Swinging Voting Challenge

I wanted to create a type of voting station challenge/game. I went to my favorite park with an Official Unofficial Voting Station kit and hung up banners (one that I made "Can you vote?" and another borrowed from the Protest Banner Lending Library), informative cute rage press infographics and charts, and screen prints calling people to come vote! I tied an Official Unofficial ballot box from a branch that hung above the swingset and challenged individuals to swing and get their ballots in.

It may cross your mind that this is a ridiculous way to cast your vote. What if someone can't swing high enough? Do they still get to vote? It's not fair. I'd argue our current voting system is pretty unfair and ridiculous too (if not MORE so)! There's this widely accepted misconception that everyone (above 18) gets to vote. Actually, there is a surprisingly large population of people that don't get to vote: non-citizens, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, residents of U.S territories, and people without IDs. This doesn't even account for the intense voter suppression that directly targets BIPOC.

This challenge is supposed to drive home the idea that voting shouldn't be as difficult as it is. There are far too many barriers to voting. It should be an accessible unalienable right! I hope this swinging challenge provides participants as much joy and laughter as it does frustration. Voter suppression is a very emotionally turbulent issue but we all deserve to laugh sometimes.

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