Where Elections Are Won And Lost: Dispatches From The Front Line Of Early Voting In Ohio
Here's a story that should haunt Democrats: several friends of mine were working for the Kerry Campaign in 2004, and in the days and weeks leading up to the election, everything they witnessed on the ground pointed to a Democratic victory. States like Ohio and New Mexico were littered with Kerry yard signs, there were throngs of Kerry supporters waving from roadsides, and conversations in diners from Dayton to Albuquerque echoed the chorus of how much the country needed change.
Then came Election Day. A silent Republican majority - stealthily mobilized in church meetings and in neighbor-to-neighbor exchanges - turned out at the polls to deliver Bush narrow victories in battleground states and a second term in the White House. My friends, like so many other hopeful Democrats in states across the country, were stunned. The Democrats had generated so much more noise and visibility than the Republicans. So how and why had that failed to translate into more votes?
This gulf between apparent enthusiasm and actual turn-out is what motivated the creation of Vote From Home - a grassroots voter outreach organization founded by a current group of Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman Scholars. As the Obama Campaign and the Democratic Party have largely focused their efforts on persuasion, Vote From Home has made its singular goal to help would-be progressive voters who face logistical barriers to casting a ballot, or who simply haven't voted before and are daunted by the political process.
Most of us who are part of the Vote From Home team spent the past school year as graduate students in England, which, while a charming experience, also allowed us to realize that we were better wired for the bustle of campaign life than for the self-conscious intellectualism of Oxford. At the beginning of August, after months of honing a strategy, about fifteen of us (as well as a constant influx of other volunteers) moved into a cozy house in Columbus, Ohio.
We decided to operate out of Ohio when we discovered that in 2006 the state introduced its "no-excuse" law, allowing anyone to vote by absentee ballot, without needing an official reason for doing so. In addition to registering new voters, our organization focuses on getting absentee ballots to people unable to wait in several-hour long lines on Election Day that have disenfranchised some voters in the past: young single parents with small children and college students who are also working full-time. Just how unequal have the lines been in previous elections? In Ohio in 2004, according to the Columbus Free Press, white Republicans living in the suburbs waited in line an average of twenty-two minutes; black urban Democrats waited an average of three hours and fifteen minutes.
For the past two months, we've spent our days at places like community health clinics, church gatherings, bus stops, and community colleges trying to help make the political process as fair and inclusive as possible. We also follow up with voters whom we've previously assisted, delivering forms to them when they need to update their voter registration - a problem afflicting many people who no longer have a permanent address following the foreclosure of their home. We determined early on to measure our success by just one metric: ballots cast - particularly from people whom pollsters like to refer to as "unlikely voters." Despite being a relatively small group of nerdy grad students, we have now assisted nearly 10,000 voters.
We've found many of those 10,000 people in places that the campaigns pass over. At the start of every day, one member of our team goes to the Franklin County Parole Board to let felons know, often to their surprise, that they have the right to vote under Ohio's amended election laws.
Recently, a man who had just gotten out of jail after serving a nine year sentence stood up in the parole office and implored others who had been previously incarcerated to take the opportunity to vote. "Nine years ago, things were pretty awful for me, but it still felt like the country was on the right track," he said. "I got out in July, and we're at war and the economy's gone to hell. Now the country's in a worse place than I am."
While most of the country will decide on November 4th who it wants to be the next president, starting at the beginning of this week, the polls opened in Ohio for early voting. A group of Ohio State students supporting Obama spent the night outside the early voting site so that they could be the first to cast their ballots. The next influx of voters later in the morning was every bit as excited, and had logged plenty of their own nights outside: they were the men and women who are part of Columbus' homeless population.
The Vote From Home team spent the day shuttling over 100 people to the polls, many of them without IDs or permanent addresses, who are thus only able to vote early under Ohio law.
One of the people we helped transport on Day 1 of early voting was a homeless man in his 50s who was voting for the first time. He was wearing a Yankees hat and hadn't shaved in several days. On the ride over, he mostly kept to himself. But when he came out of the polling site, he was beaming.
"How'd it feel?" I asked?
"I just helped make history," he said, a note of awe in his voice and a fresh "I voted today!" sticker on his shirt.
He asked for a ride to the public library, and we soon went back to being quiet. But I could tell that his mind was still on fire. A few minutes later he got out of the car, and paused before shutting the door.
"Hey," he said, "I appreciate the ride."
Please join our effort and support our cause: www.votefromhome08.com
Assisting voters in the field at Columbus State Community College
The Vote From Home team at headquarters
Hosting a community barbecue and registering voters following city-wide power outages
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The Obama campaign is currently engaged in an effort to both register voters in Ohio (the deadline is October 6th) & get them to take advantage of early voting. Go to the campaign website, volunteer, click "Neighbor to Neighbor," & get some phone numbers to call in Ohio (script of general talking points & needed info provided).
By the way, the worst job I ever had was as a phone solicitor (it was a long time ago & I was desperate for a paycheck, but I still only lasted one day). As traumatic as that experience was, I've still found it pretty easy to make these kinds of calls (after the first few). Since you're not asking for people's money, most of them will be about as polite as you are. As for the few who aren't, just end the call & don't take it personally.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your efforts. This is brilliant. Your analysis of previous election events, your awareness and your actions may save the day for AMERICA.
Obama's edge in Ohio? "Vote from Home!" THANK YOU.
I think the Ohio plan is great and i love what i see developing. But make no mistake, VOTER FRAUD was the ONLY reason Sen Kerry lost Ohio. We knew it as it unfolded, but evidence since the election has proven the fraud.
So, while we are excited about huge turnouts, someone needs to figure out how to make sure that the actual votes are counted. A huge task.
Yeah right Rethug
I comend all you younger people. This is what it's going to take to turn this thing around and finally have the country which we all used to be so proud of before the Bush regime took control. I'm a 54 yr old grandma. I want a better future for my kids and grandchildren. I may be older but I love John Mayer's... waiting for the world to change. That says it all.
Diebold STOLE the election in Ohio in 2004! And now Obama is a sellout in this bailout. As an registered Independent I voting for Ron Paul.
Senator Obama had the welfare of the country in mind when he supported the bailout. He has promised to review the bailout plan if he is elected. He is sincere and is committed to the people. We are blessed to have a man of such strong character running for President. An Obama/Biden ticket spells change for America!
Everyone vote early or absentee if you can. It reduces the effect of polling day shenanigans and it makes the lines shorter for everyone else on election day. It also frees us up to help people get to the polls on election day and ensures if a personal emergency has happened that we've already voted.
Ugh...I was one of those that thought Kerry had Ohio in the bag (I was there). I'm still one of those that thinks that had the "Gay Marriage" issue not been placed on that ballot, it would've been another story. Ken Blackwell.
He did!!!! The election was stolen from Kerry.....
HuffPost's Pick
Maybe it is because this is such a historical and challenging time for our Nation.
Maybe it is because this is such a historical Presidential election.
But it seems that amidst all the rumors and "gotchas" and polls, and bailouts.
Amidst all the turmoil on Wall Street and the hurricanes and foreclosures.
There is this quiet, yet POWERFUL display of that amazing GRACE that binds us together as human beings.
The bickering and sniping don't bother me that much. Siblings do it, multiple pets in the same household do it. That's just Life.
But to read articles like the one above makes my heart seem to swell in my chest.
There ARE good people out there, who want to DO something to help make this a better world for all of us. They don't have to be politicians. They don't even have to be rich.
From hardworking men and women who go into the ground to literally dig out a living, to people like those of "Vote From Team" and other organizations, these people are making a difference. Not with grandstanding or flowery speeches, but just by being good people.
Bless ALL of you!
What an awesome effort on your part. I'm always happy to read an article of this kind which is non partisan. I love your effort to help everyone enjoy his/her democratic right to vote. You can rest assurd this year things will be a little different in Ohio. The absence of Kenny Blackwell is a plus. Our new governor will also be a plus. Thanks again for your article, it was uplifting.
There are three factors influencing the accuracy of poll numebrs (which today show Obama winning, but last week it could easily have been McCain).
1) Whites lying to polsters. We saw this in both NYC and LA when black candidates were running and whites beat them, despite the polls immediately before the election showing blacks leading. This can be a handful of percent.
2) Surveys over landlines. Basically all the polling surveys are done over land lines. Cell phones are on do not call lists and cell phone area codes do not reflect geography well (which is critical for these polls). I have a friend who works for a telephone polling place. Cell phone users are disproportionately poor, minority and/or young. This group is heavily tilted towards Obama.
3) Dirty tricks. I worked Ohio in 2004 and we saw it all. Insufficient voting boths in democratic places, voters challenged, unnecessary redistricting, letters saying Democrats should vot eon wednesday and more. And in Ohio at least there has beenboth election reforma nd the Repblicans no longer control the election process. Ohio is important - Florida iskey - McCain simply can't winwithout Florida, which is currently tilting heavily to Obama.
And if 95% of the exit polls which dont match the actual vote tallys are all going to McCain (as theydid to BUsh in 2000) are we just going to say - oh what a bad day for democracy.
So, are you saying that the polls are meaningless??? Certainly we have a VERY TOUGH race ahead us. But, I personally think we've got a shot at it if we ALL get involved and help out. I'm signed up to be a clerk at a voting bureau and have been phoning people and prodding them to get out a vote. As a great man, and future president says, Yes, WE Can. And, as I have started to add, Yes, We MUST!
Big Ups Vote From Home!,,,,,,the world owes you a debt of gratitude.
A few minutes ago, I read, with tears in my eyes, about the miners in West Virginia who had the courage and conviction to stage a walkout after Consol Mine Owners allowed NRA staff onto the property in the hopes of getting negative footage about Barack Obama.
http://www
I had a flash of idealistic, down-to-my-toes pride about this country and the amazing people who live here.
Just now, reading about P.G.s efforts in Ohio, I got similar tears and a similar flash of pride and awe.
Bravo. And thank you.
My god, I might have hope here after all!
This is great...a sample of democracy in action...w
Fantastic!!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you All for your hard work!
Thank you from the totally irrelevant, non-battleground, deep thinker state of Texas.
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