What Keeps People from Voting? Let’s Ask.

Faith in Action works in communities throughout San Francisco and San Mateo counties and includes civic engagement and community listening in its broader organizing work.  They are conducting an intensive voter-engagement project in Daly City during September and October 2026. The project focuses on registered Daly City voters who have participated infrequently in recent elections.

Volunteers will begin by listening—talking with voters by phone and at their doors about their experiences with elections and what affects their decision to participate.  Those conversations will be followed by additional voter outreach, including nonpartisan voter information, reminders about completing and returning ballots, and get-out-the-vote contacts before the November election.

Helping people participate in elections is central to the League's work. But before we can understand how to reach voters who participate infrequently, we need to understand why they aren't voting.  This project gives our League an opportunity to hear directly from people we might not otherwise reach through our traditional voter education activities.

We will explore what makes voting difficult? What information are voters missing? What would make participation easier or more meaningful?

What we learn can help Faith in Action—and our League—better understand the barriers to voting in communities with lower levels of voter participation.

The project is designed to make a difference both now and over time. Faith in Action will track the results of the 2026 outreach while also using what it learns to strengthen a longer-term commitment to voter engagement in Daly City.

After the November election, Faith in Action will analyze whether infrequent voters contacted through the project participated differently from comparable voters who were not contacted.  This evaluation will help to identify which approaches appear most useful and inform future voter-engagement work.

The aim is both immediate and long-term: help more people participate in the 2026 election while building the knowledge, relationships, and strategies needed to strengthen voter engagement in Daly City for years to come.