AAP Voices Blog

Know the stakes. Know your plan. Get Out the Vote. 

Know the stakes. Know your plan. Get Out the Vote.

These are three key messages of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ nonpartisan Vote Kids campaign, which launched this summer ahead of Election Day on November 3.

Amid unprecedented challenges for child health and wellbeing – from sweeping cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP threatening vaccine access and immigrant health to ongoing challenges facing the pediatric workforce itself – it is vital that we make sure the needs of children and our profession are represented at the ballot box this midterm election and every election season.

As the chairs of the AAP Committee on Federal Government Affairs and the AAP Committee on State Government Affairs, we often see the way that national, state, and even local health policies are formulated. And, just like our fellow pediatrician colleagues, we see how children and families often become the ultimate inheritors of these policies: how a new law or policy change translates into the exam room and affects real people.  

We also know that pediatricians are notoriously persistent; when we advocate, make our voices heard, and engage with our leaders, we achieve policy progress and legislative wins for child health.

Even despite today’s daunting policy landscape, we have been able to forge progress. It may be incremental, and it may not make headlines (and sometimes it may look like stopping a harmful policy proposal in its tracks), but it is occurring because of pediatricians speaking on their expertise to those in positions of policymaking power.  

There is so much at stake in this year’s midterm elections. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for election. At the state level, more than 6,100 state legislative seats—representing more than 80% of all U.S. legislative seats—are on the ballot as well. These candidates will play a part in the policies that shape the health of our communities.

That’s why it is so important that we make our voices heard, we vote, and we encourage others to join us. As pediatricians, we’re also uniquely suited to raise awareness of the connection between voting and health.  

First and foremost, make sure you have a plan to vote. Every state has different voting laws and deadlines. In some states, you can register to vote on Election Day while, in others, you need to be registered weeks in advance. Make sure to check your voter registration and encourage others to do the same! This is especially relevant if you have recently moved or relocated for training.

Then, make sure you know how you will cast your ballot: learn the voting options in your state and plan ahead. Look ahead to your schedule and determine whether you will be able to vote in-person, whether you’d need to request time off, or if you will need to vote using an alternative option like early voting or an absentee ballot.  

Beyond our own engagement in the civic process, we can also work to Get Out the Vote! The Academy’s campaign website, AAP.org/votekids, has numerous resources to help you do just that.

For example, the AAP partners with the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization Vot-ER to offer AAP members tools that connect to a voter registration platform for eligible, voting-age patients and families. It’s important to remember that our older teenage patients may be eligible! In some states, teens can even pre-register to vote – get to know the options in your state. For younger patients who cannot vote, even witnessing their parents cast their ballot and joining them at the polling booth can help instill the importance of civic engagement.

There are even ways you can get involved in your own communities, like attending a candidate's town hall. You can also help raise awareness of the need to vote with children in mind and elevate child health issues you care about.

Though most of our patients may be too young to vote, we can do our part to make sure they have a voice leading up to and on Election Day. We hope you join us and Vote Kids!

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.