Elections Internet Project

The main goal of this project is to convince people to vote and to use their vote to advance the Culture of Life, particularly the protection of unborn children and their mothers. We want to reach as many people as possible in this effort. This will be accomplished by using the wide variety of venues that the Internet provides to spread the word about issues, candidates, and political responsibility to hundreds or thousands of people at one time!

Where do I go?

Internet news sites often allow you to comment on articles, and there will be more and more articles relating to the elections as Election Day draws near. Let your voice be heard by commenting on articles. Many of these sites require you to set up a free account in order to be able to log in and comment. It’s worth doing!

Google “Political Discussion Groups” and similar terms to find discussion groups in which you can bring the pro-life perspective on politics and elections to the attention of readers.

Utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to comment on the elections and share helpful information with people.  Read our guidelines for using Social Media sites (PDF).

Utilize You Tube and other video sharing sites to make comments and to post or share videos relating to election themes.

What do I say?

Our website contains a large amount of educational material, suggested letters and talking points, responses to pro-abortion arguments, and motivations to vote. See our main election page for links to all this information. You can also urge people to register to vote by going to www.priestsforlife.org/vote.

When you are going to sites that are friendly to our point of view, one of the things you should do is recruit people to help us! Tell them to visit www.PoliticalResponsibility.com to find out what they can do.

How do I carry out this project?

Many sites where you can comment will require you to set up a username and password. Be sure to write these down so you don't forget them. You may also have to use your own e-mail address or establish a new e-mail address. It's easy to open a new account on Yahoo or Hotmail for example. Joining a Yahoo, MSN or AOL group, in fact, requires you to have an e-mail address with them.

Here are some basic rules to follow for any list you participate in: (adapted from Google)

1. Read the FAQ files, charter and rules
2. Observe for a little while to become acquainted with how the group works
3. Make subject line short and catchy so the message won't be passed over.
4. Don't post gratuitous messages like "thanks".
5. Refer to an internet page or website - a call to action
6. Do not use all Caps, !!!!, ****, @ or other symbols.
7. Get to the point of message in the first sentence.
8. Message should be no longer than 24 lines. If readers want more info it can be longer.
9. Don't include the entire message you are replying to in your response. Only quote relevant sections of original message.
10. Cite appropriate references. If you are using facts to support a cause, state where they came from.

We ask you to also let us know how you are doing on this effort. Please share with us any new ideas you have to make this project even more effective.

A final thought

Why is it important to convince people to vote and to vote pro-life? The US Bishops sum it up well in Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics.

"We encourage all citizens, particularly Catholics, to embrace their citizenship not merely as a duty and privilege, but as an opportunity meaningfully to participate in building the culture of life. Every voice matters in the public forum. Every vote counts. Every act of responsible citizenship is an exercise of significant individual power." (34)

In the elections of 2000, surveys showed that among those calling themselves Christians, only 50% were registered to vote. Then, on Election Day, only half of the Christians who were registered actually went to the polls. The Christian vote has declined 10% since 1994.

Furthermore the Bishops state:

"Bringing a respect for human dignity to practical politics can be a daunting task. There is such a wide spectrum of issues involving the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity. Good people frequently disagree on which problems to address, which policies to adopt and how best to apply them. But for citizens and elected officials alike, the basic principle is simple: We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem." (21)