Dem
49
GOP
51
There has been a fair bit of democracy inaction in the news this week, and even in this posting today. So, we thought we'd use this space for a report about democracy in action, as some small counterbalance. Reader A.R. in Los Angeles has been in Phoenix this week doing some door knocking, and agreed to send in a report:
I thought I'd offer a glimpse into the ground game of the Harris campaign and the groups working to get out the vote in swing states. I decided to canvass in Phoenix with Seed the Vote, an umbrella organization that connects people to local organizing groups in swing states. I was part of a 70-person "pod" that was connected up with Worker Power, a local Arizona group mostly made up of union workers, like UNITE HERE.
Worker Power is a well-oiled machine, having been formed to combat racist sheriff Joe Arpaio, eventually unseating him. They have built up an infrastructure that exists outside of presidential elections so it's already in place for critical times like this.
We were targeting low-propensity voters, as well as Republicans and Independents. A full 30% of Arizona voters are registered independents. We were also told that voter persuasion continues, even as we're working to get supporters to the polls.
But what's even more interesting about this group is their approach to getting out the vote. They don't stop with checking a box on an app if the person says they're voting. They want us to ask not only about their plan to vote but that they text a picture of their "I voted" sticker or one of them dropping off their ballot to prove they've voted. And the bigger ask is for people with mail-in ballots to fill them out right then and there, while we wait. Then, we're asking them to drop that ballot off immediately, and offering them a ride to do it.
Remarkably, many voters will do just that. And remember, these are low-propensity voters. I was amazed at how many people were willing to text me a picture of their sticker after they voted. What that means is these votes are definitively banked. I've never been a part of this type of operation.
According to the organizers, they've banked more than a thousand votes this way since voting began. I, myself, had an experience where a voter invited me in to wait while he filled out his ballot. I entertained his little brother, who he was watching while he completed it. And this ballot is long! Over two pages, with multiple state ballot measures put on by the state legislature to override Democratic governor Katie Hobbs' veto. It took him 15 minutes to fill it out. This voter texted me a picture the next day after he dropped off his ballot.
We also know this long ballot will take longer to count, so we were encouraging people to vote as early as possible to minimize issues. This article explains how the ballot length could cause delays in reporting.
We canvassed many neighborhoods in Phoenix and Scottsdale and didn't see anyone from the Trump campaign. We saw plenty of Trump signs but no one from the campaign or any other Republican group.
If this is the kind of sophisticated operation the Harris campaign and others are running, it's very impressive. And there are more people volunteering and enthusiastically fanning out to get those votes than any other group I've seen. I'm not sure how you measure this enthusiasm and these results in a poll.
Please be clear, we run this as an illustration of civic engagement, and people getting excited about the democratic process. Yes, this item also happens to contain a partisan angle, but that's not what qualified it for this space.
And, on that note, have a good weekend, all!