Yes, Virginia, your Vote DOES Count!

It's Election night. I'm signing people in at our County Dem headquarters, where people have gathered to watch election results and share wine and snacks. A woman who has been volunteering to make out of district calls to help Democrats in red districts comes over to chat. "I live in [large town in our County]," she says, a town which has had a very contentious race between a long time County Supervisor and someone trying to unseat her. "But I didn't vote," she goes on. "I voted in all the other races, but I could not decide who to believe when it came to the Supervisor race."

This race has been in the paper for weeks, months. The candidates have been walking precincts, sending brochures, attending debates and forums all winter and spring. The Democrats endorsed the incumbent. How could she not know who she wanted to vote for?

It turns out she was what's known as a "confidential voter," who doesn't show up on the voter roles because of some issue of safety, say a stalker, or a bad domestic violence situation you are escaping from. So she received none of the usual materials from candidates.

However, she is on our Democratic email list. She can read the local press. She can attend candidate events, and she could have asked friends, neighbors, or others she trusted. Instead she saw only TV ads, and decided she trusted neither candidate. My mind was exploding. This promises to be a close race. How could an otherwise educated, seemingly informed and involved person, be so unconcerned about the one race that will actually affect her life?

Votes are still being counted all over California which allows vote by mail ballots to be postmarked on Election Day so long as they arrive within three days. But it looks to be a low turn-out election, even with all the hype about the possibility of "a big blue wave." We are heartened that in some red districts, Democrats are in second place in some contests for Congress, but that will mean we have to get out our voters in November in big numbers to have a chance.

This woman will help out with that effort. She is very concerned that we take back the house. Why oh why then, I  think, does she not even bother to learn about what's happening in her own back yard? elections have been won and lost by a single vote. Your vote does count. When will people get it?

Your last few days

Sounds ominous, doesn't? Your last few days. Not on this earth, but on the campaign trail. The election is in one week. You know a lot, maybe most, of the electorate has voted. At least those of them that  will vote that is. Turn out is presumed to be low in these off-year, down ballot primary elections. But if the race is hotly contested, if there are many candidates, and if you are not leading in the polls by double digits (and frankly, even if you are -  anything can happen now!), this is no time to slack off.

Keep phone banking and walking those last precincts, or return to the ones you might have missed, or where no one was home. Plan your GOTV activities carefully. Know where all the polling places are located, and which precincts vote where. Make sure you get the list of consolidated precincts from your County Registrar of Voters, or City Clerk. Numbers do change, many precincts vote in the same location, and you want to be in the right place at the right time on election Day.

Line up your "yes" voters for last weekend calls, and to check the polling place on election Day. If they haven't voted, you'll need to call and remind them, gently, to cote. Even if they are absentee voters, they can walk their ballot in to any polling place (at least in California, if you are in another state,check your jurisdiction's rules), and they can mail their ballot right up to election day so long as they arrive in three days. Best to get those ballots in early, just in case.

Watch what the competition is doing. Any last minute attack ads that need to be addressed? Be prepared. If you have a few signs left over, plan to have some eager volunteers to "honk and wave" on election morning and commute time, to remind people "oh yeah, today's the day."

Plan a modest party on Election Night to watch the returns come in (most will be posted on line as they are counted) and thank your volunteers. If you make into the General election in the fall, you want these volunteers to be with you all the way. Make them feel special and appreciated.

Election Night Cookies - Yum!

Win or lose, if you've given it your all, you will feel rewarded for a job well done, new friends made, and groundwork laid for whatever you choose to do next.