Background & Impact to Date

• 2022 - Having witnessed the critical importance of safe and accessible voting during the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of committed health leaders came together to shine a light on the importance of voting for health. Using data from the Health and Democracy Index, we sought to tell the story of how voting and health are linked: states with inclusive and accessible voting policies experience better health outcomes. 

• 2023 - We began to put the story of voting & health into policy action in support of Michigan’s landmark voting rights policy packages, including expanding Secure Automatic Voter Registration, supporting implementation of Prop 2, and other key electoral policy reforms. We also continued to build awareness by encouraging voting in local elections and presenting at state and national conferences. 

• 2024 -  Knowing that the healthcare sector as a whole has lower voter turnout than the general population, we made an internal call to action within the healthcare sector through the We Will Vote MI campaign. We called upon individuals and organizations in the health sector to demonstrate their own commitment to inclusive and accessible voting. More than 12 health organizations representing thousands of individual health professionals in Michigan joined together and encouraged our members and colleagues to vote in the 2024 election. As part of this work we developed and distributed social media content as part of a 10 Tuesdays Campaign, to promote civic engagement and boost voter turnout among public health and health care professionals.

• 2025 -  We continued to strengthen the health sector’s capacity to be civically engaged by creating an advocacy toolkit to enable health professionals to be active advocates. Recognizing the heightened polarized political moment we are in, we co-hosted a webinar focused on navigating difficult conversations featuring Malynnda Stewart. As part of our work to continue socializing the relationship between civic participation and health, we collaborated with local health departments across the state to promote civic health and participation through community health initiatives, such as: community health assessments, community health improvement plans,  and partnerships with the local community.