Your Vote Is Your Voice
By Giselle Suazo
The months leading up to the 2016 presidential election were turbulent to say the least; our political landscape saw many accomplishments, we had our first female presidential nominee, but also the ugly side of misinformation. Lee Gentry was among the many voters who wished for some objective information, a way to understand the presidential candidates by their accomplishments, not their latest headline.
“At that time, major news networks had lost my trust and social media was already a disaster for political discourse. I needed a more objective way to decide who to vote for.” said Gentry, “My search failed spectacularly!”
At a loss for quality online services who presented the candidates in an objective light, or that talked about how they represented voters, Gentry saw these obstacles contributing to his voter apathy. Gentry ultimately decided to not participate in the 2016 presidential election, and he wasn’t alone in the sentiment. Only 60 percent of voters actually voted in 2016, out of the 232 million eligible voters in the country. There are many factors that can affect someone’s decision to not vote, one of the more common ones is apathy and burnout. But Gentry was determined to build a solution to this problem. He decide to start Vote Foundation a few months after the presidential election.
Speaking on how he’d like Vote Foundation help voters everywhere:
“A surprising number of voters today base their evaluations exclusively on anecdotal accounts from their social network or from the news. To be an informed voter today, one would need to be equal parts investigative journalist, legislative analyst, and political philosopher. We all have opinions on what we would like to see out of our government, but associating those desires to actual outcomes is virtually impossible for voters with busy lives and little free time to spare.
Our society expects voters to run an electoral marathon once every two years, when many have never hit the gym before. We want to offer voters a place where they can become politically fit, and ultimately, more effective citizens.”
Gentry attributes most of his inspiration for Vote Foundation to people who found themselves confused and frustrated, just as he did, at all the misinformation, manipulation, and empty promises. Every voter would like to make the right choice, but the path to that outcome is unclear. Gentry would like to clear that path and provide people with the information they desire to make the choices they want to make.
Voters everywhere could have benefited from an organization like Vote Foundation even before the tumultuous 2016 election, but Gentry had a nagging feeling that he wasn’t quite “ready” to begin this endeavor.
“Upon reflection, no amount of preparation could have readied me for where I am with this effort today and the challenges that require my attention.” said Gentry.
The advice he’d give anyone wanting to build something from the ground up, “Don’t try to prepare for everything you think you may need,” said Gentry, “Rather, prepare yourself to fail often and learn from your failures. Building that personal resilience and adaptability will pay off far more as an entrepreneur than honing any one skill.”
Vote Foundation continues to work on creating an online platform for citizens to understand what’s happening in their government and take civic action. You can visit their site here.
