I just got re-deputized as a Volunteer Deputy (Voter) Registrar (VDR) at the beginning of the month.

Today I went out door-knocking, registering voters in apartment complexes and leaving behind mail-in voter registration cards for the folks that weren’t home.

It started off after the dedication for the Travis County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign.  It’s named after my state rep, Elliot Naishtat, who’s not running for re-election. He’s been a great rep, we’ll miss him.

After the dedication ceremony, current VDRs went through an orientation and then were sent out in teams to target apartment complexes.

The first building was small, only 12 apartments. Most folks weren’t home. But I got one registration — I was able to talk her into registering in person instead of mailing it in. It only took a couple of minutes for her to fill out the form.  While I was checking it and giving her a receipt, she said that I should play Pokemon Go while I was block walking. She said that there was a crowd at the TX Capitol last night all playing for a few hours. All ages, all walks of life. I don’t expect to become a player. But it was nice to hear about people getting together at the Capitol for something fun. (The after-church crowd on Sundays is also good for people-watching.)

The second apartment “building” was actually a complex of 100+ duplexes.  Walking between buildings wasn’t fast. There wasn’t much shade, and it’s TX in July. We only got to a few buildings before the heat got the best of my teammate and I. No registrations there — the people who were home were already registered. So we headed back to the campaign office to let them know what we’d covered, and what was left.

Results of the morning:

• I got to meet some other local progressives
• I saw “Mean” Rachel in person, and learned she’s actually (mostly) nice
• I head some political stories I hadn’t heard before (Tornados in Ardmore, OK during the “flee to avoid redistricting” trip — how’d I miss that?)
• Registered voters: 1
• But, by talking with already registered voters, and leaving mail-in voter registration cards for rest, we’re helping to build and re-inforce a culture of voting

I’ll be back next Saturday to do another batch.

Voter Outreach Challenge:

Spurred on by news from west TX by old mule (www.dailykos.com/...) I’ve got $100 for the first Dem and/or Battleground TX representative that takes a selfie with Latino roughnecks, doing voter outreach. It doesn’t have to be on a drilling platform. Post the picture on Daily Kos and kos-mail me your address and the money is yours.