Election Action
Here's a list of nonpartisan voter participation activities leading up to the November elections. Let's get busy!
(Most of the following organizations are supported by the Mitchell Kapor Foundation.)
- Volunteer with Video the Vote
Video the Vote could really use brilliant folks like you in three possible ways:
- Preparing for Election Day:
Adopt a particular city or state and spend just a few hours each week helping Video the Vote create a solid team of volunteer video journalists in that area. - On Election Day in SF:
Want to stay in SF? You can volunteer at the (800) OUR-VOTE call center (one of only 20 across the country) that voters will use to report any issues at the polls. You can help monitor calls, dispatch videographers to document issues, and help produce stories. - Election Day in a swing state:
Travel! Video the Vote needs videographers (of any skill level), drivers, Team Leaders, dispatchers, and video uploaders to go to swing states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado to make sure that elections there are well documented.
Please email Chris Thomas (Chris AT videothevote DOT org) or call him at (510)
386-3695 for more information.
- Preparing for Election Day:
- Volunteer with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Be an Elections Protection Legal Volunteer
Folks with legal backgrounds (attorneys, law students, or paralegals) can volunteer to answer calls on the hotline. For more detailed information about this effort, you should go to www.866ourvote.org.
- Volunteer with the SF League of Young Voters
Please go to their website via the above link to register as a volunteer and to get more information about their upcoming volunteer opportunities listed below:
- Voter registration efforts at the Hardly, Strictly Blue Grass Festival: Listen to music, register voters, pass out voter guides ... You know you want to!
When: Oct 4, 2008
Where: Golden Gate Park
- Massive Voter Registration Drive: Volunteers will be passing out voter guides, registering voters, and going all over the city doing it!
When: Oct 18, 2008
Where: All over SF! - Trick or Vote: Volunteers will be knocking on doors, and instead of candy, they will be giving voter guides!
When: Friday, October 31 (of course) @7:30pm
- Volunteer to help Mobilize the Immigrant Vote by contacting the following organizations:
- Chinese Progressive Association: Alex Tom (415-391-6986 x308, e-mail: alex AT cpasf DOT org)
- Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth: Alvaro Sanchez (415-239-0161, asanchez AT colemanadvocates DOT org)
- Dolores Street Community Services: Jorge Portillo, 415-282-6209x16, e-mail: jorge AT dscs DOT org)
- Fillipinos for Affirmative Action: Geraldine Alcid (510-465-9876, e-mail: galcid AT filipinos4action DOT org)
- PODER: Antonio Diaz, Charlie Shamaz (415-431-4210, e-mails: adiaz AT podersf DOT org, cshamaz AT podersf DOT org)
- South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN)/Bayanihan: April Veneracion, Chris Durazo (415-348-1945, e-mails: aveneracion AT somcan DOT org, cdurazo AT somcan DOT org)
- Help National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Education Foundation by letting your Spanish-speaking friends, colleagues, and associates know about the organization's
1-888-Ve-Y-Vota bilingual national hotline and their www.veyvota.org website. You can also attach their banner in Spanish or English to your emails to get the word out about their services.
- Volunteer as a Pollworker in your county
This entails going through some sort of training prior to being deployed to a polling station and often involves a stipend as well. By clicking on the above link, you can sign up through Pollworkers for Democracy.
You can also go directly to your county Elections Department to sign up. Click on the appropriate links to contact the San Francisco Elections Department or the Alameda County Elections Department:
- Sign a petition through Change Congress to join the organization's national movement to help end corruption in American Congress!
