Presence at the Polls is back!

By Liz White

In the middle of the last decade, as OneVirginia2021, we faced a pretty big challenge - no one knew what gerrymandering was! It was going to be incredibly difficult to get Virginians to rally behind redistricting reform if the average voter didn’t even know there was a problem.

We engaged in a comprehensive voter education program over the years, but without question, the most effective thing we did was our Presence at the Polls program.

Presence at the Polls sends volunteers out to polling locations in their communities. Volunteers have been received training on the issue at hand and provided with materials. They talk to voters AFTER they vote - a great way to emphasize that we are not there in any kind of partisan capacity.

Presence at the Polls has helped us build our statewide network of supporters, generated grassroots outreach to lawmakers, and - most importantly - informed tens of thousands of Virginia voters about redistricting and gerrymandering. COVID-19 has prevented us from having face-to-face conversations for a while, but we are BACK!

We are reviving Presence at the Polls and turning its attention to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). We are also taking advantage of Virginia’s new early voting period and maximizing our volunteers’ efforts by focusing on November 5 - the last Saturday of early voting. Volunteers will be stationed at their local early voting locations and provided with training and materials to start conversations about RCV with their neighbors.

Ranked Choice Voting is gaining momentum in Virginia. It’s a great way to maximize a voter’s voice and reward candidates who build consensus instead of sowing division. Let’s go tell Virginia voters about it! You can sign up here.