Engage Voters: 1 - Hands Across the Water
A lot of energy was put into the 2024 election, by folks on the ground in our home states and by volunteers out here in abroad land. It fell short.
So, as we begin (again?) the 2-yr midterm cycle, we’re asking: What works? What doesn’t?
What works in the home state is physical presence, whether townhalls, door-knocking, petition passing or testifying at local councils and school boards or even at the statehouse. Phones are less welcome; robo-calls anathema! Handwritten letters and postcards are expensive, but they also offer volunteers the chance to get together for a card-writing party. They also seem to be read by recipients.
Out here in ‘abroad land,’ the optimum methods differ. Face-to-face may work in urban areas where US voters are more likely to be concentrated. It’s not optimum where the ‘target audience’ is few and far between. Snail mail (postal) may be slow and/or expensive. Email may be opened or not. Phone calls seem to work best for reaching members and are usually welcomed. All of these methods, though, depend on a contact list, i.e. current members. Reaching the unaffiliated voter, the independent, etc is mainly left to getting coverage in local media or spending for public advertising.
When home-state and abroad activists try to support each other, some interesting new avenues open up. Contact is important as it allows us to stay on top of issues at home and to share issues that are unique to citizens living abroad.
In 2022, a few of us abroad realized that we could help with in-state efforts. Because most of us send our ballots back early … to be sure we meet state deadlines … we’re freed up the last couple of weeks before Election Day. We can call stateside folks with reminders, set up rides to the polls, etc. This year, a few DNC, state party, and allied groups set up VOIP platforms that made this easy; some others were, unfortunately, annoyingly difficult to access.
Likewise, a few in-state groups experimented this year with sending snail mail abroad (using state voter rolls, for the most part.) They’re still crunching numbers on the ‘opportunity cost’ that may or may not be worthwhile. A very few states, e.g. Florida, even had online-facilitated petition-signing for individuals abroad. Others, e.g. Ohio, required hard-copy, numbered signature booklets that required organizing for abroad use too far in advance to be tried.
What did not help build in-state turnout was late-campaign panic, especially in the hard-hit ‘battleground’ states. People refused to answer phones after the 4th or so call, or slammed the phone down when they realized it was yet another campaign call. A few canvassers reported people slamming the door in their faces, too. Tired. Just plain tired of all the contact. Dems Abroad, on the other hand, still had good reception overall, having spaced out the calling campaigns a bit more strategically. All of these efforts are being assessed. For the Dems Abroad results, any member can ask their ExCom for updates.
To avoid bombarding voters in a heated frenzy before the next election the solution seems clear. Start early (like, now), build community, help everyone stay informed and engaged to the extent they can. In other words, tune in, not out.
The one avenue not mentioned yet is social media. It’s always on … and recently, it seems to be always changing. But in one form or another, it’s useful for staying in touch and engaged both in-state and abroad. Good use of social media (or let’s say the Internet in general) requires a bit of skill, savvy, willingness to engage with civility. There are some ways to do that, and we’ll cover those in the next installment.