Since March 2nd, Hope Springs from Field PAC [website] has been knocking on doors (as weather and primaries permitted) in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin — all critical states that will determine who wins the White House and the Senate majority for the next two years. Almost from that time, i've had emails, texts and phone calls asking, when can we get started on Hope Springs’ Postcards to New Voters project? (One of the things about an all-grassroots volunteer operation is that we definitely have list of things to accomplish with dates set to them.) No surprise, the week before a holiday allows the time to get started on the next step.
Several people have already told me they wanted to organize groups of people and basically said, can you send the postcards now? So, especially for those who already know they want to do this, if you can volunteer to write post cards, specifically in batches of 25 for 3 rounds (thinking late August, late September, mid-October), please sign up here:
2024 Hope Springs from Field New Voter Reg. Post Cards Sign Up
One of the most important aspects of our canvassing in these Swing States has been Registering and Re-Registering Voters (updating their addresses in accordance with federal election law). But this post focuses on post-registration efforts to mobilize those New Voters we registered (and, if we have the bandwidth, those who were otherwise registered in these states).
This year, we will be expanding this project to all the New Voters in these Swing States for whom we have volunteers willing to write to them.
There’s method to this madness. New Voters rarely make it into traditional campaign’s voter contact efforts and yet, like infrequent voters, they need more, not less, communications and outreach to actually cast a ballot. Like any “new thing,” sometimes it takes extra motivation or encouragement to actually do it, in this case, actually cast a ballot. Those New Voters who we have registered at the door have had prior contact with one of our volunteers, and they know that Democrats are serious about preserving Democracy, protecting their right to vote and interested in maintaining the public infrastructure in their neighborhoods.
First Round postcard
These are intended to be first contact communications, reminding people they are registered to vote and that there’s an important election approaching. The critical point is that most campaigns exclude them from their own voter outreach efforts because of the low percentages in which new voters — and especially young voters — actually turnout to cast ballots. And the fact is that new voters, the ones who have yet to make voting a real habit, are the ones who need the most attention.
Starting in the middle of August, we will be reaching out to New Voters, voters who have never been eligible to vote before, through the use of Post Cards. Starting date (date to send out post cards to voters by volunteers) will be different because every state has different Early Voting dates.
And while we won’t be providing wording for the post cards, we are asking that the first postcard encourage Vote By Mail (VBM) or Absentee Ballots for those states that allow it (~August), that second round remind voters that Early Voting has (or is about to) started in their state and the third round focus on Election Day.
Post cards had an interesting impact in the 2021 Georgia Senate Runoffs. When I had meetings in the Atlanta area, I’d have people show me an example of a dozen or so postcards they had received encouraging them to vote. The desk manager at the hotel where I would stay had a collage of 18 postcards and she still received at least one more after she had voted. People loved them and would talk about them on Facebook and other social media.
In Southwest Georgia, where I was organizing, only a handful of people we encountered received postcards, and those who did certainly didn’t receive more than a couple. But they heard about them and were interested to hear about them, almost longingly.
First Round postcard
There are plenty of Democratic groups who are organizing the writing of post cards to likely voters. That’s not what we are doing. What Hope Springs from Field PAC is focused on are newly registered voters, starting with those whom we (or our partners) have registered in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin (but expanding beyond that base of if we generate enough interest).
These are intended to be first contact communications, reminding people they are registered to vote and that there’s an important election approaching. The critical point is that most campaigns exclude them from their own voter outreach efforts because of the low percentages in which new voters — and especially young voters — actually turnout to cast ballots. And the fact is that new voters, the ones who have yet to make voting a real habit, are the ones who need the most attention.
Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors in a grassroots-led effort to prepare the Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First Round of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are taking those efforts to the doors of the communities most effected (the intended targets or victims) of these new voter suppression laws.
We are looking for people who will take the time to hand write post cards to these New Voters (you can sign up here) and give them a reason to vote this Fall. Help them understand why it’s important. To help preserve Democracy, so to speak.
If you can volunteer to write post cards, specifically in batches of 25 for 3 rounds (thinking late August, late September, mid-October but really state-specific), please sign up here:
2024 Hope Springs from Field New Voter Reg. Post Cards Sign Up
Second Wave (Motivational) Card
At the door, and through our partner Black Churches, Hope Springs from Field PAC has registered 31,185 NEW voters in little more than a year (since the November 2022 elections). But we aren’t the only ones who register new voters, so there are many more in these Swing States. Different from new voters, re-registered voters are generally included in regular campaign communications because they already have a voter history. But we hope to generate the same kind of excitement among these newly registered voters as post cards did in Georgia in 2021. Outreach that matters, excites and makes them pay attention to the approaching election.
And what will create that kind of excitement is participation from people who are willing to share their story about becoming a voter, or casting a ballot that made an impact on them, or why they think this election is important, encouraging them to vote.
Ideally, we are hoping that participants (who can sign up here) will be agree to send 3 post cards to each new voter on the list we provide: one (a thank-you-for-registering card) before Labor Day, a first reminder card when Early Voting begins in their state and a second reminder card as Early Voting concludes. In other words, we aren’t just trying to remind them to vote, but to create a virtual relationship with them to reinforce the narrative that we are, basically, fighting to preserve democracy here in America. We are hoping post card writers will share brief stories about their own first voting experience, or their most important voting experience, or why they think it is important to vote — that kind of thing.
GOTV Reminder Card (Final or 3rd Round Card)
So far, the efforts of Hope Springs from Field and our partners in the Black Churches in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin have registered 31,185 NEW Voters since January 2023. In order to meet our goal of at least 3 post cards with those new voters, we’ll need to print 50,000 post cards at a cost of $28,378.40. And that is where we need your help. Our printing bill will far exceed our VAN (voter file) bill this year.
If you are able to support our efforts to mobilize these difficult, brand new voters to cast their ballots in November, especially in minority communities, expanding the electorate, or just believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please donate (that’s always appreciated):
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voterpostcards
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!
