Should I poll watch or drive people to the polls? (in Raleigh, NC)

[kick-ass-bob]

Which is better?

[trotsky]

1. Call your local party office

and see what they think. They know your area best.

[Maddy McCall]

2. Drive. If people can't get to the polls, what will you watch?

:-)

[Jasper 91]

4. My thoughts exactly .

I love your 'photo .

[KansDem]

8. I'm curious as to how this works...

I've taken tomorrow off and plan to volunteer for the Kerry campaign in Kansas City. So far I've signed up to do canvassing.

I wondered about driving, too, but wondered, does a driver take someone to the polls and then wait for that person to vote so he/she may be driven back home? If so, then do I assume that I could wait for an hour or two till the voter is finished? Or do I pick up and drop off one voter and the polls, go for another and another, and so on, and try to time it so I'd be at the polls when the first voter is finished, to start taking them all back home?

Or do I pick up several at one time?

How many voters could I expect to give rides to during the day?

[Maddy McCall]

14. Thanks! I think it's pretty special...

Adorable little boy. :-)

[AP]

3. Ask if all the priority polls have poll watchers. If they all do, then...

...you're better off driving people to the priority polls.

[stray cat]

5. In Wisconsin they said it was easy to find drivers

and they didn't need very many because of absentee ballot and early voting but poll watchers and canvassers were more difficult to get.

[billyoc]

6. Whatever the local Dem. HQ

says they need more. they're the local experts.

[demnan]

7. Do a little of both and whatever is needed.

[HFishbine]

9. I'd concentrate on GOTV

But check with the party. If they have enough drivers, ask about getting a walking list and knock on the doors of registered dems to get them out to vote.

[crispini]

10. Pollwatch.

If the votes aren't counted properly, the amount of them doesn't matter.

That said, I agree with the above posters... your local party org will know what is most needed.

[phish420]

11. Id say drive in NC - monitor in close/shady states

I would definately say monitor if youre in FL or OH, but NC Id say just get as many Dems to the polls as possible!!

[depakid]

12. Raliegh doesn't have shit for public transpo

DRIVE!

[Bad Thoughts]

13. Do whatever the party needs you to do

They probably have everyone they need to drive, and if they need poll watchers (inside the polling location), you might need certification and training first (I did for NH). The best thing you could do is phone calls--contacting people to see if they have voted and if they need rides. This will go on into the night on the east coast as polls in the west are still open (especially New Mexico).

[kick-ass-bob]

15. the pollwatcher training is tonight.

So I haven't missed that...

:hi:

[Bad Thoughts]

16. Poll Watch

It means identifying those who have voted so that those who have not can be contacted. It is fast and furious work, but you can make the phone bankers and drivers more effective in their work.

[qwlauren35]

17. Here in Greensboro...

We had so many people signing up to drive that they told us to stop asking for volunteers.

I think poll watching is going to be more critical this year because of the lines and the rain. We're going to need to encourage people to stand in line.

[qwlauren35]

18. PLEASE Pollwatch in Raleigh!!

Got this from the local Raleigh folks at www.actforvictory.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Debbie asked me to write this note and provide some numbers showing why it is critical to have 100's of Democratic poll watchers for Election day.

In case you're hedging about watching the polls this election day, not sure if it's worth your time or don't know why it's important, I thought I'd share with you what the Republicans definitely know about the polls and the voters this election cycle.

Here's what the GOP knows:

(1) There are 24 precinct in Wake County that have 1,000+ registered minority voters.

(2) There are 19 precincts that have high Dem/Female/Minority concentrations. These precincts are worth approximately 40,000 votes. These votes will make the difference in determining who the next President of the United States is.

(3) By the Board of Elections' own projections, lines are expected to be three hours long at almost every polling station. That means somewhere between 360K and 400K voters are expected to turn out.

(4) The GOP knows we need to win Wake County by somewhere above +15 percentage points. All they have to do is keep us below +15 and Bush wins Carolina (again).

(5) They know that voter intimidation works (remember Florida?)

(6) They also know what GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio knows:
-----
As Fabrizio blandly puts it, "It is clear that minority turnout is a wildcard in this race and represents a huge upside for Sen. Kerry and a considerable challenge for the President's campaign." More accurately, if Fabrizio is right ­ that Kerry is ahead by 5% overall in the battleground states ­ Kerry is a sure winner on November 2.
------

(7) They know first-time newly registered voters respond 58% (NO) to 37% (YES) to the question: "Does the President deserve to be re-elected?"

(8) They know that among the 22 million registered single women, Kerry wins by a +24% margin.

(9) They know that among draft-age voters (18-25), Kerry wins 60%-36%.

(10) They know the only way they can win is to prevent every single woman, every minority voters, every young voter and every first time voter from turning out.

Let the word go forth: your country needs you to watch the polls for one day.

Contact Debbie Goldberg at [e-mail] or 919.845.1156 to sign up and save the free world. (Send your e mail address, cell # which you will have on election day, hours you will work, and commit to having camera and film or digital camera on hand).

Watch well,
Sam Krishna