One of the easiest—and most important—roles an activist can play is letting lawmakers on the federal, state, and local levels know how you’d like them to vote on legislation related to your cause. You may ask elected officials to introduce or cosponsor bills or amendments, or to vote for or against an existing bill. Advocacy groups can help keep you informed—through e-mail "action alerts" and the like—about the bills you should focus on and when they’ll be up for a floor vote so you can contact the elected officials that represent you. You also can track the status of a piece of federal legislation on your own, using the Library of Congress’ THOMAS Web site. … Back to Article