In my earlier diary, I wrote about how the the idea of how the Voter Suppression Mitigation Canvasses came about. I am truly in awe of the commitment and fierce devotion of these African-American college students to keeping Rev. Warnock in the Senate, despite all the naysayers who tell them it will be more difficult in 2022.
It will. But they are having none of it.
Last weekend, Hope Springs from Field PAC put their ideas into action. We organized Voter Suppression mitigation canvasses in four states where Republicans are seeking to suppress Democrats and like-minded voters from participating in 2022. We expect to continue these efforts through Labor Day, 2022.
In Georgia, we organized canvasses in three counties in the Black Belt, each one led by a student who had been at Albany State last January. These students had previously led canvasses in their home areas after Albany State let out for Christmas, continuing the work they had been involved in before Christmas break in Albany.
The organizers were a part of the texting group that began after SB202, the voter suppression bill, was signed into law by Gov. Kemp. His desperate need to get on the right side of the Insurrectionist(s) came with consequences, and the students felt those consequences were falling all on them. One of the things they wanted to do was to start canvassing to ask their community if they had the necessary identification to vote, and if they needed help in getting it if they didn't.
But for those who did have the necessary photo ID, they noted they would still have to make a photocopy of their id in order to vote absentee (or Vote By Mail, VBM). And thus the idea for having the ability to canvass with a mobile printer was born.
Many states already require a copy of identification for VBM ballots from first time voters, but Georgia’s new law attempts to expand that universe in ways that affect minority voters far more than the Republican base. Canvassing with mobile printers allow us to take away that attempt to suppress absentee voting by minority communities by allowing voters to scan and print a copy of the necessary identification for free. This is what we mean when we talk about "super-compliance." Attempts to make VBM more onerous are negated by making the means for compliance available to our voters during canvassing.
Mobile printers will allow voters to bring their required identification to the car, scan the ID themselves and take the copy back to their home for inclusion with their absentee ballot. They will do the scanning and printer so that they know that their "numbers" are secure. It will also strengthen their confidence in the VBM process, if they choose to take that route. And we are building confidence among Democratic voters that their vote and the electoral process is more secure from their personal perspective.
Many African-Americans are skeptical of VBM. And many VBM ballots didn’t count in 2020 because voters didn’t always follow instructions meticulously. By canvassing with a plan — knowing what we will do when our voters face the predictable issues that will arise out of these voter suppression laws — we can assure our voters that we can still fight back. Telling people that Republicans don’t want them to vote can motivate people to get out to vote in an off-year. Helping people to comply with the regs.
Each of these three counties got 2 mobile printers to test out. Most of our pre-canvass training was devoted to demonstrating mobile printing. It's not that it is difficult to learn (scan and print), but that tactile process of doing it creates confidence that this is something that can mitigate these onerous laws. We want people talking about this. We want voters in minority communities talking about this. We are fighting back, we are engaging in Super-Compliance. What else you got, Kemp? Because we are ready.
The setup we demonstrated on Saturday costs a little under $90 (shipping being free to prime members) for each printer and car power converter. Outfitting future canvasses in all the precincts being specifically targeted by Republicans will costs thousands, if not tens of thousands.
Which is why we need your help. All too often, efforts to mitigate voter suppression have been done in the last month before the general election, generally by campaigns. But they don’t have to be. As Republicans now begin their efforts to shape the electorate at the outset of election cycles, so should we. We need your help to make voter suppression mitigation and super-compliance a year(s) round activity. If you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voterprotection
Hope Springs from Field PAC was started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. The approach we adopted was focused on listening, on connecting voters and their story to the candidate. Repeated face to face interactions are critical. And we are among those who believe that Democrats didn’t do as well in the 2020 Congressional races as expected because we didn’t knock on doors.
Organizers and volunteers working with Hope Springs from Field PAC registered 8,595 new voters before the December 7th in Georgia last year. 6,816 of these were in the Black Belt region where our canvasses took place last Saturday. Pre-canvass training reminded volunteers of that fact -- but now we know a new aspect. More than 8000 of those newly-registered voters actually voted in the 2021 special election, and 13 of those were people whose ballots didn't get mailed in time, but whom our volunteers chased down after January 5th, as allowed by the law. (The exact number was 8,081 but I am told no one (voters and volunteers in Georgia) would remember that.) For the people who organized last Saturday's canvass, this was victory #3. Because they got tired of hearing that they wouldn't succeed.
The reason we did succeed is because we understood how important the follow-up aspect of registering new voters is. New voters have to be nurtured, informed, made to feel comfortable. That's normal. We aren't born with a need to vote, and many people who have never voted before don't know things that can make them feel comfortable doing so. Having mentors who take on the responsibility for making sure these newly registered voters actually cast their ballots is key.
Today, on Juneteenth, we have people knocking on doors again in the Black Belt. Today’s canvass is a little different, but still relies on the same core from last weekend and last winter. We are still asking people first if they have the proper identification needed — and reminding them that we will help them if they need to acquire it — but we are also basing our canvasses around the lists of people at risk of having their voter registration canceled by the state of Georgia. More on that later.
The key takeaway from last weekend's canvassing in the Black Belt of Georgia is that we are arming these voters, Democratic voters, with the tools needed to vote successfully next year. Repeated contacts, repeated reminders, repeated messaging that Democrats Care! as well as the necessary follow-up needed to get people registered (or re-registered, if required) and to the polls (or the mail box!) work. Republicans in Georgia have yet to comprehend the meaning of our turning out our voters in January. They fully expect things to "return to normal," where Democrats don't vote, especially African-American Democrats, in midterm elections.
These brand new organizers/activists are having none of that. They are looking for victory #4. They mean to have it.
If you support our grassroots efforts to protect the vote, especially in minority communities, please chip in:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voterprotection