AUGUST 11, 2018

“See if the people that you just elected are actually doing their jobs and are actually representing you.”

Maria Yuan is the founder of Issue Voter, an organization whose mission is to make civic engagement accessible, efficient, and impactful. We talk about the importance of being informed on the bills before Congress, communicating your priorities and opinions to your representative, and understanding whether your rep is truly representing you.

Our voice matters

One of the benefits of living in a democracy is making our voices heard. In fact, representatives keep track of constituent contact in order to better understand how their community prioritizes issues. They also appreciate expanding their communication beyond the actively engaged core constituents. Technology enables voters to have efficient and impactful communication with their representatives.  

Transparency

Today’s technology helps us track how representatives vote, so we know if they are truly representing us. Based on a representative’s legislative voting record, we can make an educated decision on whether to re-elect our representatives or vote them out of office. When voters are aware and engaged, outside money doesn't have as much of an influence in keeping incumbents in power. 

Better-informed citizens are better voters 

Over 10,000 bills are introduced in one session of Congress, which means that we don’t hear about most them. The more we inform ourselves, the more we will be able to engage on issues beyond the ones featured in the news, understand the various perspectives, and then vote knowledgeably.

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Maria Yuan is the founder of Issue Voter, an organization whose mission is to give everyone an equal voice in our democracy by making civic engagement accessible, efficient, and impactful.