Last chance to get people to register as Democrats or to register as a Democrat if people want to have a voice in the Convention. Only people who are registered Democrats as of January 31 can vote at a caucus, run for delegate at a caucus or apply to be add-on delegates.
With, by my count sixteen people actively campaigning in contested races, there is a great opportunity to make a difference for the candidates who you support. For a candidate to appear on the ballot in the Democratic Primary he or she needs 15% on the first ballot at the Democratic State Convention in June in Worcester.
Recruit others to become registered Democrats as of January 31. Are you planning on running for delegate? Do you have people who you have asked to caucus for you in support of your candidacy? Check with them and make sure that they are registered Democrats.
Do you have a list of people you volunteered with during the 2012 or 2013 campaign? Invite them to register as Democrats NOW. Not sure if someone is a registered Democrat? Not a problem; call people anyway. Ask them. Invite them to get involved with local Democratic activities. If you need to check on someone’s party’s status it is public record information. The Massachusetts Democratic Party has made VoteBuilder available to town and ward committees and Democratic State Committee members.
This weekend I did a presentation to a group of Democratic Town Committees who want to reach out to unenrolled voters. Through Votebuilder I generated lists of people who are unenrolled but consistently vote in Democratic primaries. As the participants looked through the lists I frequently heard expressions of surprise at the names of volunteers who were not Democrats.
I was chatting with the co-editor of the Democratic Dispatch recently. He mentioned that he hadn’t even been a Democrat when he started getting involved with the activities of his local Democratic Committee. He said that it quickly became clear that if one was not a registered Democrat that one would be left behind. There are activities that are restricted to registered Democrats that play a role in the direction of the Party and the nomination of Democratic candidates.
I can speak from experience as to how effective this is. Register young people NOW to become registered Democrats. Anyone who is going to be 18 on or before the next election can register to vote NOW, before the January 31 deadline. This allows many young people who are 17 to be eligible to fully take part in a caucus and the state convention. Many young people took part in the most recent elections and are excited to become involved.
Here’s the PDF Voter Registration Form.
Do something. NOW! займ без паспорта безработным
…check the state party website.
I have definitely found active volunteers who turned out to be unenrolled.
One small thing: At the end, in the last bold sentence, you’ve still got the old date of Dec. 31 though the Jan. 31 date appears at the top of the post.
Some of you might notice some similarity to last year’s post. I try to post about this every year. Kate