Get Involved
Whether you’re new to actively engaging in your local government or have many years of experience, it can be helpful and motivating to revisit WHY your involvement is essential.
Stay Informed
Actively Participate
Respect The Rights of Others
Make Contributions to The Community
A great privilege, a tremendous reponsibility
Being a citizen of a democracy is both a great privilege and a tremendous responsibility. Each of us has a duty to stay informed, actively participate in the democratic process, respect the rights and opinions of others, and make contributions to community life. Of course, our age and state of life, as well as our economic circumstances, help determine the type and level of our involvement.
We need you!
Regardless of the amount of time and energy you can give, making the effort to engage in your local government is vital to creating a thriving and sustainable community. Local governments make decisions that impact every aspect of citizens’ daily lives, but engagement at this level tends to be by far the lowest. Only 13.8% of registered voters participated in the 2023 municipal elections across North Carolina.
The citizens who do participate in the democratic process are not necessarily representative of the larger population. While studying planning and zoning meetings, Boston University found participants tend to be older, male, longtime residents, voters in local elections, and homeowners. Generally speaking, voter turnout and community engagement in municipalities tends to be both low and unrepresentative of the general population. WakeUP is working to change this in our area!
Attend public meetings
You can participate in your local government’s public meetings by attending and providing public commentary. Public comments provide the government with feedback regarding the needs of their citizens, ideas to consider before making decisions, expertise and on-the-ground experiences, and diverse perspectives. Citizens have the opportunity to affect policy and decisions. You can participate verbally either in person or online. Verbal comments are timed and require registration before the meeting. You can also submit a written comment, which will be read aloud by a staff member during the meeting. These comments must be submitted prior to the meeting and might be summarized.
Vote
As you know, voting is an essential way to make your voice heard and enact change in your community. By voting in local elections, you have a direct impact on your community. Local governments make decisions regarding water, transit, land use, waste management, and more, and your local elected officials are the people making these decisions. By voting for elected officials that align with your values, you are voting for policies and decisions you support. In order to vote in any election, you must register to vote. You can register at any time, but the process must be completed 25 days before the election in which you’d like to vote. The NC State Board of elections provides all the details about how to register (online, in person, or by mail), early voting, photo ID requirements, and more.