It’s Time for Members to Count

By Vicki Joyal
Vice President—Research Services
Credit Union National Association

According to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau as published in CUNA’s just released 2004-2005 Credit Union Environmental Scan, just 70% of U.S. citizens age 18 and older are registered to vote. That means that three of every ten eligible voters have not signed up to participate in one of the most fundamental rights of U.S. citizenship. As a special-interest group, credit unions focus on issues and get behind candidates who support their causes; hence getting out the vote is very important. With our 85 million memberships, credit unions have the largest solicitable class in the country for political advocacy, and candidates will want us on their side.

As would be expected, some segments of the U.S. population are more likely than others to vote. The Census Bureau describes those most likely to vote as those who are: older, homeowners, married, better educated, higher income, with good jobs. Women are also more likely to vote than are men. And young people under the age of 35 are least likely to make it to the polls on election day. Only half of 18 to 24 year old citizens are registered to vote, yet they are the future of our country (and of our credit unions).

Some states with below-average voting percentages may be critical to the 2004 Presidential election and could use special attention. These include: New Mexico, Tennessee, West Virginia, Nevada, and Arkansas.

CUNA’s Project Zip Code database now contains over 50 million credit union memberships matched to federal and state legislators. Many elected officials are quite surprised when presented with the number of credit union members in their district. Imagine the additional impact credit unions could have by showing legislators that a higher than average percentage of these members are in fact registered to vote.

There’s no time to waste. If credit union members don’t vote, then credit unions don’t count. Make sure your members count!

Strategic considerations

• Organize registration and "get out the vote" drives.
• Make it easy for members to register by linking your Web site to CUNA’s online voter registration program.
• Make it easy for members to vote early or by mail by sending them to CUNA’s online absentee voting program
• Make sure to follow Federal Election Commission guidelines when communicating to the public and your members.

CUNA’s 2004-2005 Credit Union Environmental Scan is credit unions’ premier source of issues and trends affecting the financial services industry. "Getting out the vote" is just one of 59 individual topics covered in this just released strategic planning resource.

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