions for Candidates

For the most powerful impact, draft and practice your question before an event. Use this worksheet to create your own message-based question to use at an event. 

1. Start with an Introduction
   Give the candidate a short introduction. This is as easy as stating your name and one other fact, such as your role with babies and toddlers.
   Hi, my name is _______ and I am the parent of________ /I work with babies as a______.
2. Share a short story.
   Sharing a short story helps the candidate connect the question back to real life situations and gives more power to the question. Write two or three sentences to tell a personal story related to the issue you would like to ask about.
3. Tie in the issue.
   Provide a follow up statement that connects your personal story to a particular policy issue. Again, this should be short, just a sentence or two.
4. The ask.
   This is where you directly ask the candidate what they would do to help solve your problem. Do not offer them a solution, just ask a specific question about the issue and let them elaborate on their answer.
5. Put it all together to finalize your opening statement and question.

Social Media

The Think Babies™ toolkit provides sample posts that you can use or adapt to raise awareness about what babies and families need to thrive. They also include graphics that you can download and share through your social media accounts. Use the #ThinkBabies hashtag and tag @ZEROTOTHREE so they can amplify your posts!

Vote for Babies!

Voters have countless opportunities to elect candidates who will make meeting the needs of infants and toddlers their priority. Below are resources on how you can prepare to show up for young children and families at the ballot box: 

1. Confirm Your Voter Registration
   Check your voter registration status by visiting headcount.org and entering your information. If you are not already registered, you can register to vote there or update your existing registration as well.
2. Research the Candidates and Issues on Your Ballot
   Visit ballotready.org or ballotpedia.org to:
      ● See every candidate and referendum that will be on your personal ballot, and
      ● Learn about candidates and their stances on the issues.
3. Make a Plan to Vote and Encourage Others to Do the Same
   Create a plan for yourself and share this resource with others so they can do the same. Print out your plan and put it somewhere visible as a reminder! For more information on where to vote, how to vote, how to vote early, and how to vote by mail, look up your state on headcount.org.

Resources

The Think Babies™ Election Toolkit includes all of the information included in this article as well as additional information, sample questions, social media graphics and more!

Learn more about Think Babies™ by visiting their website at thinkbabies.org.

Nevada Secretary of State Registered Voter Services – Registered voters in Nevada can use this service to verify their voter registration information, update their mail ballot preference, view their voting history, find a polling location, see who their elected representatives are, and view their sample ballot.

NOTICE: As a 501(c)(3) charity, ZERO TO THREE does not support or oppose any candidate. ZERO TO THREE’s mission is to educate the public and candidates about the issues that impact babies and toddlers.