Canvass voters near you
By Fabrice Florin, Green Change
The most effective way to get out the vote is to canvass door-to-door, connecting with voters in-person, to help them register and cast their votes. It’s even more effective in swing districts, where every vote matters.
In the 2018 midterm elections, I drove a couple hundred miles to California’s Central Valley to canvass for Josh Harder, who was running for U.S. Congress in the competitive 10th District.
For several days up to the election, I walked with other volunteers through Modesto and its suburbs, knocking on hundreds of doors to ask voters if they needed help. It was a fulfilling experience to meet so many voters from different ethnic backgrounds – and many of them thanked us for assisting them.
Together, we helped Josh win the House seat in CA-10, and we broke new records for civic engagement in the Central Valley. This gave us hope for democracy – and we made new friends in the process. Read about our experience in my blog post, Getting out the vote in Modesto.
I invite you to give canvassing a try and to get out the vote in swing districts near you, as we did.
If you live in the Bay Area, many political action groups organize canvassing trips to the Central Valley, such as the Bay Area Coalition, the California Democratic Party, or Swing Left. To find other canvassing events near you, visit the Mobilize site.
To learn more about voter outreach, read Green Change’s Help People Vote guide.
Fabrice is shown here with Representative Josh Harder, for whom he canvassed in the 2018 midterms – helping him win the U.S. House seat in CA-10.
Photo Credit: Fabrice Florin
