CIVIC
HOLIDAYS
Because democracy
should be celebrated.
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Why we celebrate civic holidays.
Cleveland VOTES celebrates civic holidays to elevate joy in democracy! Civic holidays are a great opportunity to work with our partners together towards some common goals (e.g. voter registration + early voting) while also finding creative ways to connect with community members.
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Here are the civic holidays we proudly celebrate:
National Voter Registration Day
National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrating democracy. Every September, NVRD involves volunteers and organizations from all over the country who hit the streets in a single day of coordinated field, technology and media efforts. NVRD seeks to create broad awareness of voter registration opportunities and to reach tens of thousands of voters who may not register otherwise.
Cleveland VOTES has been celebrating NVRD with various community partners since our founding in 2014. Working with partners for NVRD instead of working alone is unique to Cleveland VOTES. We have even received national attention for the effective way the CV team has built strong relationships with community members, leading to higher registration rates.
Over the years our NVRD community partners and events have increased, so we started spreading NVRD over a week instead of a single day. During this “week of action," CV and our partners seek to promote community, knowledge, and voter accessibility for Northeast Ohio.
Some of the notable past NVRD Week of Action events include pop-up registrations, ice cream socials, tabling at schools, county libraries, festivals, job fairs, shopping centers, and more.
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Vote Early Day
Vote Early Day (VED) is a nonpartisan movement of media companies, businesses, nonprofits, election administrators, and creatives working to ensure all Americans have the tools to vote early. Launched in the midst of a global pandemic, VED became a critical resource to ensure no voter had to choose between their health and casting their ballot.
There are many proven benefits to early voting, such as reduced stress on the voting system on Election Day, shorter lines on Election Day, improved poll worker performance, early identification and correction of registration errors + voting system glitches, greater access to voting, and increased voter satisfaction.
Cleveland VOTES has incorporated VED into its civic holiday programming since 2020. In 2022, we started hosting Pull Up to the Polls, an early voting celebration held outside the Board of Elections. It is now an annual event with a growing number of community partners and volunteers. We greet and thank people who come to vote early and celebrate their commitment to democracy with food, beverages, children's activities, music, swag, and more.
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Election Hero Day
Election Hero Day (EHD) is a national day of recognition held on the Monday before the General Election every November. Nonprofits, business leaders, brands, public officials, and many more celebrate the tremendous contributions state officials and local election workers are making to ensure a safe, secure, and accessible voting experience for all.
Cleveland VOTES has been an EHD partner since 2022. We honor individuals who we feel make our local boards of elections and polling places safer and more equitable. Honorees are the subject of a special campaign that gets shared via our communication channels and in our annual report.
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Want to celebrate the civic holidays with us?
There are many benefits to being a holiday partner.
Civic holidays are important to democracy building because they allow individuals and organizations who are closest to the unique voting challenges in their communities to plan and implement programming that is customized to their communities' needs. As a civic holiday partner, you will be given opportunities to use your creative juices and resources to cultivate opportunities to register and connect with voters.
As a civic holiday convener and organizer, Cleveland VOTES is intentional in ensuring every celebration is communal and that our partners don't feel like they have to figure everything out on their own. We seek to provide ongoing guidance/resources/support to our civic holiday partners throughout the planning + implementation process. Under our supervision, all participating community groups and organizations will have what they need to host an effective and memorable event!
If you'd like to get involved with future civic holiday celebrations, sign up for our newsletter to hear about upcoming opportunities and/or connect with our Civic Engagement Strategist (gloria@clevotes.com).
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