Where do you stand with your members of Congress?
Most people do not understand the true power they have as individuals to influence their members of Congress so where do you stand in your power to influence your elected officials?
If you vote, you have 2X the influence with your member of Congress.
Your vote matters. In most Congressional districts, it is typical that only 50% of constituents vote and, usually, much less. Candidates know who votes by the lists the Secretary of State provide and they use those lists to know who is worth listening to because your vote gets them elected.
If you contact your member of Congress, you have 5X the influence with your member of Congress.
In most Congressional districts, it is typical that only 20% of constituents contact their members via email, phone call and, yes, even a letter. Candidates know only those active voters and influencers spend their free time to personally contact their members regarding an issue that is important to them. So when a constituent contacts them regarding an issue, the member of Congress know it represents much more than that one person.
If you personally meet with your member of Congress, you have 20X the influence with your member of Congress.
In most Congressional districts, it is typical that only 5% of constituents actually meet their members of Congress whether in their D.C. office or at home. The Congress member knows if a constituent takes their personal time to set up a meeting then its importance is at the highest level.
Members of Congress only get elected by helping the people they serve so they remember who to listen to and what issues are important that are presented. That’s why your vote matters and being more proactive communicating with your elected official has a far greater impact than most people realize.
Another aspect is communicating with a member’s staff is just as effective and important. Members of Congress deal with literally hundreds of issues on a weekly basis. They do not have the time to fully explore all of the nuances thus count on staff for their recommendations therefore the best strategy is to educate not only the member of Congress but also the staff member that is in charge of that particular issue.
The above statistics reflect the influence you can have with a federal elected official. The more local elected official, the more influence you have. Not only in numbers but in active influence. Your state and local elected leaders represent far fewer constituents and state and local voting and participation is far less of a percentage of participation giving the active voter and communicating with your local elected leaders that much more influence.