Volunteers who remind you to vote repeatedly

[Juche]

I'm not criticizing them, and even though I didn't volunteer in this election I have in past ones.

Anyway, I voted early and I had about 3 separate calls reminding me to go out and vote after I voted early (within the last week). I thanked the callers, but told them I voted early.

I know I'll get reamed for not volunteering myself, but to me that sounds like a waste of volunteer effort. Those 3 calls that went to me (or at the very least, the last 2) could've been sent to people who really were on the fence about voting. Instead they went to me when I fully intended to vote, and most came after I already voted.

I have read for every 100 phone calls to remind people to vote, about 4-5 people who wouldn't vote do. But on top of that another 4-5 people who live in the household of the person who gets the call vote also. So for 100 calls you get about 4 direct and another 4 indirect people to go out and vote.

Is there some central list where volunteers can mark your name off, so they can focus on people who haven't voted or are on the fence instead? It seems wasteful to call me more than once since effort that goes to remind me might mean someone who isn't sure about voting doesn't get reminded. That assumes it is a zero sum situation though. Plus like I said, I live in a pretty non-competitive state and district. I vote, but people who live in districts and states with very competitive races should be the ones getting the volunteer effort devoted to them. People like me who voted early and live in non-competitive areas shouldn't be getting the volunteer effort directed at us.

I guess different organizations don't share info on these things. I don't know the legal technicalities, but they should.

[WolverineDG]

1. if they're smart, they'll use the updated voter rolls

that's what they use locally & why I vote on the 1st day...no more phone calls :evilgrin:

dg

[Earth_First]

2. I wish the Democratic party would stop sending me full color glossy ads...

:shrug:

[enough]

3. Even in a small local area, it's hard to coordinate the real-time lists of who has voted with

the list of voters you are trying to get out to the polls, and get those lists to your phone-callers in an organized way. I have participated in numerous local elections where we always think we have a really good system for this, and by 11am, the system is getting chaotic. By 2PM it has broken down entirely. It's clear what is needed is a good simple online system that everyone is hooked into.

In my area, even the famous Obama election day organization was completely broken down on about the same time time schedule as every other election I've seen. But of course that day ended in jubilation, so it's easy to forget how chaotic it was.

[stray cat]

4. I will never criticize those who care enough to volunteer doing something rather unpleasant

[Scuba]

6. +1

[Juche]

7. Wonderful

But my point was the effort should go to people who are undecided about voting in competitive districts. I voted early, told them I voted early, and live in a state where 538 showed the GOP with about a 98% chance of victory in the senate, and the house race goes GOP with 30% margins each 2 years.

[Emit]

5. This is GOTV stage - Get Out the Vote. Convincing undecided voters is already in the past

For months leading to the election, volunteers ID supporters and non-supporters and those leaning toward their candidate. Then there's a persuasion ground game, where callers and knockers try to persuade voters who are on the fence. Now though, in the weeks of early voting on on election day, all time it spent to get your supporters to the polls. The paperwork gets messy. If volunteers are not getting good updated info from their registrar's office as to who has voted, or if volunteers are not keeping good notes as to who has voted and handing that off to the next round of callers or walkers, then folks like you (and me) get polled unnecessarily. I always cut them a break - most are sent out by some supervisor who couldn't keep it all straight or who has decided to bombard neighborhoods rather than rely on good organizational skills - it will all end tomorrow. :hi:

[Juche]

8. I'm not trying to be rude to them

I thanked them for calling. But I support democrats and progressives and want them to win. And I feel like the volunteer effort should go to people who haven't voted yet who live in competitive districts. I feel I should have been a lower priority and once they knew I voted early, there should be a way for them to cross my name out so they can focus on people who haven't voted yet instead. The process struck me as inefficient.