Over the past week, our all-volunteer voter registration drive with the Travis County Democratic Party reached a new milestone – we’ve now collected 12,814 voter registrations!
As of next Monday, there will only be 30 days before Election Day. This is notable because most states with registration deadlines use the 30-day mark out as the cut-off. 18 states list Monday, October 6th as their registration deadline. Another 9 have deadlines between now and October 10th. The last push is on—this is our last chance to add more voters for Barack Obama.
But this isn’t just about electing Barack Obama, or any of the other Democrats on the ballot this year. It’s also about registering people who’ve never voted before, never wanted to vote. It’s about capturing excitement, and it’s about building a long-term majority. It’s about expanding voter rolls to help Democrats win in 2010, 2012, and beyond.
More photos below.
Austin Obama Mamas and Big Orange Bags
After Netroots Nation, there were some large, loud, orange bags left over from the convention. They found their way to TCDP HQ, where they sat in a large, loud, orange pile, until one day I realized that they’re the perfect size to hold two clipboards, a mess of pens, tons of flyers, and everything a few people need to become a mobile voter registration drive.
Meanwhile, one of our best local grassroots groups, the Austin Obama Mamas, organized a voter registration drive. (In fact, I trained them the Sunday afternoon that you all departed from Austin after Netroots Nation. Hmm, symmetry.) They register voters several times a week at parks and playgrounds across Austin. In fitting with their Mom outreach, they also worked dozens of Back-to-School nights around Austin, specifically targeting lower-income public schools. Each Mom came in to pick up a large, loud, orange bag filled with everything she needed to register parents at their child’s school.
It was a neat project, and it performed valuable outreach to folks that can otherwise be tough to track down—busy, hard-working parents. In between concern about their kids’ education and making ends meet, these folks aren’t exactly swinging by headquarters to chat about the issues. Luckily, my super-star volunteers were there to do parent-to-parent outreach and talk about why Barack Obama is the best choice for all of our families.
Obama City Limits Festival
Last weekend we did over 800 registrations outside of the Austin City Limits Festival, and probably gave out 10 times as many stickers. ACL is huge, with over 60,000 people in attendance and three full days of music. I thought we’d do more registrations, but I was actually really happy that the vast majority of young people are already registered, and excited to vote. I must have heard people say "Thank you for doing this!" and "Go Obama!" several thousand times. For out-of-state visitors, it must have been quite a sight to see this army of volunteers wearing Texans for Obama t-shirts passing out stickers.
We had over 50 people helping out over four days (we also worked wristband pick-up) and they all had a great time. I also have to note that I ran into some volunteers with Rock the Vote, and apparently we did a brisker business than they. Just sayin’.
Best of all, it was a really great way to see thousands upon thousands of people show their enthusiastic support for Barack Obama. I swear, we saw several hundred of those $12 MoveOn shirts alone, thousands of buttons, and many, many ways in which people were expressing their desire to Barack the Vote.
Here are some photos from the event:
It's Not Just About Barack Obama
Voter registration is important not only to elect Barack Obama, but also to build our long-term Democratic majority. Folks are excited to vote for Barack Obama. Many have never voted before, never wanted to. This gives them a reason to register, a reason to vote. More importantly, this gets them on the voter rolls, and creates a new base of Democratic voters that down-ballot candidates can tap into time and again in their own races. Not just this cycle, but 2010, 2012. The millions of new registrations collected nationwide in support of Barack Obama will allow us to take back Senate Seats, State Houses, and Governorships previously anathema to Democrats.
So get out there, get registering. If you can spend just two hours registering voters, if you can help add just five voters to the rolls this weekend, you're helping grow our party for generations.
If you’re in Austin, Texas, you have zero excuse not to come help out this weekend. Zero, zip, nada, none. We need your help Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We’re going to register another 20,000 voters before all is said and done, but we can't do it without your help.
The same is true for wherever you live. So head down to your local Democratic Party office, or just put on an Obama t-shirt and head to a busy intersection with a sign that says "Register to Vote Here!" There's nothing more rewarding than people coming up to you and saying, "I can still register?! Great! Thank you, I've been meaning to do this."
Make sure you're registered. Check with your friends and family. Spread around Vote for Change and help people be informed and ready to vote.
Where Are You Registering Voters This Weekend?