Phone banking

I should be posting a response to a Journey of the Universe prompt but I’ll put that off until tomorrow morning and instead tell you about my adventures working the phone bank for Hillary for America!

This morning, I drove K into work (there’s a Metro SafeTrack thing going on right now that has closed several of the metro stations between home and work). Of course, it’s Monday morning and with Metro closed, there are at least double the number of cars on the street as normal. What takes 20 minutes in zero traffic, took more than double this morning. Ugh.

On the bright side, I didn’t have to jump right back into traffic - I parked at K’s work and just crossed the street to the Phoenix Park Hotel to join in the phone banks.

Having done some house calls on Saturday, I was feeling more confident about picking up the phone but still nervous. What made it so much easier for me was that this is the Get out the Vote time - I’m only calling people who are registered Democrats and expected to vote for Hillary. My role is to remind them to get to the polls, inform them about what they need to bring, where to go, and help them make a plan.

The set up was minimal - I checked in, had a quick training and then set up my personal laptop, brought out my personal cell phone, and started dialling the numbers that came up on the program. I’d expected a fancier set up with coffee, snacks, stickers, etc. I was honestly pretty glad to see that they were saving resources and relying on volunteers. It felt really genuine.

We were calling folks in North Carolina today. I made my way through 75 names in just the 90 minutes that I was there. Of course, the majority went to voicemail, so I only actually spoke to about 5 people.

One of the numbers I dialed picked up after the first ring but no one said anything. I said “Hello?” paused and “hello” again. Then I went quiet and realized I could hear someone making a presentation about cell membranes. Oops! Must have called someone in the middle of class and they accidentally picked up in order to stop the ringing.

The people I did speak to were great: The woman who was undecided but grateful to know her polling place; The excitement in the voice of a mother who said she and her sons were going to vote together tomorrow; The young man who said he’d already voted.

There was a nice diversity in the volunteers - an older woman who came in just after me and had a beautiful speaking voice struck up great conversations as she worked through the script. A young man behind me had a British accent and smiled so big whenever a call got through. A black man around my age sitting across from me was in charge of troubleshooting, working with callers to resolve their specific registration concerns. A woman my age who brought coffee in a large mason jar that she explained was wrapped in the sock that her grandmother knit for her but was too big for her foot.

It felt so good to be a part of the group. And even better to see the large group of people just arriving as I left. I hope that they continue to be successful and reach out to empower people to place their vote.

GOTV

Get out the vote!

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s an election on Tuesday. This election includes presidential candidates, of course, but there are also many state and local representatives and policies that we each have an opportunity to consider and weigh in on.

I’m a registered voter in Northern Virginia because that is my most recent official address in the United States. (I just missed the deadline to register to vote in the District of Columbia so I’m sticking with my Virginia address for this election.) I spent a couple of hours today previewing the ballot that I will see on Tuesday. You can do that too - just got to vote411.org and put in your address for personalized election information.

When you put in your address, the website will provide you with the address of your polling place, what you need to bring to vote (in Virginia, I need a photo ID), how to check whether you are registered to vote, and finally: a list of what races will be on your ballot.

There are 10 races on my ballot that include the presidential race, a congressional representative race, two constitutional amendments, the county board of supervisors, and school board, several local budget initiatives like selling bonds to build school and public transit infrastructure.

The website is great because it provides links to the candidates’ websites, link to the local government’s budget justification and explanation, and information from both the proponents and opponents of the amendments, etc.

For example, the Tax Relief Constitutional Amendment:

It’s non-partisan and informative. And it will help me keep my time at the actual ballot box pretty short because I’ve already reviewed the information and made my choices.

I made my choice for President many months ago. I support Hillary Clinton for President. I believe that she is intelligent, compassionate, experienced, and has proven her good judgment and readiness for the office. I will be very proud to cast my vote for her.

K and I volunteered as part of her “ground team” yesterday - canvassing local neighborhoods to help people make a plan to get to the polls. This is a huge opportunity and I want everyone to get out and vote. Even if we disagree about policies and candidates - I want your vote to be counted.  Take this opportunity to practice democracy rather than just benefit from it.

I have lived in Togo and in Lebanon where democracy is much shakier than in the United States. But the only way that we can ensure that democracy will continue to be strong is through our full participation. Voting, volunteering, speaking up about policies we like and don’t like, keeping our politicians accountable not just during the campaign but throughout their tenure.

Go Vote!