This OWN Animated Series Wants to Help You Talk to Your Friends About Voting

From Oprah Magazine

• With just over a month to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the OWN Your Vote campaign is encouraging people to take charge of their voting plans.

• OWN's new animated series, Sincerely, Camille, provides a blueprint for starting conversations with friends about voting.

• “My hope is that we have created a fresh, engaging way to encourage people to register to vote and cast their ballot this fall," creator Munirah Safiyah Jones said in a statement.

With the U.S. presidential election quickly approaching on Tuesday, November 3, Oprah is urging people to vote "as if their lives depended on it." But voting isn't as simple as showing up to the polls—especially in a year like 2020. Eligible voters have to ask themselves questions beforehand, like: Have you registered to vote yet? Have you looked up the procedure for voting by mail in your state? How about voting in person?

Equally important is asking those questions of the people in your life, and making sure they're prepared for the election. Studies have shown that talking about voting with others can get them to the polls—in fact, according to research by the VoteWithMe App, it's 20 times more effective than asking strangers to vote.

Sincerely, Camille, a six-part series of animated shorts from OWN, is about a group of friends engaging in that very process—between catch-up sessions, of course. Created by Munirah Safiyah Jones (who previously explored modern dating in the cartoon Junt Land), the series is part of the OWN Your Vote initiative, a nonpartisan initiative empowering Black women to take political action in 2020, just as the cartoon's Staci, Sara, and Camille are.

"Whether it be affordable healthcare or legal reform, Sincerely, Camille starts the conversation and encourages the audience to continue it. Sincerely, Camille encourages four things: dialogue about the issues, voter registration, volunteering, and informed voting," a statement from OWN says.

Peer-to-peer engagement is especially important in the U.S., which trails among developed nations in terms of voter turnout. During the 2016 U.S. election, only 55% of the voting-age population cast a ballot. In comparison, 88% of Belgium's eligible population voted in 2019.

As it stands, millions of Americans aren't registered to vote. "We know people who aren't voting at all, on any level," one of the characters says in the cartoon. Emphasis on knowing people not registered to vote. The question is: How can a person shepherd their politically disengaged loved ones and acquaintances to the polls?

As the first episode of the animated series shows, there's no one right answer. The character in the cartoon decides to throw a registration drive. Another chooses to vows to speak to her church group about the topics that matter. Another—the definite Samantha Jones of the group–decides to talk to her multiple boyfriends.

By the end of the episode, all three commit to outreach plans that works for their communities and schedules. Speaking to Oprah during an OWN Town Hall earlier this year, Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms encouraged people to set a numerical goal for their outreach efforts. "Each of us needs to commit that nine people are registered to vote," Bottoms said.

Sincerely, Camille's second episode, "Late Registration," focuses on voters identifying their political passion points. The episode is specifically about issues that Black people face in the U.S. "Parties aside, my only concern is making sure we're all informed. Identifying issues that matter to you, and put your vote behind it," Camille says.

Hold that issue in your mind as you vote—and make sure you do, indeed, vote. "It's been an unprecedented year. Let's keep that same energy with unprecedented presence at the polls," Sincerely, Camille says. Or, to reiterate Oprah: "Vote as if your life depended on it, because TRUST...it does."

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