Voter Outreach & Engagement

Thrive’s voter engagement work has three main goals: educate potential voters, register more voters, and increase voter turnout, especially in traditionally low civic participation populations.

Thrive has advocated for more inclusive voter engagement since 2017 when the Voter’s Choice Act was first adopted in San Mateo County. We commented actively on the proposed Election Administration Plan, advocated for Vote Centers to be located in areas with traditionally low turnout, and requested that the Board of Supervisors establish the Voter Education and Outreach Advisory Committee (VEOAC) to give community-based organizations and individuals input into the outreach, materials, and strategy of the SMC Elections Office.

Thrive was on the study advisory committee for Examining San Mateo County’s Adoption of the California Voter’s Choice Act from the Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC Price School.

Since 2018, Thrive has co-chaired monthly Voter Education & Outreach Advisory Committee (VEOAC) meetings with the Elections Office and San Francisco Peninsula People Power (SFPPP). These meetings discuss all recent voting and elections updates and outreach efforts and suggest new voter engagement techniques. Meetings are on the third Wednesday of every month and are open to everyone. Contact Yajaira Ortega if you want to learn more or join our discussions.

In 2019, as part of the VEOAC, we partnered with Silicon Valley Community Foundation. We successfully requested funding from the Board of Supervisors and the County Elections Office for outreach funds to go directly from the County to CBOs through a grant program. The program occurred during the primaries and general elections of 2020 and 2022. Thrive also provided support for the organizations that received the grants.

The VEAOC continues to meet monthly to analyze election results, discuss current proposed voting legislation, voting rights, and how to increase voter education that leads to increased voter engagement.

Watch our past events!