The Greater Houston Area chapter of PWN-USA Texas and Vote Positive USA H-Town Power moved to digital organizing to reach their communities and make sure voters knew there was a run-off election happening and what was on the ballot. It was hard work, but they made a big impact! We caught up with their leaders and talked about what they did and how it went.
Q. Because of COVID-19, you had to switch your organizing strategy to digital. What did that entail in preparing for the runoff elections? How did you stay engaged with your voter lists?
A. We knew that our previous plans for voter registration tables, in-person educational events, as well as any door-to-door canvassing, were halted due to COVID. We still wanted to encourage people to get out to vote but stay safe while doing so. We felt it best to “regroup” by planning a series of virtual events to educate and inform people of the importance of voting while offering tips on voting in a COVID 19 environment.
We contacted over 10,000 registered voters in 11 zip codes in the Houston area who traditionally did not vote in the primary. We did so in several ways, including social media, peer-to-peer texting, Empower (which is a relational organizing tool that accesses our personal phone contacts), and good old-fashioned phone banking during early voting (June 29-July 10) and on Election Day, July 14. For the first time we could recall in our state, early voting polling places remained open until 10:00 pm on the last day of early voting, allowing voters more time to get to the polls and thereby giving us a few extra hours push encouraging folks to get out and vote safely.
Q. What elections were held in July and why?
A. This was the runoff from the primary elections which were held pre-COVID 19 on March 3rd. On the ballot for that election were candidates for district attorney, the Senate race, judges, sheriff, commissioner court, and the runoff consisted of those candidates who received less than 50% of the vote.
Q. How did people respond to the news of the runoff elections? What resources did you provide to voters? What resources did you provide to voters?
A. Many were unaware that there was even an election or what was on the ballot. Some seemed surprised and thought this was the time to vote for mayor or even president! This informed us of the work to do in getting people educated, not only for the November election, but the importance of voting in all elections. Others were very receptive to our call and still, others had either already voted early or by mail-in ballot.We created a voter guide that contained helpful information about curbside voting, what identification was needed to vote, what to use in lieu of a voter registration card or Texas ID card for those who don’t have them, as well as free or discounted transportation options to polls. We also did several video “shorts” via Facebook on mail-in voting, curbside voting, and COVID-19 voting–what to expect at the polls and safety precautions to take. One of our allies also produced a “Karen and Kevin” guide on who to contact in our government when you have questions or problems. The Karen and Kevin Guide had over 621 views, and our video shorts have had over 700 views and were shared widely over social media platforms.
Q. Tell us a little about the Facebook Lives you organized.
A. In an effort to build our voter universe, we decided to host a virtual cookout in May, where we encouraged people to take a pledge to vote by including the link to the pledge in our registration process. Since we knew many people had family and friends telling them they were not into politics, we wanted to create a space where people could feel comfortable discussing issues that were important to them in this time of physical distancing.
The “Cookout” gave us that platform. We had prizes, played the “Family Feud” game with leading questions about getting millennials engaged in the voting process, being safe at the polls during COVID 19, and preparing people for the upcoming primary election in a laid-back, relaxed environment. The Family Feud game was great fun and our Zoom participants got a kick out of the team’s answers to some of the questions. Coming into early voting, we opted to do 3 or 4 short informative videos on 1) being safe at the polls during a pandemic, 2) requirements for applying for a mail-in ballot, and 3) curbside voting (which most of us had never heard of so we even educated ourselves!)
On election day we did a reminder video telling viewers the hours that polls were open, provided instructions on locating polling places, the fact that in Houston we can go to any polling location to cast our vote as opposed to in the past having to go to your “voter home,” keeping social distancing habits and what people could take with them when going to vote (i.e. water, snacks in case of lines, hand sanitizer, etc).
You can follow their voter engagement efforts on their Facebook page here!
