Voter Engagement As a Tool to Stop the Sweeps! August 28, 2018
Our Homes, Our Votes Our Homes, Our Votes is NLIHC’s voter engagement effort focusing on increasing voter registration and turnout amongst low income housing renters and advocates.
Why Should Housing Organizations Care About Elections? • Policymakers care most about voters. • Housing advocates and service providers are uniquely positioned to provide a voice for renters and low-income households. • When low income renters lack a strong presence at the polls, it leads to unfavorable housing policy decisions.
Reported Voting by Renters Compared to Homeowners
Reported Voting by Income
CONSIDERATIONS FOR 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS
Legal Considerations for Nonprofits 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations ARE allowed to participate in voter registration efforts! 501(c)(3)s CAN 501(c)(3)s CANNOT • Register voters • Make endorsements of any political candidates. • Educate voters • Donate money, resources, • Engage candidates on or time to any particular issues candidate. • Get voters to the polls • Any staff engaged in partisan political activities MUST do so without As long as all efforts and representing the activities remain organization, NEVER on NON-PARTISAN! staff time, and NEVER using 501(c)(3) resources.
Legal Considerations for Nonprofits – Permissible Activities ISSUE ADVOCACY CANDIDATE EDUCATION Advocating for organization’s issues Helping candidates understand the during election year importance of your issues VOTER EDUCATION VOTER ENGAGEMENT Educating voters in a non-partisan way Registering voters, getting out the vote about candidates
Legal Considerations for Federally Funded Organizations Federal Funds Do Place Restrictions on Certain Organizations: • Staff who are paid through AmeriCorps or HeadStart funding cannot participate in voter registration activities. • Legal Services groups cannot participate in any election activity, even if nonpartisan. • Recipients of Community Services Block Grant funding can participate in voter registration and engagement, but CSBG funds cannot be used. • More information on federal funds and voter registration restrictions can be found at: http://bit.ly/1lnQxh7
Registering Voters • Build registration activities into day-to-day work • Plan specific activities • Door-to-door campaigns • Establish a community presence • Keep records
Common Obstacles 1. Voter Apathy 2. Locked Apartment Buildings 3. Formerly Incarcerated Voters 4. Voting without an Address
Targeting Efforts with Voter Preservation NHPD Enhancements Database at www.preservationdatabase.org
SANTA CLARA COUNTY MEASURE A $950 MILLION HOMELESS & HOUSING BOND Affordable Housing Residents a Key Voting Bloc Database of registered affordable housing residents assists outreach Resident Registration - June 12,470 Resident Registration – Nov. 15,511 Resident Turnout – Nov. 10,346 Yes – 67.88 % 454,284 No 214,968 Margin of Victory 8,060 Ms. Irma Ortiz Credit: LifeSTEPS 2016 Courtesy Non-Profit Housing Assn.
Questionnaires – Best Practices • Questionnaires serve two purposes: 1. Collect information about candidates’ views for voters 2. Inform candidates about the range of issues that are important to your organization • Questionnaires should be publicly posted and shared once completed • Develop a plan for how the answers will be shared, and indicate to candidates how you will distribute their answers • Provide clear instructions • Word limit • Clear deadline • How to submit
Questionnaires – Considerations and Guidelines • Share with all candidates • Use open ended questions • Ask questions on a range of issues • Do not ask for pledges of support or compare candidate’s responses to organization’s views • Give candidates a reasonable amount of time to respond • Make your survey brief to ensure a good response rate • Do NOT modify candidate responses in any way
Candidate Forums and Town Hall Meetings Candidate forums and town hall meetings are public events that allow candidates to have open discussion of topics and issues. • Forums tend to be more moderator-led discussion while town halls allow for larger audience participation .
Candidate Forums – Key Considerations • Be sure to invite all candidates and give equal effort to getting all to attend • It is okay to set criteria regarding invitations but be sure that it’s based on an impartial facts such as funds raised by a certain date, polling with voters at a certain percent, etc. • Ensure the moderator is able to be nonpartisan in both tone and facilitation • Set time limits for responses and give all candidates a chance to respond • All candidate materials (signs, stickers, etc.) should be kept outside of the space where the event is taking place
The Basics: Dates, Times, Polling Locations Every Voter Needs to Know: 1. Polling locations 2. Open and closing times 3. What to bring with them 4. Options for mail-in ballots and early voting
Defending Against Voter Suppression • Provide information on Voter ID requirements • EVERYONE fills out a ballot • Provisional ballots can always be cast and counted in the case of close elections • Use the hotlines! • Election Protection Hotline: • 1-866-OUR-VOTE • 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español) • U.S. Department of Justice Voting Rights Hotline • 1-800-253-3931 • The best defense is a good offense!
Voter Guides • A voter guide seeks to provide voters with general information on each of the candidates and the offices they will fill. • Ballot initiatives should be discussed, and CAN include an organizational position. • Things to consider: • Include general candidate information such as name, photo, occupation, party affiliation, contact information, website, etc. • Can include their responses from a questionnaire. (Do NOT coordinate with candidate on including this information)
Continual Reminders Start Early Inform on what time polls will Share a sample open and close. ballot to inform on the issues. Share maps and information Post notices and Educate on early where residents contact numbers voting, if will vote. for rides to the Remind your available . polls. residents one week before election day . Alert when election day is at Remind your least one month residents to away. submit their absentee ballots on time. Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
Election Night Celebrations Purpose of election night celebrations: • Debrief Election Day activities • Discuss how everyone was treated at the polls, and if any voters were challenged or harassed • Watch as election results come in • Come together as a community • Build traditions & community memories around voting • Collect ideas for the next election’s voter engagement efforts
Questions?
Additional Resources
Voter Engagement Legal Tools Nonprofit VOTE - www.nonprofitvote.org • Nonprofit Voter Engagement Guide - https://bit.ly/2uoNb7C Alliance for Justice - https://www.afj.org/ • Bolder Advocacy Initiative - https://www.bolderadvocacy.org/
Other Organizations to Know About www.brennancenter.org http://nationalhomeless.org/campaigns/voting/ www.fairelectionsnetwork.com http://www.vote411.org/
Voter Engagement Tools https://bit.ly/2NbgSAO https://bit.ly/2mjcgNI
New Resource! www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org • Step-by-step voter engagement planning resources • Infographics and images for use in your materials • Articles and updates on efforts throughout the country • Recordings of previous webinar presentations • Helpful links to additional resources and information
Recent Webinar Recordings Tuesday, July 24 Building the Base: Voter Registration of Low Income Renters and Their Allies Tuesday July 31 The Importance of Voter Lists! A Key Tool for Successful Mobilization Tuesday, August 7 An Informed Debate: Effectively Engaging Candidates while Remaining Non-Partisan Tuesday, August “I Vote for More Affordable Homes!” Educating Voters Before 14 Election Day Tuesday, August Voter Mobilization: Getting Out the Vote 21 All Webinars begin at 3:00pm ET For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2KooyTi
Our Mem bers Are Our Strength Please become an NLIHC Member at: www.NLIHC.org/membership
Stay in Touch Joey Lindstrom Manager for Field Organizing jlindstrom@nlihc.org 202-507-7441 @JosephLindstrom
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