I love folk music. My love first started in elementary school when my teacher played “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. With his simple melody and distinct tune, Woody galvanized the country with each line. His unifying message resonated with Americans, becoming an anthem for many Americans who felt the government wasn’t representing their interests. 

I think Woody knew something we all struggle to believe now: that we have collective power as people. But billionaires make this hard to believe when they are allowed almost entirely to fund political campaigns. After all, our elected officials are meant to represent us, not the top one percent, right? It’s important to keep this in mind on National Voter Registration Day (September 16).

No matter the amount of money in our bank account, we all value the freedom to choose our elected officials. But some politicians are supporting undemocratic legislation that favors their own interests over those of their constituents. Here’s the issue: our government system has become increasingly unresponsive to the needs of the people to win favor with the top one percent.

With increasing numbers of voter registration forms going missing, lost absentee ballots, and the consideration of restrictive voting bills like the SAVE Act, more marginalized groups, including rural communities, Black and Brown voters, folks with disabilities, and elderly people, are targeted. We all want to live in a world where each of these voices, including our own, is equally valued.

I saw this play out myself last fall when I helped register several hundred people to vote on my campus community here in Milwaukee. I had countless conversations with students and other community members who all said the same thing: registering to vote feels impossible.

And getting to the polls? Even harder. In the case of my friend Grace, we mailed in her request for an absentee ballot three months before the November 5 election and followed up with local election offices, calling the county clerk in both Milwaukee and Appleton.

She never received her ballot. I ended up driving her four hours round-trip so she could vote in person instead. But what would she have done without access to a friend’s car?

Unfortunately, due to the poor organization of absentee ballots and state laws that varied in their restrictions, many eligible voters were prevented from registering and blocked from the polls.

My belief in Catholic Social Justice teaching inspired me to serve as a voting rights advocate last fall. Whether we are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh, people of faith value representative democracy. We know what’s happening is wrong, but together we can protect our right to representation.

I especially like this line in Woody Guthrie’s song, “this land was made for you and me”. Together, we can protect our right to vote! Today, on National Voter Registration Day, let’s remind each other to get registered and to make it to the polls in November. By doing so, we continue to build the beloved community where our shared values are at the center.  

So, this National Voter Registration Day, put on some Woody Guthrie or your favorite folk singer and do your part. Call a friend to catch up and ask if they are registered! Have you changed addresses recently? Check your own status; it might have changed. And don’t forget our power as a collective. After all, this land is your land, and this land is my land. 

Theresa Lindberg is a student at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee and a returning Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.).