Friday, my friends Ricky and Lucy and I went to register voters at the naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. There were 18,000 new citizens to be sworn in that day, in 3 groups. We signed up through the Obama website and they said that we had 80 volunteers sign up for 3 shifts. We were told to bring a clip board, pen, water and comfortable shoes. They said there would be lots of happy families and it would be a fun day. The 3 of us were very excited.
We had a lot of fun and we all got terrific sunburns! It was about 90 yesterday and very sunny and we were out in it from 9 to 3:30.
There were 3 groups of 6,000 new citizens that were sworn in and there were lots of family members and it was crazy how many people were there. We were outside the main door where the people came out to meet their families. The Democrats had 2 canopies set up, with tables for people to sit and fill out their voter registration cards. Then a bunch of us were in front of the tent and wandering around in the crowd, urging people to register. I worked an area away from the tents as people were walking out, to pick up any stragglers.
The 3 of us speak Spanish so we were able to speak to a lot of more people, as most of the crowd was Hispanic. I talked to a lot of really nice people and got about 20 new registrations. It was very fun because the people were excited to be new citizens and their families were happy for them too. So many people were pleased just to have someone listen to them explain their political views. People were very strong and determined in their resolve to vote for Obama. They weren't unsure or saying that "maybe" they would vote for him. Everyone seemed very adamant about how important it was to vote this time and how badly we need a change and how scary the McCain/Palin ticket is. It was good to hear.
I thought we would get a hundred of registrations each. John, an older, wizened Latino guy who was very sweet, runs the tent for the Democrats and has been doing it for every naturalization ceremony for 15 years. He said that the last ceremony they had 600 new voters and he would be happy if we did that well this time. We had 160 in the first shift and they were still counting when we left after the second shift, which was busier than the first. I am interested to see how many we got.
There is a voter registration card in the packet of paperwork on each new citizen's chair and after they were sworn in, people could fill out their form and drop it off at the County Registrar's table before they exited the building. Most people said they had already filled out their forms, which is a good sign that people were taking their right to vote seriously.
We had a good turnout for volunteers. Besides the regular Democratic signup group, we were part of a volunteer group organized by the Obama campaign. They reported that we would have 80 people coming and I believe we did. Everyone was very friendly and very excited about Obama and the campaign. At one point, a woman came with like 20 kids, who were carrying Obama/Biden signs and they sang and yelled and jumped around. I missed seeing it up close but Ricky and Lucy said it was very fun and they generated a lot of interest.
The McCain campaign had a tent set up as well. They were closer to the front. They only had about 7 volunteers. They were middle aged and very uptight looking. We, on the other hand, were a very mixed group. People of every age and color and everyone was enthusiatic and happy to be there working for Obama. Ricky said that at one point, some McCain guys came over and were harassing the Obama supporters but John said just to ignore them. It didn't do any good to fight with them.
The McCain campaign was giving away posters but it startled me every time I saw one. We tried to be polite to the McCain supporters in the crowds, and although no one was nasty to me, it was hard for me not to roll my eyes at them. Luckily, I had my sunglasses on. Why Latinos, or any immigrants, would vote for the Republicans is beyond me.
My husband made us some Obama/Biden stickers and we covered ourselves with them. People kept coming up to us and asking us if they could have a sticker and we could have given away thousands. We were told that since the Obama campaign is run in a grass roots fashion, individual volunteers are supposed to buy stickers, signs, etc. from the Obama campaign to sell. The man who organized us said he wasn't able to buy supplies this time and unfortunately he didn't inform the volunteers beforehand so we could bring some ourselves. I was very disappointed about this because we could have sold a lot of buttons and bumper stickers if we had them. I was surprised the campaign didn't provide us with bags of buttons since they encourage volunteers to wear their buttons and shirts everywhere but one of the organizers told us that the campaign is directing their money to the swing States, and since California is already blue, they don't need to spend extra money here. I can understand that but it would have been nice to at least have stickers to give out.
The next naturalization ceremony is October 9 and Ricky and Lucy and I are planning to go. I just bought 500 Obama/Biden buttons from the campaign so we will have plenty to sell and I can donate the proceeds back to the campaign. We saw a man with a wheeled backpack that he had fixed up to use as his rolling office. He had signs hanging from the handles and it was a great idea and I highly recommend it for anyone else thinking about registering voters. Carrying my bag with bottles of water and extra clipboards got to be annoying after awhile, and it was cumbersome to juggle everything, so I am going to set up a rolling office for myself. I will have easy access to water, and buttons and bumper stickers and I might even have an umbrella!
It feels so good to get out and volunteer. The more I sit and read politics (and I am obsessed) the more frustrated I feel. Volunteering is a great outlet. You meet really nice people, you have fun and you are accomplishing something! YES WE CAN!!!!
Here is a picture of me and Obama.
Here is a picture that Ricky took of an older gentleman who was very honored to be a citizen and to finally be able to register to vote. The man was thrilled to have his picture taken with Obama and asked Ricky to send him a copy of the photograph. It was very sweet.
And also a picture of people leaving the sports arena. Our canopies were off to the left and the blue canopies are the Republicans. The date stamp was wrong on his camera. The correct date is 9/26/08