MI Vote Counts: The DBSA Helps You Decide

With only a few days until the 2008 presidential election, we’re getting down to the nitty gritty here in America. Like many Americans, I’m quite anxious. The race is close, and I’m looking forward to its finish. I’m looking forward to knowing who our next leader will be. I’m looking forward to seeing if he can pull us out of this economic slump.

I’m also looking forward to no longer receiving campaign emails and enjoying a full week of prime time television without debate interruptions.

Despite how close Election Day is, nearly 6.4 percent of the voting public is still undecided. And, given the number of Americans with mental health issues, I’m willing to bet a good percentage of those undecided voters could use some more information about the candidate’s health care platforms. Fortunately, they don’t have to go very far. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) launched its online Election Center, MI Vote Counts, to help them out.

From helping consumers understand the importance of voting and providing information about mental health legislation to informing them about registering to vote and exactly how to go about voting, the DBSA’s MI Vote Counts is a portal for all things election.

I was able to chat with Gloria Pope, the DBSA’s Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, about why MI Vote Counts is so important – specifically, the story behind MI Vote Counts, the importance of staying current with the candidate’s platforms, and the spark that sets the DBSA’s Election Center apart from all other online tools.

Read on!

Mental Health Notes: What prompted the DBSA to create the Election Center (EC)? What was the driving force behind it?

Gloria Pope: For the past two years, DBSA has been building a phenomenal network of online advocates. We started out by doing a couple of trainings on “Advocacy 101” with a few of our chapter leaders. Then soon after, we began to send alerts out when we needed action on a piece of legislation. We started with a small distribution list but through word of mouth; now distribute to more than 8,000 “constituents.”

Our goal for this upcoming election was to get our folks to register to vote, vote and encourage family and friends to do so as well. Our mantra – in all of our advocacy efforts has been – To be an advocate means you are empowered; and to be empowered means you are an advocate. The name of the center, “MI Vote Counts,” speaks for itself – and has been the message we’ve been trying to communicate throughout the year.

The EC will give our advocates a chance to truly be empowered by making their voices heard on November 4. To accomplish this, we needed to provide the tools and resources and make it quick and easy to find the information they would be looking for. All of the resources are need are in one place. The site with its colorful landing page has links such as, “Why Vote,” “How to Vote,” and the “Role of the Government,” will guide them to what they are looking for. Additionally, the homepage takes them directly to our Legislative Action Center (LAC), information on DBSA-endorsed legislation and an advocacy center, where they can learn how to be an advocate.

The EC will enable them to:

• Research the candidates and their platforms on healthcare.
• Find out if they endorsed or opposed mental health legislation throughout the year.
• Register to vote (day or night from the comfort of your home).
• Obtain an absentee ballot in case you may not feel well enough to vote.
• Learn about other legislators who are up for election.

We even made the center easy to find. Visitors can type dbsalliance.org/vote in to their search engines and go directly to the center.

MHN: Why do you feel it’s so important for mental health consumers to stay up to date with the presidential candidates’ platforms?

GP: We encouraged our advocates to go into the voting booth, armed with the best information possible. Throughout the past few months, we asked them not to be a part of “personality politics” – voting for a candidate because of their looks or personality. We wanted advocates to listen to all of the candidates’ platforms so that they could decide who would be the best candidate. Our advocates have the option of listening to what the candidates’ have been saying and then going to the LAC to see how they have voted in the past year on these same issues. We have found that some candidates’ support an issue on the campaign trail, but when you look at their voting record, it tells a whole other story.

MHN: And finally, what do you think makes the DBSA’s Election Center stand out from other advocacy groups’ similar election/candidate-focused informational websites?

GP: The EC gives our constituents everything they need to know right at their fingertips. They don’t have to search our site for different information. They can do everything from learning about the legislative process to reading about the importance of voting. – all in one place. We also have been finding an increase in letters sent to legislators by constituents who initially started out in the EC and then moved on the Legislative Action Center (LAC).

DBSA is extremely proud of our advocates. In 2006, approximately 500 letters were sent through the LAC. In 2007, the number increased to 10,300. This year, with two more months to go, more than 43,000 letters have been sent – making us one of the strongest grassroots networks of online advocates.

Personally, I’ve been browsing through MI Vote Counts since I first learned about it, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s just now learning about it. It’s too late to register to vote in most states (except for those states that offer same-day and late registrations like New Hampshire and Montana), but keep in mind that is only one of the resources MI Vote Counts offers.

If you’re undecided, check it out.

If you’ve already decided, check it out anyway.

And don’t forget to thank Gloria for this insight into MI Vote Counts!