Conventional wisdom labels Alabama a hopelessly red state. That may be true, but one thing's for certain: Barack Obama has a much better chance to win the state if his supporters work to bring in new voters and get out the vote than if we just roll over and concede the state to the Republicans.
We're not rolling over.
Last weekend our Mobile, Alabama group, AL Obamacan Change Agents, held the first in a series of voter registration events we'll be hosting over the 12 weeks remaining before registration closes in Alabama. For our first event, we set up a booth at the Mobile Flea Market because it brings in enormous foot traffic across a wide demographic.
Photos after the break.
9 a.m. Saturday morning. Notice how fresh and non-sweaty we all are. Oops, one of our signs is trying to escape. That will be an ongoing problem all day.
Sign fixed. Clipboards filled with voter registration forms. Balloons bobbing in the breeze. Cooler filled with water. Big bowl filled with candy. Bring on the potential voters!
There's one now!
And another...
Soon we've got a steady trickle of form-fillers.
What's this? Our trickle is turning into a stream!
And now we actually have people lining up to register!
Mom and Dad both want to register but someone's got to hold the baby? No problem. We provide a full range of services at our Voter Registration table!
That poor sign! It had about a half a roll of tape on it, a couple of tacks, two nails, and still it managed to catch the wind and fall off. Finally a man walked up with a powerdrill and screwed it to the wood. It didn't move for the rest of the weekend!
See all the photos here: http://gbb.smugmug.com/...
I was gratified (and not a little surprised) by how many people flashed us a thumbs up or a smile as they passed, some saying things like "Go Barack!" Of course, there were detractors. A couple of people responded to our relentlessly chirpy, "Good afternoon! Are you registered to vote?" with a muttered, "Yep, but not for him." One man stopped to rant against Obama with a little too much anger to be healthy, but the response of most people was overwhelmingly positive.
It was also wonderful to see how many people seeemed to be excited and invested in the voting process this year. One mother and father dragged their teenaged daughters over to register and told them "You will be voting." More than one person asked if we would be there every weekend as they had family members they wanted to bring by. Others took blank forms to take to family and friends at home. At one point a young woman came out of the Flea Market office to get forms for herself and her coworkers. One young woman pushing a man in a wheelchair whispered to us that her father didn't want her to register to vote then later slipped away from him long enough to come fill out a form.
By the end of the two days we'd registered nearly 200 people to vote! It was an amazingly soul-nourishing experience, 90 degree weather and 90% humidity notwithstanding.
So what did we learn that you can apply to your own voter registration events?
--People want Obama merchandise! We had a couple of bumper stickers and a handful of stickers and pins with us but they went very fast. One of the most common requests we had were for bumper stickers or yard signs. For our remaining events we'll be taking advantage of the Moveon.org bumper sticker offer and the group packages and the BarackObama.com store and stocking up on plenty of stickers and pins for next time.
--There are a surprising number of felons wandering around! Take the time to learn your state's position on the restoration of Voter Rights. Most states have an appeals process whereby convicted felons can have their voting rights restored. Also, being convicted of a felony does not necessarily mean someone has lost their rights. In Alabama, for example, a drug possession only charge, even if a felony count, does not affect voting rights. Take time to educate yourself on your state. The fastest way to do this is to contact your state's ACLU office. Our state office sent us brochures detailing the process that we can hand out to those who need them.
--If you live near a state border, try to have forms from that state on hand as well. We missed out on a number of potential voters that day because we didn't have Mississippi forms at our table.
--Consider having at least one "Register to Vote Here" sign in Spanish. And have Spanish language forms on-hand. You can download them here: http://www.democrats.org/...
--Have a debriefing meeting with your group in the week following the event. That's very helpful in determining what worked well, what didn't and what you can do to improve the next event.
--South Alabama is freakin' HOT in July. (Okay we already knew that).
We're planning events in the upcoming weeks on local college campuses, malls, a local music festival and the Greater Gulf State Fair as well working with local nursing home and long-term care facilities to go in and do voter registration (followed up by absentee ballots closer to the election).
I'd love to hear feedback from those of you involved in voter registration in your own states so we can compare notes and continue to improve.
Yes We Can!