Clement Kigugu gets the same question over and over ahead of an election – “Who should I vote for?”

While he doesn’t give New Americans any political advice, he has an answer for almost every other question ahead of an election.

In the days leading up to the primary, Kigugu and others at Overcomers Refugee Services, are calling more than 100 New Americans to make sure they know how to register (if they aren’t already), where their polling location is and asking if they need help with transportation or translation.

“We’re really reaching out,” he said. “This is something new for some of our clients.”

Come election day, volunteers from Overcomers, the nonprofit agency that Kigugu started to help New Americans resettle in Concord, will assist at polling locations to offer translation services and spend the day driving around Concord to bring people to and from the polls.

While exercising the right to vote is a key tenant of democracy - and a new privilege highlighted in naturalization ceremonies – Kigugu has noticed that many New Americans can be hesitant to participate.

Their past experience with political systems – where their vote held little weight – may have disillusioned them, he said. On top of that, language barriers continue to deter prospective voters.

“It’s really something that limits people to be excited,” he said. “Most New American people just rely on us to give them information. That’s what we’re trying to do to work hard to make sure that they understand and can get out and vote like every other citizen.”

Ensuring that New Americans have access to voting information, and help in participating in elections, is a continuation of services that Overcomers provides, he said.

Many New Americans in Concord are guided through the naturalization process with the help of the organization’s volunteers – starting with citizenship classes.

These courses are a crash course on civics and United States history – explaining the democratic process, identifying political leaders and learning about the foundation of voting rights.

“Volunteers do a really good job preparing, helping people get their citizenship,” said Kigugu. “That’s a huge help and also they’re pretty much connected with information on how to vote.”

Ahead of the 2022 election, Secretary of State David Scanlan, introduced information on voting in different languages for the first time. Resources are available online in French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Portuguese.

Earlier this year Scanlan’s office also introduced a series of videos on how to vote for New Americans and a pocket guide with information.

These initiatives are a step toward making voting more accessible and inclusive, said Kigugu.

For the upcoming election, Overcomers also made videos in Kinyarwanda, Swahili, Arabic and English on how to vote, as well.

What is missing in this information, though, is candidate positions and voter guides on issues. That’s a flaw of campaigns, said Kigugu – with few candidates reaching out to New American communities to explain their platforms.

“They should really reach out to many community leaders, organizations that work with refugees and immigrants, religious leaders,” he said.

Ahead of the general election in November, Kigugu said Overcomers plans to partner with Shaheen and Gordon, a New Hampshire law firm founded by Bill Shaheen – the husband of U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen – to host sessions on voter information, thanks to funding with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

Voting information in different languages

Overcomers election information: overcomersnh.org/voting-information

Phone number for Overcomers: 603-856-7507

Secretary of State multilingual election information: https://www.sos.nh.gov/elections/multilingual-election-information