What we do in these final days to turn out the vote on November 5 will mean the difference between an Election Night where we learn that we’ve flipped governorships, state legislative chambers, and more … or we fall a couple of seats short.
Today’s challenge: Rides to the polls
Some folks have trouble getting to the polls even in the best of times. Others, are finding that their “local” polling station has moved to a location miles away. But we can help make sure everyone who wants to vote can get to the polls.
We can:
1) Offer rides who need them, and/or
2) Get this information to people who need rides.
A reminder, more than half of the states have elections coming up on November 5. You are pretty likely to live in one of those states!
States with November 2019 elections
How to offer rides to the polls
The best ways to connect with organized efforts to get voters rides to the polls is to go through your local Democratic party or through a candidate’s campaign office. You can connect with your local Democratic party through this link. Call them and let them know that you are available to give rides to the polls on Election Day.
If you’d prefer to go through a candidate’s office, call their headquarters and let them know you’re interested in offering rides. They’ll let you know how you can help.
How to find rides to the polls
✦ Call your local Democratic party headquarters and ask them if they are coordinating and offering rides to the polls. Find your local party’s contact information HERE.
✦ Call the campaign office of a candidate running in your area. Ask them if they’re able to take you to the polls. Ideally, ask them ahead of Election Day to find out if they’ll be offering rides.
✦ Your city may offer some rides to the polls. Google your city and “ride to the polls.” For example in New York, Uber and Lyft are offering a 50 percent discount, up to $5, when early voters take either ride sharing service to their polling place and use the discount code NYCVOTES.
✦ If you’re on Twitter, do a search for “ride to the polls” and your city to see what comes up. I’d ignore the random people who offer rides if you DM them, (thanks but no thanks), but you could turn up solid opportunities from candidates’ campaigns or official organizations.
Again, whether you simply share this information with others, or sign up to give folks rides on Election Day, let’s make sure everyone who wants to vote in 2019 can get to their polling location!
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I live in San Diego and we tried to organize a group of people who would drive people to the polls if needed. I called our County Dem HQ and they said that they didn’t do anything to help people get rides to the polls. Like you, I always thought the party sponsored that, but evidently in San Diego they do not. Sad.
I think local party organizations vary greatly in their ability to help with these kinds of things. I was told by an amazing organizer that often these orgs don’t have the manpower to assign someone to project manage a new volunteer effort, so whenever possible, we should offer to take the lead on organizing the efforts, too.