Today is Election Day, and if you are reading Daily Kos it’s a pretty safe bet that you will remember to vote—if you haven’t done so already. But you won’t BELIEVE how many people need that last-minute reminder to vote before the polls close.
That's why we need you today—on the phones right up until the polls close, to get out our very last Democrats out to vote.
I have volunteered in get-out-the-vote operations for 18 years, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people you catch around 6:00 p.m. after they come home from work. You will ask them if they voted yet, and they’ll respond: “Oh shit, that was TODAY?”
When I was in college, I was scrambling to get out last-minute votes in San Francisco for Tom Ammiano’s mayoral campaign. As 8:00 p.m. crept closer and closer, I scrambled through my Mission District precinct—eager to drag out the very last voter I could find.
At 7:59 p.m., I just stood outside of the polling place on Capp Street—and saw a man riding on his bicycle. I shouted “Excuse me, have you voted yet?” The man turned around, got off his bike, walked into the polling place—and cast a provisional ballot.
The following year, I was running for public office in Berkeley—and in the final hours before the polls closed, I had my team of volunteers on the phone making last-minute calls to drag out anyone who hadn’t voted yet. We were able to get a few stragglers that way.
These are not lazy, apathetic people. Some are very engaged, progressive Democrats—who are very much aware that there is an election, and they understand what’s at stake.
But they are so busy with their lives that they simply will forget that the election is today. And with the election results coming down to turnout—i.e., whether Democrats get their base to vote—we absolutely need to remind them.
And there’s no greater feeling than when those people go vote—a vote that never would have happened without you.
Daily Kos and MoveOn have made it really easy to make phone calls to Democratic voters in targeted states that will determine who controls the Senate.
It is absolutely crucial to make these calls today, reach as many voters as we can—and ask them what time they plan to vote today. Studies have shown that getting voters to “plan” when they are going to vote—fitting it into their daily routine.
Over 15,000 Daily Kos and MoveOn members have made over 5 million phone calls. And we need to keep making those calls until the very last polls are closed.
Sign up right now to make GOTV calls to Democratic voters in the toss-up states that will decide control of the Senate.
I'm sorry, I can't make phone calls, but I will chip in $3 to Daily Kos to help fuel Get Out The Vote efforts.