• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Independent Voter News
  • Campaign Finance
  • Civic Ed
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Events
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. voting rights>

Driving electoral success by making democracy delicious

Amirah Noaman
November 02, 2022
Pizza to the Polls serving food during elections

A Pizza to the Polls food truck stands ready to serve voters.

Pizza to the Polls

Noaman is the executive director of Pizza to the Polls.

After the 2020 election saw some of the longest lines at polling places in the past several elections – from New York and Texas to Georgia and Ohio – voters are proactively preparing and making plans to cast their ballots as the 2022 midterms quickly approach. With so many individuals becoming more politically involved and looking forward to voting this year, it is critical that they are supported with a functioning civic engagement ecosystem.

Feeding people and providing water keeps people in line to vote and keeps elections running smoothly.


Powering an election through food

The lack of resources provided to voters on Election Day is a critical gap in the electoral support system. However, when this gap is closed and support is provided to those in line, we see electoral success in a few key ways: greater turnout and, as a result, a more representative outcome.

When a simple snack or bottle of water is supplied, people who would have otherwise abandoned their right to vote for their basic human need to eat are able to stay in line and cast a ballot. This is critical as, historically, the United States has struggled with voter turnout. In fact, in 2020, only about 69 percent of voters cast a ballot – more than any other year but still only two-thirds of the eligible population.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

According to a recent paper published by a University of Pennsylvania political scientist, every additional hour a voter waits in line decreases the probability they will vote by 1 percent. While that may seem insignificant, the paper also suggests that almost 200,000 people did not vote in 2014 because of the amount of time they had to wait in 2012.

Now, imagine if hundreds of thousands of the 69 percent who did vote in 2020 ended up going home because lines were too long and they were hungry or thirsty. Not only could that election have had different results, but the turnout for this year’s election could be compromised too.

When more people vote, the entire electoral process is able to run more smoothly. The process of voting in person is streamlined, identities have already been verified and the votes are immediately counted. However, when ballots are cast via mail or drop box they undergo several additional measures of review before being counted.

Long lines can be incredibly demoralizing to the average voter; providing food and beverages is a great way to keep people engaged and excited during an activity that often feels mundane and taxing. We know that voting is habit forming, so a good experience is crucial to guaranteeing turnout.

Everyone deserves a snack

In 2020, many organizations, such as Pizza to the Polls, successfully stepped up to support those waiting in long lines to vote. Millions of people across the country – from voters and their children to poll workers, journalists and even people passing by – were all able to enjoy refreshments and keep polling locations a place of celebration as intended.

The key to success for many of these initiatives is ensuring that all distribution takes place in a nonpartisan way, following all election compliance laws. Regardless of who you’re voting for (or if you are voting at all), everyone at polling places should have access to food and water in a safe and lawful way. This simple gesture of feeding people in long lines engages civic participants across the political spectrum, ensuring citizens do not have to choose between their civic duty and hunger.

It’s time to fuel democracy

As we look towards the 2022 elections, it’s clear the demand for these resources will once again be high. If we want to see democracy do its job this election season, supporting organizations that provide these basic needs on the ground is essential to electoral success.

From Your Site Articles
  • Nonprofits have power to create a more inclusive democracy - The ... ›
  • In Ga., worst suppression may be weakening the will to vote - The ... ›
  • Voting registration advocates grapple with new election laws - The ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • The facts about Georgia's ban on food, water giveaways ... - PolitiFact ›
  • Georgia's new election law prohibits giving food and water to voters ... ›
  • Sorry, Rewarding Voters With Free Food Is Technically Illegal ›
voting rights

Join an Upcoming Event

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
Oct 04, 2023 at 5:00 pm PDT
Read More

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
Oct 11, 2023 at 5:00 pm PDT
Read More

Oregon STAR Voting Monthly Meeting

Equal Vote
Oct 11, 2023 at 6:00 pm PDT
Read More

STAR Voting Oregon Chapter Meeting

Equal Vote
Oct 11, 2023 at 6:00 pm CDT
Read More

American Promise National Volunteer Call

American Promise
Oct 11, 2023 at 8:00 pm CDT
Read More

NH United: Bringing Granite Staters Together in Rye

The People
Oct 12, 2023 at 6:30 pm EDT
Read More
View All Events

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow

Support Democracy Journalism; Join The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum daily platform is where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives. Now more than ever our democracy needs a trustworthy outlet

Contribute
Contributors

Grand Canyon gap in America today

Dave Anderson

Chief Justice John Roberts and Chief Justice Roger Taney are Twins– separated by only 165 years

Stephen E. Herbits

Conservatives attacking Americans’ First Amendment rights

Steve Corbin

To advance racial equity, policy makers must move away from the "Black and Brown" discourse

Julio A. Alicea

Policymakers must address worsening civil unrest post Roe

Sarah K. Burke

Video: How to salvage U.S. democracy from the "tyranny of the minority"

Our Staff
latest News

Could the Constitution itself defeat Trump in 2024?

Rick LaRue
8h

Veterans for Political Innovation: The FAQs of VPI

Reinhold Ernst
9h

Podcast: We contain multitudes

Our Staff
9h

What really are “special interests” in Washington - and how they influence Congress

Bradford Fitch
03 October

The kids are alright: The younger generation’s inspiring legal fight against climate change

David J. Toscano
03 October

Living wisely: Addressing economic faults for a sustainable future

Leland R. Beaumont
03 October
Videos
Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Our Staff
Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Our Staff
Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Our Staff
Video: The history of Labor Day

Video: The history of Labor Day

Our Staff
Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Our Staff
Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: We contain multitudes

Our Staff
9h

Podcast: On democracy and its current torments

Our Staff
02 October

Podcast: Is reunification still possible?

Our Staff
27 September

Podcast: All politics is local

Our Staff
22 September
Recommended
Could the Constitution itself defeat Trump in 2024?

Could the Constitution itself defeat Trump in 2024?

Contributors
Veterans for Political Innovation: The FAQs of VPI

Veterans for Political Innovation: The FAQs of VPI

News
Podcast: We contain multitudes

Podcast: We contain multitudes

Podcasts
What really are “special interests” in Washington - and how they influence Congress

What really are “special interests” in Washington - and how they influence Congress

Contributors
The kids are alright: The younger generation’s inspiring legal fight against climate change

The kids are alright: The younger generation’s inspiring legal fight against climate change

Big Picture
Living wisely: Addressing economic faults for a sustainable future

Living wisely: Addressing economic faults for a sustainable future

Corporate Responsibility