(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Periodic Report on Hope Springs FREE Voter Photo ID Drive in Georgia & North Carolina [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-04  

In North Carolina, Hope Springs from Field PAC organizers choose to end canvassing this year in order to concentrate on our Voter Photo ID project. Essentially, organizers were spending more time organizing our Voter Photo ID Days in North Carolina than organizers in Georgia did, and we found that key organizers were unable to do both that organizing and cut turf for knocking door-to-door. This happens when dealing with an all-volunteer “work force.”

In Georgia, we were able to partner with a core group of Black Churches with existing Elections Committees who were able to make contact with their (in Georgia) Registrar’s office, schedule Voter Photo ID Days and then make sure those offices had the stock needed to provide the legislative-required free voter photo id’s, as well as help communicate with the voters we found who needed them, as required by the new laws. But there aren’t as many Black Churches in North Carolina who have agreed to partner with Hope Springs and/or they aren’t as organized. District 6 AME in Georgia was deeply committed to voter mobilization and was a key part of ensuring the success we had there. Last year, this partnership allowed 18,478 Georgia voters to get the free voter photo ID cards they needed to vote.

Hope Springs from Field volunteers contributed to this effort by finding voters at their doors who admitted they needed a photo ID and organizers helped to spread the message by speaking at Black Churches, when requested, to talk about what they had accomplished and why it was important for those who needed a photo ID to obtain one. Organizers in Black Belt counties who had faced “threats” from the KKK and (apparently) law enforcement, as well as voters challenged at the polls by Republican poll watchers, were particularly effective by sharing their stories.

But one of the key ingredient to our success was that we not only pointed out the problem but told these congregations a solution we were actively pursuing as part of our voter protection strategy: collecting Incident Reports, attempting to verify as much of the reported data as possible, and passing those along to the Georgia Attorney General, local District and State’s Attorneys as well as the DoJ Civil Rights Division in the days before the Georgia Senate Run-offs and the promise we’d continue to do that again before the 2022 election. One congregation even clapped at that declaration. Or is it, determination?

In North Carolina, where the law was recently altered by the state courts, we have found 2,737 voters at the doors who told us they needed the necessary photo IDs. This is a product of the recent court ruling overturning a prior state Supreme Court ruling outlawing the requirement. The state is struggling to equip the county Board of Elections with the supplies needed. We have now held 9 Voter ID days and each time, the BoE was unable to provide IDs for all the voters who showed up. 93% of those voters are African-American.

1,639 North Carolina voters have received their Photo Voters IDs so far (many, if not most, voters who signed up through their church) through our efforts but, clearly, more has to be done. Another big difference between our efforts in North Carolina is that we face organized resistance from unknown white residents who have attempted to disrupt two of those 9 days. In one county, white folks yelled slurs and otherwise harassed the people who were in line for the BoE office. This group was dispersed by local law enforcement (who left someone behind for the rest of the day). At another event, several local voters exercised their right to challenge voters [pdf] as they attempted to obtain their free photo ID. This forced the office to call the state Board and rule that a challenged voter could still get their free photo ID because obtaining a photo ID did not imply they would be on the poll books the next election (iow, these were two different things). Nonetheless, this seemed to be more traumatic than the first disruption. Later on, another (white) disrupter tried to record voter’s names who were requesting their free voter photo ID. At the end of the day, another person tried to steal an organizer’s clipboard. We do not know (yet) who has been organizing this disrupters, allow True the Vote has made several attempts to interfere in our efforts in Georgia.

Fortunately, we are still finding that disrupters like those in these examples do not want to provide their names or even participate in the filling out of an Incident Report. In both (or should i say, all?) cases above, the tone of dissent was different after organizers pulled out Incident Reports and approached disrupters. Asking for their names was something that really changed their tune. “I don’t have to give you my name?” “You can’t do that!” “We are within our Constitutional Rights!” Because, you know, actually recording the protest was somehow wrong if it was staged by white folks seemingly in opposition of African-Americans exercising their Constitutional Rights! White privilege, as it were.

Apparently, harassing voters in an effort to suppress the vote isn’t that effective. We feared people would leave (some may have), but, instead, we got supportive reactions from the voters in line. “This makes it evident they don’t want us to vote.” Maybe even more determined.

Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors in a grassroots-led effort to increase awareness of the fact that Democrats care about our voters and are working to protect their rights. We are thinking about how to mitigate Voter Suppression efforts, get around them and make sure we have "super compliance," both informing and helping our voters meet the requirements and get out and vote. We are taking those efforts to the doors of the communities most effected (the intended targets or victims) of these new voter suppression laws.

Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopevoterprotect

Hope Springs from Field PAC was started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. The approach we adopted was focused on listening, on connecting voters and their story to the candidate and our cause. Repeated face to face interactions are critical. And we are among those who believe that Democrats didn’t do as well in the 2020 Congressional races as expected because we didn’t knock on doors. We are returning to the old school basics: repeated contacts, repeated efforts to remind them of protocols, meeting them were they are. Mentoring those who need it (like first time and newly registered voters). Reminding, reminding, reminding, and then chasing down those voters whose ballots need to be cured.

Last cycle, about a third of the people who have participated in these Voter ID efforts were found at their door. Most were found by the repeated efforts at Black Churches who we have helped (mostly by matching their membership lists with the Voter file so they would know who among them were unregistered). And every county was different; some where primarily organized by Hope Springs from Field volunteers while others were predominantly organized by clergy.

But everywhere we canvassed, we informed voters of the new voter laws and requirements, making sure they were aware of the promise that these photo ID cards would be available at the registrar’s office. We continued to find dozens of voters who admit they didn’t have the needed ID. Members of the Divine Nine sororities in the county are also central to this effort to build up support to help make it easy for those without the required ID to feel comfortable in getting them. “We’re asking for them. They don’t need to ask for themselves. They just need to get in line.”

As our lists grow, we make sure that the local Board of Election’s office are kept abreast of our developments. This is to guarantee that enough card stock was available to make the photo IDs (although North Carolina is different than Georgia in this regard). And they have accepted that our purpose is not to pressure them, but to pressure the Secretary of State’s office and the legislative promise that these free Voter cards would be available, as was promised. None of these counties’ BoE offices have the resources to provide the free photo ID without the help of the state (which had mandated them).

In Georgia, Hope Springs from Field have held 7 Voter ID days (in Georgia) this Summer, helping 327 voters get their free Photo IDs from their county’s Registrar’s Office. We have another 3 Voter ID days lined in the Atlanta metro area and 6 more in southern Georgia. So far, canvassers have found 833 voters who told us they need a photo ID to comply with current law. This does not include any voters from the Black Churches we have partnered with in this regard.

I want to reiterate that this action is a result of the thinking about the consequences of these new elections law by students at Historically Black Colleges and local Divine Nine chapters. And they keep asking, can we do more? What else can we do. It was really interesting, at Netroots this Summer, the hotel where it was held was also hosting a Divine Nine training. And we would talk to people in the elevator, ask them where they were from, and talked a couple of times about how we had partnered with D9 chapters, especially in Georgia. On Saturday, suddenly one of them started yelling, “hey, Hope guy, hey, Hope guy!” She wanted me to know that she had talked to one of our volunteers at their convention, who told her that we had used out-of-state volunteers. “How can I get my chapter engaged in that?” she asked. Hope Springs...

We can all do more. Of course, the easiest thing that any of us can do is to contribute. We realize not everyone can, just as not everyone has the patience, knowledge and skillset to walk people through the process of obtaining a photo id. But if you support our grassroots efforts to protect the vote, especially in minority communities, I hope you will.

If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please donate:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopevoteprotect

If you would prefer to send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address, as well. Thank you for your support! This work depends on you!

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/4/2196482/-Periodic-Report-on-Hope-Springs-FREE-Voter-Photo-ID-Drive-in-Georgia-North-Carolina?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/