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Doing the Grunt Work -- Chasing Ballots (with incomplete or missing data) continues [1]

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Date: 2024-11-02  

This is incredibly time intensive work, work that really can’t be done remotely (although remote contact is part of the strategy) because nothing beats knocking on a door, explaining the problem to the voter (which often includes looking for the official notification that their ballot must be cured) and even taking them to the Elections Administrator or setting a schedule for meeting them there.

But, through VAN (the Democratic shared voter file) and contacts within Elections Offices, we do have numbers for how many ballots need to be cured in the areas we canvassed this year. So Hope Springs volunteers have taken responsibility for making multiple voter contacts to cure ballots for 730 voters (so far). Meanwhile, we have successfully cured ballots for 138 voters. We expect more to come and this is something we will continue with until the state is called or the deadline for curing ballots passes.

I noted that in my last post on the subject that, in 2020, more than 560,000 ballots were rejected mostly because of apparent voter signature mismatches (as perceived by their elections office) or failure to complete some minor detail unrelated to voting. But that number, which can be recorded, does not tell us how many ballots get cured before their state’s deadline.

I want to focus on Hope Springs from Field PAC ’s [ website ] GOTV plan and especially making every effort to ensure that the votes our voter’s cast are counted . Curing Ballots is the final phase of our GOTV plan and Hope Springs volunteers will work through the last and final moment their state’s allow to help voters in Electoral College and Senate Swing States make sure their vote counts.

Oh, that. “The data is the data,” i said. “We still have to sprint through the tape.” Late stages of campaigns make us prone to hyperbole.

Here’s the thing. Elections Administrators notify and wait for voters to follow through. Campaigns engage is something more akin to nagging. Elections Administrators may notify through one-off phones calls or a single letter. But we will use every tactic, including advance notification, to make sure that voters are aware that their signatures need to be “cured:” live calls, emails, texts, robocalls, and knocking on doors. Repeated efforts to connect, notify and resolve.

While we are focused on Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania, there are additional states that have provisions for ballot curing. Every state is different, of course, as you can see from the spreadsheet image above.

Many states allow you to track your ballot with an online portal that shows you when your ballot is received and then processed. Some of them even let you know if your ballot is rejected. They may even give a reason why.

This information is also available on VAN. And VAN allows us to not only track those voters who need to have their ballots cured, but also to track how many times we have reached out to those who need to have their ballots cured.

While most of our spring and summer volunteers have moved on to the candidate’s campaigns or the coordinated campaigns, we did have volunteers who were really devoted to ensuring that every voter’s ballot got counted. 61 volunteers made it clear early on they were interested in this specific phase of our GOTV plan. They are now being mobilized.

Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd to set up a favorable “battle space” or foundation for Democrats in 2024. We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. The voters we talk to continue to tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.

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

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2024electionprotection 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. We don’t have a uniform procedure for this, especially since approaches can (have to) be different even at the county level. In Pennsylvania, 36 counties allow voters to fix errors with their mail ballots in some fashion. (28 counties do not.) Counties like Allegheny send the defective ballot back to the voter with instructions on how to fix the error, as well as a new return envelope. Our job, in this county, is to contact the affected voter ASAP, hopefully before official notification arrives, and offer help to correct the issue (which is immensely appreciated). Jean, a Hope Springs volunteer in Georgia, has this procedure for curing ballots. She talks to the 3 Registrar’s office at 4 pm every day to see if there are any ballots of concern. This means, in general, Jean will find out before any notification has been made. Jean leads 5 phone trees, each based upon an Elections Committee in one of our partnered Black Churches, which will attempt a phone conversation with the voter in the next 24 hours, she tells me. If we know an email address for a voter that needs to cure their ballot, an email will be sent out the next day. “There are not many valid email addresses for my voters,” she says. 3 days out, she begins in-person voter contact with the effected voters. “I’ve driven up to 70 miles to a voter’s home,” Jean brags. Seriously, Jean finds this work “life altering.” If the voter is not there, she leaves a note (mostly pre-printed). But she tries to talk to someone in that case. Jean carefully tracks each visit. The assumption is, if the voter is not there at the time she visits, they won’t be there the next time. We take a “we know it’s confusing” approach to ballot curing. It’s not the voter’s fault, it’s the system’s. By the second visit, the voter is likely on the nationwide Ballot Cure list, which means they could be contacted by anyone anywhere. But we still persist. Jean has made up to four visits to voters closer to where she lives. Her norm is 3, or until she talks to them. Even then, we follow to see that voters successfully cure their ballots. It’s not unusual for a volunteer to take a voter to the Registrar’s office, even if it is in the middle of a workday. I know that in North Carolina, one of our Hope Springs’ volunteers picked up the voter at work, and took him to the Elections office during his lunch hour. For those volunteers who do this kind of duty, it is a labor of love. So far, Hope Springs volunteers have helped “cure” 138 ballots in several states. There are more to come, as this work takes some time to produce results. In 2021, Hope Springs volunteers cured over 200 ballots before the deadline. In 2022, the number rose to 2,725 cured ballots. In 2023, it was a mere 18 — but, still worth the effort. It was in our early efforts of helping (mostly minority) Georgians get free photo Voter IDs that we realized that there were conservative orgs and Republican volunteers determined to challenge as many voters as possible on the most picayune issues, seeking to force voters to document those issues before their votes could be accepted and counted.

The Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights thinks this disproportionately effects People of Color. I would argue that this is so because Republican and conservative groups are challenging voters in predominately Democratic areas, whereas Democrats don’t do the same. We believe U.S. citizens who are registered should have a right to vote.

But, as a result, Democratic campaigns can no longer functionally end on election day, but must anticipate continuation at least until the period for ballot curing is over. Activists must start to take that into account, as well. The election won’t be over until (Democratic) ballots are cured!

If you are able to support our efforts to mobilize these difficult, brand new voters to cast their ballots in November, especially in minority communities, expanding the electorate, or just believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please donate:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2024electionprotection

You can follow that link for our mailing address, as well (for those who would rather contribute by check). Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!

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