Vote!

Models underwater at Silver Springs registering to vote.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King

We are less than a month away from an unprecedented election. Our advice: plan your vote; know where your early voting polling place is located; read up on your local races; double- and triple-check your ballot instructions; check in with friends and family to make sure they have a voting plan.

When all of that is done, read a book. Here are some selections to help educate you on our current voting system, the history of voting rights, and the power of democracy.

Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss

Following a handful of remarkable women who led their respective forces into battle, The Woman's Hour is the gripping story of how America's women won their own freedom, and the opening campaign in the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights.

Let the People Decide: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College by Jesse Wegman

In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms,Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the Electoral College.

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson

From the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of White Rage, the startling — and timely — history of voter suppression in America, with a foreword by Senator Dick Durbin, now with a new afterword by the author.

What You Need to Know about Voting—And Why by Kim Wehle

In What You Need to Know About Voting--and Why, law professor and constitutional scholar Kimberly Wehle offers practical, useful advice on the mechanics of voting and an enlightening survey of its history and future.

Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth about Voting in America by Erin Geiger Smith

In this concise, lively look at the past, present, and future of voting, a journalist examines the long and continuing fight for voting equality, why so few Americans today vote, and innovative ways to educate and motivate them; included are checklists of what to do before election day to prepare to vote and encourage others.