Hollace Lyon, Colonel, USAF (ret.) and Candidate for Arizona State House of Representatives for LD11
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the in the Democrats of Oro Valley (DOV) newsletter. It has been edited for our newsletter, references to LD11 election results have been replaced with LD9 and CD2 data.
We know that Republicans have the money, but we have the many….if only we can get Democrats to vote.
In the November 2016 general election, approximately 8,000 registered Democrats in LD9 didn’t vote. In 2014, more than twice that number – 17,000 – didn’t vote. We know that Rep. Martha McSally lost to Democrat Ron Barber by 167 votes. In Virigina, one vote literally would have made a difference in a House race.
Democrats don’t vote for several reasons. Republican-controlled legislatures restrict poll access and voting days that create roadblocks for workers, youth, and the elderly. We also must overcome a certain amount of inertia to turn a registered Democrat into a regular voter.
We can bolster the resolve of those too easily dissuaded by being aware of the tactics used to block their paths to the ballot box:
* Counties have lost funding, forcing them to reduce the number of early voting and election-day polling locations and hours. That causes longer lines and makes it harder for people who need to leave work or school to vote, for the elderly and disabled.
* Negative, anti-candidate TV ads designed to disgust and discourage voters saturate the airwaves. Voters get tired of all the negativity and often protest with an, “I’ll teach them — they’re all corrupt – I just won’t vote at all” attitude.
* Polling-place locations can change just days before an election. Campaigns exploit that by spreading misinformation about those changes as well as polling dates and times. Yes, this happens! It only takes a little confusing information to dissuade some voters from going to the polls.
* Poll workers deny voters provisional ballots on flimsy grounds, such as requiring extraordinary pieces of identification they can’t easily get or wouldn’t think to bring to the polls.
* In Arizona, it’s a felony for a non-family member or caregiver to carry your mail-in ballot to the polling place – and it must be the correct polling place – if you forgot to mail it at least five days before Election Day.
*Campaigns disseminate fear-mongering propaganda that exploits cultural paradigms, making some voters afraid to participate in any activity by which the government “can track you. ”
Knowing what we are up against is only half the battle. We need volunteers – you! – to knock on doors, write post cards, letters-to-editor and more.
Democrat Doug Jones won the Alabama Senate race by a tiny margin because thousands of out-of-state volunteers pitched in to get out the vote. This election year promises to be a crazy one across the nation, so we can’t depend on outsiders to come in and save the day for us. We must do it for ourselves.