Think Voting Isn’t Worth It? You’re Doing It Wrong

There’s an old trope in Texas politics that “Texas isn’t a red state, it’s a non-voting state.” And it’s more or less true — fewer than half of the Texans who are registered to vote cast a ballot in the 2022 gubernatorial election. In total, nearly 14 million Texans who were able to vote chose not to. That race was decided by fewer than one million votes.

Hours and hours of focus groups including both unregistered Texans — and registered voters who chose not to cast their ballot — will provide one answer over and over again: it’s just not worth it. Many say they feel like the process is too hard, the rules are too complicated, the candidates aren’t good enough, and that their vote won’t make a difference.

To these people, I say, you’re thinking about this all wrong.

In Austin, we’re lucky that dozens of local businesses are willing to give away free stuff to incentivize people to do their civic duty. Follow along as I test just how much free stuff I can get in one afternoon. (Also, huge thank you to whenwherewhataustin for compiling this list!)

My fiancee, McKenna, and I voted just before lunch at the Austin Permitting and Development Center. Luckily for us, just across the street from our polling location was a MochiNut, where we indulged in an apple cider donut each.

Apple Cider Donuts from MochiNut: $3

Having started lunch with dessert, we wandered over to Home Slice and found ourselves greeted by a line of fellow civically-engaged Austinites that stretched out the door. Being two people who are borderline-neurotically averse to lines, we saddled up at the bar and ordered ourselves a couple complimentary slices of fresh, delicious pizza. (Pro tip: when you get your freebie, order a soda or something cheap and tip generously! Your free Democracy perk shouldn’t come at the expense of servers missing out on tips.).

Pizza from Home Slice: $4.25

Following our nutritious lunch of donuts and pizza, McKenna and I decided to reward ourselves for being such valiant and frugal participants in democracy with a couple of free margaritas from Pelon’s Tex Mex downtown. Did we get sideways looks from people on a business lunch when we ordered two margaritas and some queso at 2 p.m. on a work day? Yep. Did that stop us? Hell no.

Margaritas from Pelon’s Tex Mex: $13

Shockingly, after consuming nothing all day but dough, bread, cheese, sugar, and tequila, McKenna and I weren’t feeling that great. We decided we needed to do something soul-nourishing and uplifting, and we found exactly that at Tillery Street Plant Company and their adjacent store, East Austin Succulents. We walked through the sprawling tangle of trees, shrubs, vegetables, and cacti, stopping to say hi to the lovely people and sleepy cats who work there. We each picked out a free small succulent and a baby vegetable plant to take home. This  was absolutely the highlight of our day.

Succulents and Veggie Plants from Tillery Street Plant Company and East Austin Succulents: $6

Since we were in the neighborhood, McKenna and I next popped by the (new to us) Cabana Club, a coffee shop-hangout spot-bar- with wonderful vibes place on East 7th St., where we treated ourselves to a free draft beer (seriously, I don’t know why I’d never heard of this place — it’s pretty great).

Beers from Cabana Club: $8

Unfortunately, the day was getting late and both McKenna and I (theoretically) had work we were supposed to be doing, so we passed up the many other free beer and wine options we had before us. In order to get us through the end of the work day, we swung by Barrett’s Coffee (in my opinion, makers of the best coffee in Austin) for a couple of free iced coffees, and The Soup Peddler to grab 8 oz of food in its greatest format (soup is the GOAT and I am not interested in any incorrect opinions to the contrary).

Editor’s Note: The Soup Peddler canceled their free-soup-for-voting promo “for the safety of (their) staff.” What the hell, people??? Don’t threaten servers trying to give away free soup!

Soup from The Soup Peddler and coffee from Barrett’s Coffee: $8.75

All in all, McKenna and I were able to find ourselves around $86 worth of free stuff, simply for doing something we were going to do anyway — and we left a lot of free wine and beer on the table. If you’re on the fence about voting, I hope this helps convince you it is worth your while — many times over. Not only is free stuff the best type of stuff, but this fun, freebie scavenger hunt was a reminder that we live in an amazing city where our small businesses want to encourage the people who live here to be as active and engaged as possible.

Importantly,  Austin isn’t the only city doing this! So all of you Dallasites, Houstonians, and San Antonians don’t have excuses either.

So please go vote, and go claim your free shit!