Take Back Tuesday - A Letter to Your Employer

There are many reasons why I don’t like to discuss individual political candidates or parties on this blog, the most important reason being that I understand why individuals choose the candidates they do, and it is always my sincere hope that the candidates (especially locally) all desire to do what’s best for those they represent.

What I do like to talk about here on “Since You Asked…”, though, is the importance of getting involved in our individual communities.  And being involved means taking the time to exercise your right – your responsibility – to vote.  Unfortunately, sometimes voting can be difficult when you have to be at work during the times the polls are open.  To help rectify this conflict, the folks over at GOOD are starting a new initiative, “Take Back Tuesday”, that encourages businesses to close for at least a portion of the day on Election Day in order to allow their employees the opportunity to vote.

If you think your company or business might be interested in participating in this program, here is a copy of the letter GOOD has composed that you can send your employer. 

“Dear ___,

As you know the presidential election is coming up on November 6, and as always it's on a Tuesday—a work day—which is why I'm writing.

To help ensure all of our coworkers get to vote, and to celebrate being awesome, active citizens, I think it would be great to join inTake Back Tuesday, a campaign started by GOOD.

GOOD is an online community, dedicated to connecting people with each other around the issues they care about most. It's all about strengthening active citizenship. And voting is obviously one of the most powerful things we do as citizens.

What's in it for the company? GOOD will be featuring participating organizations on their site, good.is, and in GOOD magazine. So we would get some positive PR out of the deal, in addition to boosting morale and making a strong stand on voting.

I know this request will require some conversations up top, but I think it's well worth it. Here's a link to Take Back Tuesday on Good.is so you can get a better idea of what this can be.

Thanks for reading and I hope to talk to you soon!”

And, in case you're still not convinced you should vote on November 6th, here is a cute little article from "Her Bad Mother" that illustrates why voting is the number one way we can celebrate democracy.