Jewish groups join Louisiana’s Pledge to Vote

By Barbara Kaplinsky

Last year, only about 36 percent of registered voters cast ballots in October’s primary election, marking the lowest turnout in a Louisiana gubernatorial primary since 2011. The general election in November saw an even lower turnout, when only 23 percent of registered voters made it to the polls. So, we are not a Blue State or a Red State. We are a Non-Voting State.

To counter this apathy and a lack of engagement among voters, Together Louisiana has been developing a voting strategy over the last three years, and it really works. It is called Pledge to Vote and we’ve seen that in prior elections pledge to vote campaigns increased voter turnout by 54 percent among occasional voters.

The National Council of Jewish Women — Greater New Orleans Section, Hadassah, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the Congregations of Touro and Sinai have signed on to Pledge to Vote and join with hundreds of organizations throughout the state who are participating. Visit the Pledge to Vote website where you can pledge online. It should take less than one minute to complete. If you pledge to vote in the name of NCJW-GNO, we will follow up with you and remind you to vote.

Let’s DO SOMETHING to make sure that people who are registered take the step of voting. Let’s rebuild a culture of voting in our non-voting state.

Barbara Kaplinsky is the Together New Orleans/NCJW Pledge to Vote chair.