Families, Power, and the Ballot Box

In 2016, I was running get-out-the-vote operations in Clark County, Nevada. It was hot, chaotic, and thrilling. I had clipboards stacked in the backseat of my car, volunteers who kept me on my toes, and thousands of voters to reach. At the time, I thought it was all about doors knocked and calls made. I’ve since learned it was really about power.

Because voter engagement is more than turnout numbers. When families show up at the ballot box year after year, they get a seat at the table. They gain leverage to make sure elected officials actually listen when they talk about school quality, transportation, or safety. And when families are organized, they become impossible to ignore.

The problem is that too often, engagement feels transactional. Campaigns sweep in for a few weeks, collect what they need, and then disappear. Families notice. They deserve more than a quick hit. They deserve durable connections that last long after Election Day.

That’s why the most effective voter engagement doesn’t just move people to polls—it moves them into leadership. It looks like parents hosting their own house meetings. It looks like families recruiting neighbors, or young people explaining why local school board elections matter just as much as the presidential race. It’s slower, it’s messier, but it sticks.

Right now, that kind of work is more urgent than ever. Families of color, immigrant families, and working-class families are constantly being told their voices don’t matter. Disenfranchisement is real. Disillusionment is real. But so is the hunger for change. Organizers have an opening to connect education, safety, jobs, and dignity directly to the act of voting—and to show families that their ballot is one of the most powerful tools they have.

I’ve seen it firsthand. In San Antonio, family-led organizing is reshaping civic participation. Through the Voices for Education campaign, parent leaders have engaged more than 14,000 public school families, registered 630 new voters, and reached over 158,000 residents. Their work helped win two of four key city council seats, proving that family power can drive electoral change.

In Camden, Parents Invincible has turned out its base to be roughly 35% of the electorate, cycle after cycle. Elected officials now know they have to champion students-first policies and sustain the conditions needed to advance educational equity through high-quality public school options if they want to get into office.

And in Rhode Island, coalitions like the Collective Action for Education and the Davis Tinnon Foundation are leading the way—registering new voters, hosting candidate conversations, and building sustained civic engagement around education. Their efforts are helping families see that voting isn’t just a civic duty—it’s a pathway to shaping the schools and communities they want to see.

The lesson is the same: sustained voter engagement builds long-term power that carries well beyond one election.

This moment is too important to sit out. We need to be relentless about connecting what happens in classrooms to what happens at the ballot box. We need to invest in organizing that builds leaders, builds relationships, and builds power.

To every parent who wonders if your vote matters: it does. To every organizer knocking on doors and building those connections: keep going. And to every elected official who thinks families aren’t paying attention: they are.

Let’s get to work.