When I went into the Obama Administration in mid 2012, I was told to turn over my database of Incident Reports and Polling Place targeting to the DNC. Government workers don’t keep that kind of thing. But four years later, I get a message from Robbie Mook asking me where it was. By that time I had left D.C. for San Jose and the U.S. Cyber Command. I didn’t drag those computers across the country (nor did I keep them, because of that).
Pretty sure everyone realizes i am a huge supporter of Obama’s but his experience in Illinois left him pretty skeptical about the Democratic party orgs, especially after his Senate primary with Dan Hynes. Especially after the IVI-IPO battle that had to be decided by the board after a very contentious (and exhausting) vote of its membership. The Democratic party in Illinois was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Michael Madigan and rogue candidates (called reformers in Illinois, not progressives) like Barack faced numerous obstacles from Madigan and his minions whenever they stuck their head out in areas that interested the Speaker.
This had consequences when Obama became president. Hillary has given a fair account about the condition of the Democratic party institutions at the end of his term. It wasn’t pretty. And the steep decline that she experienced wasn’t solely due to the reformer president. Lots of factors contributed to that decline, but the fact is that Obama’s neglect of the Democratic party did not help. Here’s what we need to all realize: that despite all our complaints about the Democratic Party (however you want to define it), we face a Republican Party that is well-organized, heavily coordinated and prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to win. So we can’t have disorganized, utterly under-funded Democratic party institutions. Because we will lose because of that.
Having said all that, Hope Springs from Field PAC has been working to re-create that Voter Protection database that seemed to have gotten lost in all that neglect. From the beginning, in November of 2020, volunteers knocking on doors have walked with Incident Report forms and asked voters if they had experienced Voter Suppression or Intimidation they wanted to record.
Over the course of those two years, we have collected 1,373 Incident Reports at the doors. Of course, we have also collected more in the course of our work with Black Churches in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin. It is important to note that we haven’t organized canvassing around the maximal collection of these reports. And we see this from the number of Incident Reports that have come out of the Black Churches in Georgia, where churches residing outside of the southern/southwest area of Georgia that we have been focused on collected 2-3 times the numbers of Incident Reports collected from those areas. Same would be true of Florida, where Voter Intimidation and Suppression is much more prolific outside of the Central Florida areas we’ve been knocking. Regardless, you work from what you have.
But Phase 2 of Hope Springs’ GOTV effort has been collating and sifting through these reports, with an eye towards what is actionable and what can be used in conversations with government prosecutors as Election Day approaches. Organizers who have committed to our Voter Protection efforts in October and November review each Incident Report (regardless of where they were collected), consulted with the Election Protection team and even discussed items with lawyers who have indicated interest in participating in our October and November activities.
From these, we have decided where there needs to be poll watchers, or outside observers as well as which reports need to be made aware to government legal officials at the local, state and federal level. For example, over time, a common report is that polls did not open on time. And if there is only one report, or one time, then we wouldn’t do anything about it. It’s good to know, but we are looking for patterns. But, believe it or not, there are polling locations that have a history of late openings (usually tied insufficient poll workers at the time they are supposed to be opening). This is the kind of thing we want to make Election Administrators aware of. On the other hand, there are also polling locations that have a history of inappropriate behavior by voters or poll workers or even campaign activities outside the polls. These are things about which Elections officials have no control over (for the most part) and need to be directed towards legal officials (including the police or sheriff). But local guidance is always sought out during the course of this decision making process. Because when we take things to District Attorneys or State’s Attorneys or the DoJ Civil Rights division, it generally causes, well, let’s just call them waves. IN Georgia and North Carolina, we have already run “afoul” of local law enforcement who wish these things would not be discussed at those levels. Maybe others, as well, but i mention that because it comes to my attention.
Strangely, kicking the issues “up stairs” has a tendency to make them disappear (even if it causes resentment). But, over the course of doing this, we often find that local party chairs wouldn’t ever complain — but don’t mind if someone else does.
That’s why we collect receipts!
Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors, serve as a resource to Elections Committees in Black Churches and partnering with local civics and civil rights groups to raise awareness of the fact that Democrats care about our voters and are working to protect their rights. We are thinking about how to mitigate Voter Suppression efforts, get around them and make sure we have "super compliance," both informing and helping our voters meet the requirements and get out and vote.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2022electionprotection
Hope Springs from Field PAC was started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. Election Protection was central to the Obama primary effort in 2008 because we were running against a party favorite with strong roots in state and local party organizations and we needed to appeal to voters outside that framework. We are returning to the old school basics: looking for patterns, addressing issues that have come up in the past and making sure authorities know about issues that are likely to (or even just may) come up in this election. Especially in light of True the Vote activities in majority minority areas.
This work is not intended to replace local party or campaign activities. In fact, if we know that the campaign (especially) wants to place someone inside the polls, and we have volunteers willing to do that, we point them towards our volunteers. It is not uncommon that we will identify the same worrisome polling locations. And we encourage both party orgs and campaigns to use both the generic Incident Reports we use as well as consult the database we have built from collected reports. But just because a troublesome polling location is not a majority or significant precinct in terms of campaigns or candidates, that does not mean they should be overlooked. We are making every effort to cover the most worrisome, most frequently troublesome locations as established by our collection of historical patterns of Voter Intimidation and Suppression.
So it begins. There is a link between the belief that someone can cast a vote without issue, in a reasonable time frame and as expected and turnout. By having outside poll observers provides voter confidence (and actually was a source of volunteers for our canvassing through the Summer). Democrats still enjoy the communal experience of voting and this seems to be especially true of minority voters.
But now that we are in the end game, we still note that it all begins at the beginning. Election Protection/Voter Protection is not a last minute thought; it is part of the plan. And we do need your help.
Hope Springs from Field PAC is trying to reinstitute best field practices, such as canvassing with people who look like the voters we are talking to and targeting former voters thrown off the rolls. But we have also want to adopt best practices we find “out in the wild,” like these first time voter parties. But because we study and teach field work as a profession, we bring in skillsets and tactics that may be new to the Democratic party regulars as well as activists in the area. But it is a two way street. That’s why it is so important to start developing Election Protection strategies now, and not wait until a couple of weeks or so before the general election. We have a lot of work to do. Can you help?
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please donate:
secure.actblue.com/donate/2022electionprotection
Thank you for your support. This work depends on you!