Democrat voter registration is suffering disproportionately from the slowdown.

[Demovictory9]

Late last month, the Democratic data firm TargetSmart found that while new voter registrations had plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic, those who were registering in competitive states tended to be whiter, older and less Democratic than before.

When he saw the numbers, Ben Wessel, executive director of NextGen America, said he "got nervous," and other Democratic-leaning groups felt the same.

----------------------


But the effect of the pandemic on voter registrations was severe. Department of moter vehicles closures, stay-at-home orders and restrictions on large gatherings limited opportunities for new registrations. In a report on the decline last month, the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research concluded that “the steep decline in new registrations may prove to be a sizable obstacle to what was set, pre-pandemic, to be a record election for turnout.”


In-person registrations ground nearly to a halt as people stopped congregating and college campuses closed. For people of color and other marginalized communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic, Gardner said, it was a “perfect, horrible storm in terms of undercutting registration efforts, and undercutting people’s ability to get registered.”

The study from TargetSmart was especially alarming for Democrats because it spotlighted not only falling registrations, but which party was damaged most in battleground states. In a majority of 10 states TargetSmart studied, registrations skewed older and whiter than before the pandemic. And in the states included in the study that register by party — Florida, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — Democrats made up a smaller share of new registrants than before.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/11/trump-voter-registration-355152

[RandySF]

1. We can't ignore this.

[Demovictory9]

2. no indeed. this story scared me

[soothsayer]

4. Very scary

[Awsi Dooger]

3. That's why I argued voter registration should have been priority one

Since Trump won. We always do things at the last minute.

The other side never took a day off from suppressing.

[OrlandoDem2]

5. Not good. Fix this now!!

[FBaggins]

6. How?

Force open DMVs that have been limited by the virus? Go with Trump’s desire to reopen college campuses so that voter drivers can occur? Schedule some “rock the vote” converts and tell people that this kind of mass gathering is safe?

[murielm99]

8. DMVs are open in many states,

but they are providing limited services. They could provide voter information for people. They could tell people how to vote online. They could give them other information, such as how to get in touch with the election authority in their county, so that they can get registered.

Since we are limited in how we can contact people, we can put out information on social media and in LTTEs.

There are many ways to do this.

I am not sure I buy the pessimism of this article. I am not seeing this IRL. In fact, I am seeing the opposite, and hearing it from my fellow activists. How about the rest of you?

[we can do it]

7. Here are the states with online registration, and other links.

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2020, 07:14 AM - Edit history (2)

Fixed I think.

https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/promoting-access-ballot/states-online-voter-registration

https://www.eac.gov/voters/register-and-vote-in-your-state


https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx

[murielm99]

9. That link does not work for me.

[Deuce]

10. Try this one...

https://www.rockthevote.org/online/

[smirkymonkey]

16. Thank YOU!

You do not need to show up in person to register to vote. Post this link on all your social media.

[we can do it]

15. Fixed and added more links😊

[frazzled]

26. Right, but not a panacea

1. Potential registrants may not have access to the technology to get online forms, or the relevant skills to navigate them
2. Potential registrants need to be made aware of how to register online. This is difficult, especially in a pandemic. Phone banking is outmoded and inefficient: nobody answers their phone to unknown numbers these days, and phone bankers are told not to leave messages (a big mistake, IMO). Mass mailings might work, but are inefficient for targeting, and expensive.

I think this has to be a nationwide local initiative. Maybe postcard or flier drops at neighborhood doorsteps. TV and radio ads, but these are expensive. Person to person encounters. It’s a conundrum in the era of Covid.

[murielm99]

30. I belong to two groups who still phone bank.

It can work. I get many people to answer the phone.

We drop fliers in our precincts. We also do a lot of postcards. They have to be hand-written, with a message that is agreed upon ahead of time. Postcards are expensive. They do support the post office, but they have to be paid for by someone. An Indivisible group, a Democratic central committee or someone has to agree to help with the costs.

I have fifty postcards right now to send to voters in Wisconsin.

[frazzled]

32. Last time we did it

Was in 2012, for Obama, from the main campaign office, the weekend before Election Day. Calls to Milwaukee area, from Chicago. Spouse and I each had around 120 names. Each of us got no more than 2 pickups. At that point, we said, the heck with it, and on our next lists, we started leaving messages, despite being told not to.

We did have one verifiable success. The Tuesday morning of Election Day, my husband’s phone rang around 6:30 am. It was a guy who asked if he was the one who had left a message about voting. When groggily assured that yes, he had, the caller said that in fact he did not know where his polling place was and did want to vote. So hubby got up and ran down to his computer and was able to tell the guy where to go. It was easily available online, but this person was either unaware of that or didn’t know how to access the information. This is an example of the issue for both registration and mail-in-ballot requests. And course, each state has different regulations and processes.

In general, I think postcards (volunteers can pay postage themselves), mail flyers, etc. are far more effective than calls right now. But whatever method, at this point in the game, getting explicit information out about how to do these things online, and/or giving a contact number if assistance is needed, is essential. Clipboards on the street or in front of stores are going to be risky in this climate.

Let me just end by saying that in our house we do not answer any call that is from a number we do not know. One reason is that we get too many scam calls. I know some of these calls are from campaign volunteers at this time. But I am already a donor to several campaigns and to the DCCC and DSCC. I do not need to be called. Plus we already applied for mail-in ballots. But the main reason is that, like many out there, we have 2 people working from home. We can’t have our work time invaded.

We cannot think that the methods used in previous election efforts will be effective or sufficient in this time of pandemic.

[qwlauren35]

37. There are a lot of people

Who are willing to pay for postcards.

I do when I do postcard campaigning.

I haven't heard from the postcard campaign people in a long time, but I may not be checking my spam.

[murielm99]

41. Check with one of your local

Indivisible groups. A lot of them are doing postcards, since meeting in person is not possible right now.

[murielm99]

31. Of course mass mailings work!

We use VoteBuilder to find Democrats who have voted in our area. And if your activists are any good, they know the Democrats in their communities. They know the people who lean Democratic, don't vote in primaries, or are closet Democrats. They contact new people in the community.

Who is talking about panaceas? We cover all our bases.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Not That More Isn't Better, But...

...I thought dems developed a huge advantage in dem leaning registrations from 2016 through 2018.
Hence the very large turnout for a midterm election in 2018.
Wouldn't registrations fall because the pool of unregistered eligible voters is already smaller?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Yeah, well, many thought Clinton was a shoe-in to win 2016. Don't forget those turning 18, etc. . nt

[ProfessorGAC]

29. I Get You!

But, because of the hugely successful effort 2 years ago, it seems likely that the numbers would be lower this year.
And, there's still over 3 months!

[regnaD kciN]

33. Not necessarily...

There may be more than three months until the election, but lots of states have early cut-off for registrations. Plus, recall that, if the state is doing vote-by-mail, they have to have time to receive the ballot and get them back in by Election Day.

[ProfessorGAC]

35. Not The Case Here

So, I forgot about that.
Illinois has election day registration. No pre-election cut off.
I forgot that there are states that don't allow that.
Still doesn't address the fact that lower registration numbers might be the result of a smaller pool of unregistered potential voters.
Like I said earlier, the efforts in 2018 were extremely successful.

[DSandra]

13. :facepalm: Trump is close to finishing off democracy in America and we don't have our act together?

Not to mention killing off millions and essentially committing genocide especially to blacks and latinos via the virus.

[we can do it]

14. Map of states with and without online registration.

https://ballotpedia.org/Online_voter_registration

[EqualityNow]

18. Texas doesn't have online, but does have online form with mail in option.

Our group in Katy, Texas has been printing out and putting forms on windshields, and instead of engagement canvassing putting Lizzie Fletcher and MJ Hegar campaign pamphlets along with voter registration forms at the minivan canvas locations.

Personally, I've been using the NextDoor neighborhood app to subtly post liberal/progressive topics, and when I see someone respond with a supportive position, I engage them and direct message them with candidate information and voter registration links, and invite them to a neighborhood discord server that I'd created to talk politics and solicit additional support for helping turn Texas blue.

[Hestia]

17. I dunno - Politico is so partisan - the headlines shows that -DEMOCRATIC should be lede

has fingerprints of a Roveian nature

[malaise]

22. And I didn't see your post

[0rganism]

19. i have to wonder how much the census is affected as well

being this is a re-districting year, results of suboptimal turnout are going to stick with us for a decade

[malaise]

20. That would be Democratic n/t

[Silent3]

21. +1 n/t

[phylny]

27. Thank you. Correct again.

[dmr]

23. Democratic, not Democrat

Thank you

[maxrandb]

24. More Politico "Dems in Disarray" bullshit

You can count on at least one of these types of stories from Politico everyday. I think they get them from Brad Parscale and just slap their logo on them.

Bottom line is they do this to try to discourage Democratic voters, or to give them some cover for stealing the election.

We need to fight and work and vote like Biden is behind, but we have to push back on these "Dems in Disarray" bullshit stories for what they are.

Go towards the end of the story and you'll see the actual story doesn't warrant the "Hair on Fire" headline from Politico.



"During that time, Republicans, though still behind, “got a couple of extra steps” closer to Democrats.

“It’s not like they’ve built the lead,” Bonier said. “It’s really something where neither side should be celebrating or panicking about.”

Looking at newer data this week, Bonier found Democrats increased their share of registrations in June over the previous month in several states that have reported registrations for that month"

[Me.]

40. Precisely

Wish I had a $10.f or every time this has been posted on DU. Thank God the LincolnProject doesn't think this will happen and they are helping us as opposed to Politico looking for clicks with scare tactics

[Dirty Socialist]

25. K & R

[Sunsky]

28. I'm going to start ignoring

Any post linked to politico. Their main aim is to cause a Democratic freakout. When I saw the title, I said, bet this is from politico. This may be true but I'd prefer an alternative source.

[onetexan]

34. K&R - i think this is Politico click bait baloney

[qwlauren35]

36. I hope there's a boatload of brainstorming.

Find every high school graduate. Find every college freshman. Find every person who has been knocked off the polls. Find every person who has bought a house. Talk to moving companies about registering customers. Ask Verizon, Xfinity, gas/electric companies for lists of new customers in the last 4 years or those who have moved.

Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm.

[DeminPennswoods]

38. In PA, you can register right on line

It's fast and easy and right up the tech savy generation's alley.

[marlakay]

39. Well I can't picture republicans scrambling

To sign up...

Also a neighbor we haven't talked to more than a few times since we moved here 3 yrs ago admitted he voted for Trump but won't again.

He is independent, Trump might have the republicans but he is losing the middle that goes back and forth.