General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums74 days until the election...those who can, request vacation Nov 3 and 4
Yes, it's early - but your friendly reminder to get those vacation requests in now LOL.
GOTV. In my view, the word "GET" in GOTV is an action verb we should take to mean "TO get out the vote". GOTV is not a wish and hope that we get some voters excited. It's not a passive plan to casually mention every once in awhile "aw, don't forget to vote!"
GOTV is a PROCESS with lot of moving parts -- it's not just a wish.
GOTV is a hell of a lot of work.
GOTV requires an army of volunteers.
(I am primarily speaking to the GOTV efforts on election day itself, as I'm hoping you'll request some time off or pencil this in your calendar, as I have done. There is plenty of work before election day related to registering voters, campaigning, phone lines, etc.)
What could we do on election day (and during early voting if your area has that)?
Sign up and be trained as an poll observer.
Read up on voting rights and get some literature.
Be a canvasser and/or vote scraper
(Vote scraping -- in 2008 canvassing for OFA, we called our Obama supporter "definites who had not yet voted" at least a couple of times that day until we reached them and/or showed up at their door once during the day and again between 5 and 7 pm. We had teams and teams of door knockers. We sent them out every two hours. We called our "mail-in ballots not received". We ran reports every hour on the hour to figure out who'd voted so far, and changed their status, and called them again if we found they hadn't voted still. Yes, it annoyed those voters, but usually they went to vote just so we would LEAVE THEM ALONE LOL). Our little district worked hard and moved the vote a net 16% from Repub to Dem in the Presidential category from 2004 to 2008.
Work the phone lines.
Offer to give rides to the polling place.
Offer to babysit for a young mom (young single and young married women are notorious about not showing up to vote, and for primarily ONE REASON - no babysitter).
Give water to those in long voting lines.
Take chairs for those in long voting lines.
Be a proxy line holder for those who need to use the restroom (this may not be allowed in some areas)
Sing songs, play the uke, form a drum circle, set up a toy area (I don't know).
__________
I think I want to call DNC to find out their GOTV action plan soon, and get some specifics about the national and local GOTV campaign. I'll report back.
Rhiannon12866
(206,008 posts)It would give people ample time to vote and would certainly be a reminder. I've already made GOTV calls for my Democratic Congressional candidate. It's never too early and most people haven't made their minds up yet.
Turn CO Blue
(4,221 posts)but I agree, election day itself should be a holiday.
Rhiannon12866
(206,008 posts)But when I was working for my previous Congressional candidate, I had a lot of senior citizens on my list and many had already voted absentee. And that was a question I had to answer frequently when making GOTV calls, for voters who had kids away in college. I know that's what I did when I was away in school. It really needs to be made easier to vote, not more difficult, but that's not what's been happening.
Cha
(297,655 posts)Mahalo, Turn CO Blue~