By Tomas Vera
Chair, Communications Committee, Placer DCC
Communicating with voters directly is the best way to get them to support your candidate or position. Placer DCC offers several ways to help get our message out to voters. For all of these, volunteers are needed to deliver the message in any successful Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign.
Two new volunteers, Rebecca Campbell and Neva Parker, are typical of the folks who show up because they know they need to “do something” to make a difference.
Rebecca Campbell
Phone banking is an extremely effective tool for communicating with voters. Rebecca Campbell was our top phone bank volunteer in the weeks leading up to the June 2022 primary election.
When asked about what she likes about volunteering, Rebecca answers,
“in a way, I'm being selfish! Volunteering makes me feel good! You also meet a lot of cool, like-minded people.”
Like many people, Rebecca was feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and jaded by politics.
“I thought to myself, the answer isn't shutting down or giving into my anger and rage about all the injustices; even though sometimes I'm tempted. If I want things to change, I have to be willing to work and put in the time.”
Rebecca says she was nervous when she first started. But she persevered.
“I just kept telling myself; you’ve got to show up, even when you're nervous, if it matters to you...you show up.”
Neva Parker
Turning Placer County blue depends in large part on getting younger voters to the polls on a regular basis. Placer Democrats are reaching out to younger voters using tools such as text banking.
Neva Parker is a new volunteer who helped with our text banking efforts. Neva responded to a need to “do something.” She felt disenfranchised by elected representatives “more interested in picking fights and making a name for themselves than realizing that, once in office, they represent their entire constituencies.”
Neva realized there are negative consequences to not answering a call to action.
“I am helping get things back on track. I suspect I’ll also like getting to know my community once I have more volunteering under my belt,” says Neva.
“The world has a long history of powerful people playing fast and loose with the lives of normal people. But this country was founded with the intention of creating a space for its people to live and thrive. Our leaders should be maintaining that space and I want to help them do that.”
Are you next?
Rebecca and Neva are two community volunteers who are making a big difference by volunteering to contact voters. For many, the thought of communicating directly with a voter is intimidating. But in almost all cases, new volunteers will be paired with an experienced person who will show you the ropes as you get started.
“Most of the time you can do it with a friend or someone who's done it before, which makes it way less intimidating,” says Rebecca.
You can become our next volunteer super star by visiting our Volunteer Sign Up form.
Are you ready? Yes, you are!