Friday, July 09, 2010
Help Us Get Out the Business Vote
With the Governor and every member of the Maryland General Assembly up for reelection this year, it’s important that Maryland businesses educate and engage their employees. As the election nears, the Maryland Chamber is working to make this as easy as possible.
This month, we will launch an online election guide on the Chamber Action Network website. The guide will be a one-stop shop for non-partisan election year information. You and your employees will be able to find voter registration information, identify which district you live in, browse information about your candidates and more.
We sent all candidates running for state office a business issue questionnaire. We will begin to post their responses soon, so business people can find our where their candidates stand on important business issues like taxes, workplace regulation, Maryland economic competitiveness and more.
You can help our efforts by planning a workplace Get-Out-the-Vote effort. Here are a few simple suggestions:
- Urge your employees to register to vote and provide them voter registration information, as well as information on how to obtain an absentee ballot if they will be out of town. To vote in the September 14 primary, you must be registered by August 24. To vote in the November 2 General Election, you must be registered by October 12. Registration information is available here. You can use our website to complete your voter registration forms. To begin, click here. Enter your name, address and a few other bits of information and the site will produce a pdf file that you can print, sign and mail in to register to vote. Remember that you cannot register to vote online, you must mail in a registration form to the State Board of Elections or your local board of elections.
- Remind your employees to vote by placing a reminder with their paycheck prior to Election Day – Primary Election is September 14; General Election is November 2.
- Encourage your employees to vote on Election Day by providing them paid time off to go to the polls. Offer anyone who votes extra time in the morning, at lunch or at the end of the day.
- Hold a contest to for voting participation. Have each division, office or department strive for 100 percent participation. Offer prizes or recognition for the winning group.
If you have any questions about how the Maryland Chamber can help you with your election year efforts, contact Will Burns at (410) 269-0642, (301) 261-2858 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
