Why It Matters: As the election year frenzy has settled down over the holiday season, legislative bodies are swearing in new members and choosing chairs and leaders of committees. Although voting numbers seem to be increasing, a historical trend of hunters not voting exists. Some sources prior to the 2024 election were reporting that there were likely millions of hunters and gun owners who were not registered to vote. Allowing voter registration at the point of sale of hunting and fishing licenses could help.
Highlights:
- The National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) identified hunter/angler voter registration as an issue back in 2004 and has been working to improve it since that time.
- States such as Georgia and Virginia have passed legislation for voter registration at the point of obtaining a hunting/fishing license.
- States like New Jersey and New York have attempted to pass legislation for years, with New York going as far back as 2009.
It is critically important that sportsmen and women vote if we wish to have pro-sportsmen and women elected officials – or at least those that are willing to learn about and consider the critical role that sportsmen and women have in conservation before casting their votes on conservation-related matters. This is why CSF launched the I Fish. I Hunt. I Vote.™ campaign last fall to encourage early voting by sportsmen and women who may have plans to be hunting or fishing on election day. It is also why CSF has been working with states for the past two decades to make voter registration forms available when sportsmen and women purchase their hunting or fishing licenses (whether in-person or online).
As a real-world example of just how critical the voice of sportsmen and women can be, a newly formed State Senate District in New York in 2012 was decided by a mere 18 votes, and some consider it to be the bellwether for increasing anti-sportsmen sentiment in the state legislature. That following January, legislation like the NY SAFE Act (a sweeping gun control package) was passed. This was not a one-off occurrence, however. States like New York continue to have closely decided local races and the past gubernatorial race was the closest decided since 1994.
The results of local elections also matter. Local ordinances and regulations from the town, county, or state impact sportsmen and women’s access to hunting and angling opportunities, and in some cases, even whether a firearm or archery equipment can be utilized in certain jurisdictions (for any purpose, hunting or otherwise). Voting participation by sportsmen and women is therefore essential, starting from the lowest level of government where many future leaders in higher government come from. Adding millions of pro-sportsmen voices during the election process could help educate and motivate our current and future decisionmakers to work to pass sound pro-sporting, and pro-conservation policies.
The leading voice of conservation in the nation, sportsmen and women, who bring millions of dollars of conservation funding to their respective states from the American System of Conservation Funding, deserve to and should be represented at the polls.
It has become common for residents to receive voter registration applications at other state run departments such as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). A state’s fish and wildlife agency should be given the same opportunity to support voting rights for those who use their services, the sportsmen-voter. Providing access to an individual to fill out a registration while already filling out the same required information at a state-run department should be seamless and user-friendly for the applicant.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) will continue to prioritize sportsmen-voter legislation to provide sportsmen and women with equitable access to voting registration materials to ultimately ensure The Sportsmen’s Voice continues to ring loudly in capitol buildings across this great nation.
