(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Weekly Canvassing Report for Florida & Georgia because Hope Springs from Field [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-02 The Top Issue volunteers found in Georgia on Saturday was the Economy. We have been hearing, in the Atlanta region, concern about the economic impact of the expected Trump indictment coming out of Atlanta. Voters tell us about the planning coming out of the city (which we are not canvassing) and surrounding counties. But none of the voters we have talked to (that i know of) have been involved in that planning. They are worried about whether Trumpists or other extremists will try to “burn Atlanta down” — dead serious, these are words more than one voter in the metro Atlanta region have used. “Burn Atlanta.” The fear is real. The second most frequently cited concern in Georgia this weekend was Extremism. This is as much an issue in the Atlanta area as it is in the Black Belt. People still remind our volunteers there that there are still KKK incidents. And some are scared. The third most frequently Issue this week were Concerns over Healthcare Costs.. Biden’s Approval numbers among the voters we talked to was at 53% last Saturday, with a Disapproval number of 9%. In comparison, Approval of Governor Kemp was 38% and Disapproval was 9% last Saturday. Kemp has the greatest variation in his approval numbers that i’ve seen since we started canvassing in the state. There is no senate race in Georgia this cycle (and a number of Georgia voters have told us “Thank God” there isn’t because they are exhausted!) and while we ask if voters approve of the job their senators are doing, we are not tracking that. Volunteers registered 4 new voters and re-registered 36 voters. We differentiate between the two because brand new voters are often ignored by campaigns and we hope to compensate for that somewhat by having volunteers send them post cards before the election and they are also getting robocalls thanking them for registering. But we are finding lots of teens who just turned legal age whose parents (primarily mothers) are insisting they register. 58 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. In general, we send these to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican, we still send it along. For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the CSR and let them know they are working on the issue. This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder. 1 voter completed an Incident Report. Three other voters expressed concerns about the 2024 elections but did not fill out incident reports because they didn’t say they witnessed voter suppression or intimidation (they just expressed concerns or worries about them). Incident Reports are used to plan Election Protection activities, and will be combined and handed over to District and State Attorneys, Attorney Generals and the DoJ Civil Rights Division right before Election Day. We continue to find voters who say they need a photo voter id (which is surprising since that was required to vote in the 2022 elections) — even in the Atlanta suburbs — and are already working Voter ID Days with Registrars offices and our partner Black Churches in both southern Georgia and the metro Atlanta area. We consider it a core mission to help voters in need obtain the required document to vote in November 2024. So far we have found 384 voters who need help get obtaining one before the next election. This effort arises out of the group texts among Albany State organizers who had worked with me in the first Georgia Runoff (and who have now moved on from college to young, working adults who have not given up on helping those in need “where they came from”). Our very first question on the Issues Surveys is whether the person we are talking to is registered to vote at their current home address. We also ask if there is anyone living there who needs to be registered as well. In Florida, given the current laws, we offer up a tablet with the Secretary of State website up so that voters can register or update their information themselves. Part of this is making sure that voters are registered in compliance to the new, confusing and frustrating Election law that is particularly onerous for people who change residences more frequently than normal. But registering new voters (and re-registering existing voters at their current address, in compliance with HAVA) at their door is also critical to our approach. Arizona has a much more friendly voter registration system, including the ability to opt in to permanent early voting. Of course, canvassing is the hard way to do voter registration, but we catch people that our voter registration campaigns can miss because of their emphasis on larger-scale or mass voter registration. Front of Lit In Florida, though, the new law requires voters to provide, in addition to their date of birth, the last four digits of their Social Security number OR their driver license OR state ID card number to make an address change. Which is par for the course this year, but here’s the part that is likely to stump people who move around. You have to remember which one you provided, because you have to provide the same one every single time you interact with your local Supervisor of Elections, or your request won’t be granted. Supervisors of Elections won’t have access to other databases, so they can only "verify” a request by the information the voter has provided. But this is something we have learned to track so that if the voter registration was not successful, we can go back. 16 new voters and 43 voters updated their voter registration addresses in Florida on Saturday. We use the Secretary of State website to register voters in Florida, in order to meet Florida’s difficult restrictions there. Back of Lit We knock on the doors of Democratic and Independent voters. At every door, we leave a piece of “show the flag” lit, something that tells them we were there and hopefully reinforces the Democratic brand. The lit focuses on the things voters told us were important to them last fall, aiming to appeal to every voter. We also ask voters if they have an problems that local, state or federal governments need to address in their neighborhoods. But the main focus of our canvassing right now is the Issues Survey, asking voters for their input and concerns. We find that most voters who aren’t in a hurry or in the middle of something are willing to answer at least a couple of these questions, especially their top issue or concern and their views of President Biden. Voter responses to the questionnaire are entered into VAN and made available to all Democratic candidates who use VAN in the state after the primary. Creating this kind of data isn’t done with a specific goal in mind but has the purpose of engaging voters and creating a dataset that any Democratic candidate can use in opposition to a Republican. Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional Districts that are remapped in ways that offer opportunities or vulnerabilities for Democrats next year (specifically those where a Republican won a Congressional District that voted for Biden in 2022). There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year. By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with these really, really onerous provisions, Hope Springs from Field PAC seeks to undermine that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them. That includes making sure that out-of-state workers at Disney know to, and how to, obtain a State ID card if they don’t want to give up their out-of-state DL but still want to vote in Florida. There’s a lot of work to be done, but fortunately, the three states that are making it most difficult are also states in which you can knock on doors at least 10 months out of the year. And, with your help, we will be there, getting our people to super-comply with these restrictive provisions. If you are able to donate to our efforts to fight against Issue 1, identify abortion rights supporters, protect our voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, please help: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hope4ohio If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you! 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