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GOTV in Ohio: Mobilizing Opponents to Issue 1 to Stop Republicans from Changing the Rules (again) [1]

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Date: 2023-07-24

By allying with other groups, we were able to leave their literature on the doors. Having enough money to buy lit has been one of our issues (Hope Springs is a grassroots organization with grassroots funding, with literature and access to the voter file (VAN) usually being our only expense), so that was definitely a lifesaver when all those volunteers showed up! And several of our groups passed more than one groups lit, which was very cool!

Hope Springs volunteers canvassed from 16 different locations this last weekend, in what is likely to have been our largest canvass so far! Even though we have grafted GOTV techniques into canvassing this next few weeks (until August 5th), we are still using the Issues Survey as a base. We did get some pushback on this (“Won’t this lower the number of doors I can hit?” asked one volunteer), but after the canvass was over, we got lots of positive feedback on that decision. “More opportunities for voters to betray their thinking,” one new volunteer told us.

More than 800 volunteers (i believe the number was actually more than 850) went out to knock this Saturday. They were heartened by the extra effort made during the week — as well as the news that we would get reinforcements from Obama alums and volunteers from surrounding states (even Michigan!) for the next two weekends. Momentum is building, and the realization that people outside the state understand the importance of what we are doing on the ground is “a bit of a relief,” as one volunteer sound aloud. More than 30 percent of our volunteers are male and almost a quarter of them are POC. It’s a good mix, and several of our canvassing groups walked with Sherrod Brown staffers and campaign people.

Hope Springs from Field PAC volunteers have been knocking on doors in 3 Congressional Districts (OH-01 represented by Democrat Greg Landsman (the grey CD on the lower left), OH-09, Marcy Kaptur (the peach CD on the top left) and OH-13, Emilia Sykes (the grey CD on the top right)) as well as the Columbus and Dayton areas. But the presence of Issue 1 has dramatically increased our efforts as we have added a GOTV component as well as a supplemental question to our Issues Survey.

We exclude those voters who told us (and we verified) that they had already voted in the special election. The (as of last Friday) 4,225 voter universe was reduced by 375 voters after they had voted last week.

But the thing that seemed to impress our “outside” volunteers the most is that we were collecting data on whether voters ‘had a plan to vote,’ because that meant voters were telling us they had already voted! “What do we do if someone says they are supporting Issue 1?”

“Did you find anyone who said they supported Issue 1?”

“No, but I didn’t know what to do if I did.” (Circle ‘Y.’ Finding Supporters of Issue 1 is just as valuable as finding opponents, because it allows us to cross them off our GOTV list). I don’t know why this isn’t more apparent to some volunteers. Why waste time, money and other resources on people who are going to vote against our cause?

Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors in Ohio since May 6th in a grassroots effort to prepare the 2024 Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are canvassing Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only do Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans.

Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up), GOTV and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hope4ohio

Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.

Signs of the times, and they are everywhere!

So far, Hope Springs from Field volunteers have talked to 6,639 voters who plan to vote against Issue 1. This does not include people who have already voted, nor does it include people who we have been told plan to do so. This also caused a little bit of a ruffle among our volunteers. We record those names down on our Observation Forms, for follow-up. The main reason why we want to follow up with them is that we want to ask them if they have decided on their vote plan, when and how they will cast their ballot. It seems simple, but it allows the voter to speak for themselves. We don’t really want to rely on second-hand information, even though it is often spot on.

One thing that we have found is that it is easiest to knock on doors when there are other signs that our causes are getting hyped. Signs, radio and television commercials, earned media, newspaper articles, digital impressions — they all help our volunteers to evoke answers to the questions we ask on the Issues Survey. In Ohio right now, it is hard to miss the hub-bub about Issue 1. One voter told us (and, because she must have talked to one of our regular volunteers, it was written down): “Yeah, we heard about this last week at church, but I’m voting against it.” All the attention around Issue 1 means that people are thinking about it, which means they have already decided when we knock on their door.

Which is why we are collecting so many voter statements about their opposition to Issue 1!

Part of the reason why Democrats and progressives need to be doing regular voter contact every year (yes, even in off-years) is because we have to be there during the time that people are starting to make up their minds. And every voter makes those decisions at different times. I always say that voters make up their minds the same way people buy Christmas presents. Some people buy all their Christmas presents before Labor Day and some people buy them just before Christmas. Voters do the same thing. This is why GOTV is something we have to plan for before the last two months before Election Day. And Early Voting has made this even more imperative.

People ask me about my impressions about how things are going all the time, and i have been neglectful about that. So here’s my take, after 3 weeks of hybrid GOTV/2024 canvassing in Ohio: most of the voters we have talked to know about this upcoming special election and are extremely engaged. We had more than 850 volunteers canvassing with us this weekend, and we have found another 2,414 voters who will go into our GOTV universe. We expect that number to increase after our “super volunteers” have made phone calls to the homes they knocked (but did not respond on Saturday). We expect to have a 10,000 voter GOTV universe by this Friday, which will exclude those who have already voted.

This will lead to a really aggressive GOTV effort over the last weekend (August 4-7), with volunteers taking voters they find to the polls on Saturday, August 5 (the sole Saturday early voting date on the Ohio calendar).

We had quite a few elected officials and probable candidates knocking on doors with us on Saturday. More than we expected. We make special accommodations for elected officials who tell us they are going to walk with us. If they want, we will cut special pieces of turf for them, and then make a robocall into those households to let voters know that the specific elected official will knock on their door on Saturday between 10 and 1. Not only does this let voters know they will have that person knocking, but it increases response rates. Significantly. Whereas an average open rate for a normal piece of turf is about 8 doors for ~70 doors, we’ve seen candidates or elected officials get 10 doors opened for just 40 doors. It’s a tactic that impresses everyone, because voters want to talk to their candidates and elected officials. And giving them a heads up a day or two in advance means it gets on the voter’s schedule.

Finally, everywhere, a surprisingly large number of people have been casting early in-person ballots, in quantities more reminiscent of an off-year general election rather than a special election. There is just a lot of interest in Issue 1 and the August election. By directing these GOTV efforts, Hope Springs from Field should facilitate greater turnout on the Vote No side.

One of the things that we had to work out, when we found that other groups would be joining us was the verbage when a voter asked a volunteer about Issue 1. And everyone agreed that it was sufficient to say, “This is about Freedom, about whether Ohio will continue to be ruled by One Person, One Vote.” We had volunteers who want to add that a Trump megadonor is basically funding the other side, and other things (and we can’t really stop them from doing so) but that’s the instruction we include in our training before each canvass. And we continue our special outreach to New Voters (and not just new voters Hope Springs volunteers registered). We are reminding those who recently registered using a paper form or updated their registration must provide additional identification for the first time this year: either an Ohio driver’s license, ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

We are asking for help here. Our primary expenses for this grassroots-driving effort is VAN (the voter file Democrats use) and literature. Expanding our efforts — hitting more doors — means we have to pay more for VAN. We also need to provide clipboards for our volunteers, since we use the Issues Survey as a guide and we like volunteers to show voters the survey, as well as have something for voters to support Constituent Service Request forms when they fill out one.

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

Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/24/2183033/-GOTV-in-Ohio-Mobilizing-Opponents-to-Issue-1-to-Stop-Republicans-from-Changing-the-Rules-again

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