Reclaim Idaho has been making news recently as it sets its sights on collecting the 56K signatures needed to get Medicaid Expansion on the ballot by May 1st. And now, against daunting odds, the campaign has only 6K signatures to go, thanks to the dedication of hundreds of committed volunteers across the state. From the Idaho Press-Tribune:
The group made huge strides in at a petition drive Saturday in Caldwell’s legislative district, District 10. As of publication time, the signature count from Saturday alone was 1,037 from a little more than 60 volunteers, leaving them with around 200 signatures left to qualify District 10.
Leaders of the initiative in Ada County recognize how far along the effort is — especially after having cleared the 50,000 mark after Saturday’s event — but they still know they’ve got work to do.
Idaho requires that in order for a proposed measure to get on the ballot, campaigns must collect signatures from 6% of the number of voters in the last election across the state AND meet a distribution requirement of 6% of 18 different districts across the state. To that end, Reclaim Idaho is focusing on door-knocking in the final stretch:
Reclaim Idaho’s Field Director Zach Reider said the group’s main focus now is on getting signatures through door-to-door canvassing, like what they did this weekend.
“In regards to the legislature’s 18 different district requirement, we’re going door to door in Canyon County because we have to get the districts there,” said Reider, the campaign’s only paid employee. “When you go anywhere in the Treasure Valley, people come into Boise from Canyon County, but you can’t be sure that you’re getting voters from the right district unless you’re going to the door.”
Among the volunteers are super-volunteers like Joe Goode and Rod Couch, two people who have collected hundreds of signatures on their own.
A volunteer for Reclaim Idaho, Joe Goode, was recently featured in a BuzzFeed article as a “master” signature collectors, as another volunteer put it, for collecting more than 1,000 signatures. The April article was the second time this Idaho group gained national headlines, coming nearly a month after a Huffington Post article featured the ballot initiative effort.
Another volunteer, Rod Couch, has made quite the contribution. He was hailed by Sandmire as an “unsung hero” of the ballot initiative.
Couch, the co-founder and leader of the activist group Indivisible Boise Chapter One, said he’s collected nearly 800 signatures.
With that much experience, he’s got his pitch down to a tee. One crucial part of it is his noting that it will bring healthcare to “working Idahoans” in the gap.
“I always like to stress that because these are not people that are unemployed or just sitting around, these are working Idahoans and we’re trying to help them get healthcare coverage,” he said.
15 days to go. I will keep you all posted.
To sign up to volunteer and/or for more information about the campaign, KosMail me, since I’m a volunteer, or check out medicaidforidaho.org.