Dear John,
As we head into the last weeks of this year’s election season, I’m thinking about how year-round power building undergirds some of the most effective voter engagement programs.
We all know that elections help to shape the conditions under which we will organize in the coming years. But the work that shapes how voters will respond to a ballot measure or whether a low-propensity voter will decide to participate in an election happens long before any ballot is cast.
Earlier this month, I traveled with PowerSwitch Action staff from across the country to Kansas City, MO where we met up with our affiliate Missouri Workers Center (MWC). We got to meet some of MWC’s worker leaders who have been organizing at Amazon, in fast food restaurants, and as drivers providing city-subsidized rideshare trips. As they’ve been organizing in the workplace, they’ve built the relationships and the muscle necessary for true democracy — sharing their individual stories about what convinced them to organize, managing disagreements and considering each others’ interests, and seeing their power in numbers.
And these leaders haven’t only applied those skills on the job. After they clock out, many have pulled up MiniVAN and hit the streets, knocking on the doors of neighbors and strangers alike. They’ve collected thousands of signatures to put a proposition to raise the minimum wage and guarantee paid sick days on the ballot. Now they’re out making sure voters know about the measure, and telling their stories at the door. When we gathered after a day of canvassing, one leader explained that when she told people she hadn’t seen a raise in years, they nearly always committed to vote yes.
Similarly, we’ve been out canvassing low-propensity and underrepresented voters in Philadelphia with our affiliate POWER Interfaith’s nonpartisan civic engagement program. We were able to share important information with people who did feel ready and energized about voting. In some cases, we connected with voters who did have a plan, but didn’t realize that their polling locations had changed!
And through their nonpartisan Black Faith Votes campaign, POWER has been coordinating Soul Food Dinners and events in peoples’ homes and places of worship, in order to engage Black voters who feel cynical or alienated from civic participation. This program equips formerly cynical voters to host their own dinners, bringing even more folks into the process. Just as with MWC, POWER’s work sits on a foundation built through years of community and faith-based organizing.
At PowerSwitch, we talk a lot about how authentic democracy means more than casting a ballot every few years. Just as important is the power we build while organizing for better jobs, campaigning for renter protections and community-controlled housing, and bringing people into the process of setting their city’s budget. So no matter what happens on November 5, this is the work we must carry on: growing our movements for the long term to transform our society for the better.
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| In solidarity,
Lauren Jacobs Executive Director |
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Increasing civic participation among Black communities in Pennsylvania |
POWER Interfaith in Pennsylvania helped to conduct a national research project known as the Black Values Research, which identifies five “values clusters” of Black voters across the country and what drives their civic engagement. The research affirms that Black voters are not a monolith and that understanding differences across values, identity, faith, and many other factors is key to increasing civic participation. POWER is utilizing the research to connect with the cluster of voters identified as “Rightfully Cynical.” Through their nonpartisan Black Faith Votes campaign, they are coordinating Soul Food Dinners, which take place in family households and places of worship, to engage Rightfully Cynical cluster members and encourage political agency and voter registration. POWER is also hosting canvassing events where they’re connecting with broader communities across the state, dispelling myths about the political system, and helping folks get registered to vote.
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Community priorities on the ballot in LA and Long Beach |
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) is engaging voters in support of Measure A, Measure US, and Proposition 5 which would, respectively, increase funding for housing solutions, fund essential repairs and upgrades to schools, and make it easier for communities to pass local bonds for affordable housing and infrastructure projects. In Long Beach, LAANE is organizing paid and volunteer canvassing programs, with more than 170 volunteers already out knocking on doors.
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Organizing for healthy families and fair wages in Missouri |
Low-wage workers with Missouri Workers Center (MWC) have been organizing their strength in numbers to win Proposition A, which would establish a $15 minimum wage and earned paid sick time, as well as Amendment 3, which would end to the state's extreme abortion ban and enshrine the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution. Earlier this month, MWC partnered with a dozen other organizations for a day-long mega canvass to get out the vote for Proposition A and Amendment 3. Nearly 100 volunteers collectively knocked on 2,024 doors that day and, to date, canvassers have knocked 11,000 doors (and counting). MWC collected over 36,000 signatures to get both measures on the ballot.
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Uniting across California for stable, affordable communities |
Together with the statewide coalition We Are California, Warehouse Worker Resource Center (WWRC) and Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) are engaging voters in support of Proposition 5, which would make it easier for local governments to pass bonds for infrastructure projects, and against Proposition 36, which would increase penalties for theft and drug crimes. WWRC hired an election team to phone bank and canvas in the Inland Empire five days a week. In Oxnard and Santa Maria, CAUSE created a partnership with Future Leaders Now and MICOP called Unidos 805 that is contacting 18,000 voters in support of Prop 5.
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Registering folks to vote across Georgia |
Georgia STAND-UP has been hard at work increasing civic participation among historically underrepresented voters across the state—from text and phone banking to handwriting 4,000 postcards to voters to putting together voter care kits. In particular, they’ve been focused on engaging young Black folks, and have traveled to high school and college campuses making sure students have the resources and tools they need to get registered. Georgia STAND-UP also co-hosted the National Voter Registration Day Block Party at Clark Atlanta University where they worked with 7 student organizations and 83 volunteers, registered over 200 students, and had over 442 students sign up for future job, internship, or volunteer opportunities.
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Voter outreach in Anaheim, California |
In Anaheim, CA, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) is running a nonpartisan civic engagement program focused on voter participation, ensuring communities are informed about important dates and have a plan to vote. Their program includes phone banking, canvassing, text messaging, and community outreach to provide key logistical information, like important dates, where and when voting centers open, how to receive ballots on time and request replacements if needed. OCCORD is focusing on a broad range of communities throughout Anaheim with an emphasis on Spanish speakers, first-time voters, and multigenerational and underrepresented communities in Anaheim.
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PowerSwitch National on the ground in Pennsylvania and Kansas City, MO |
Throughout October, the PowerSwitch team was on the ground with two of our affiliates to support critical civic engagement efforts, while also deepening and strengthening relationships across our network.
We traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, where we connected with Missouri Workers Center (MWC) staff, members, and volunteers to get out the vote for Proposition A and Amendment 3. We also joined MWC workers and allies at a rally with zTrip drivers who are fighting to win a union and stop the privatization of transit in Kansas City.
Then we went to Pennsylvania, where we met up with POWER Interfaith to support their nonpartisan canvassing program focused on increasing participation among BIPOC low propensity voters. We talked with folks in Philadelphia and Lancaster City about their most pressing concerns and shared important information about how to get registered and when and where to vote. |
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Evil Corpo Bosses and their Minions will buy, bully, and bamboozle to get what they want. Ready to take them on? Choose your hero, fight off attacks, and bring this land back to life!
CORPO CRUSH isn’t a real videogame (for now!), but corporations are using these tactics all over the country. Sign up here for CORPO CRUSH news, examples of how corporations buy, bully, and bamboozle, and ways we can fight back! |
Drivers rally outside of Uber HQ |
After Uber executives refused to meet with them, drivers with the Activate Respect campaign rallied outside of Uber headquarters in San Francisco. They came from around the country to share their experiences around getting deactivated and the impact it has on their lives, and tried to deliver an open letter to Uber with their demands. Watch what happened with that letter here.
Drivers are fighting for an end to unfair deactivations and are demanding new rules that make driving for Uber a safe, fair, and sustainable job. Add your name to their demands here.
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| Building Worker Power in the Digital Age |
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