Voter Engagement As a Tool to Stop the Sweeps! August 28, 2018 Our - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

• Register voters
• Educate voters
• Engage candidates on

issues

• Get voters to the polls

As long as all efforts and activities remain NON-PARTISAN! 501(c)(3)s CANNOT

• Make endorsements of any

political candidates.

• Donate money, resources,
• r time to any particular

candidate.

• Any staff engaged in

partisan political activities MUST do so without representing the

• rganization, NEVER on

staff time, and NEVER using 501(c)(3) resources.

Legal Considerations for Nonprofits – Permissible Activities

ISSUE ADVOCACY

Advocating for organization’s issues during election year

CANDIDATE EDUCATION

Helping candidates understand the importance of your issues

VOTER EDUCATION

Educating voters in a non-partisan way about candidates

VOTER ENGAGEMENT

Registering voters, getting out the vote

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

NHPD Enhancements

Targeting Efforts with Voter Preservation Database at www.preservationdatabase.org

SANTA CLARA COUNTY MEASURE A $950 MILLION HOMELESS & HOUSING BOND

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 Affordable Housing Residents a Key Voting Bloc

• Ms. Irma Ortiz

Credit: LifeSTEPS 2016

Database of registered affordable housing residents assists

• utreach

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

• f 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,
• ccupation, party affiliation, contact information, website, etc.
• Can include their responses from a questionnaire. (Do NOT

coordinate with candidate on including this information)

Get Out the Vote (GOTV)

Start Early

Remind your residents to submit their absentee ballots

• n time.

Alert when election day is at least one month away. Educate on early voting, if available. Share maps and information where residents will vote.

Continual Reminders

Remind your residents one week before election day. Post notices and contact numbers for rides to the polls. Inform on what time polls will

• pen and close.

Share a sample ballot to inform

• n the issues.

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 www.fairelectionsnetwork.com http://www.vote411.org/ http://nationalhomeless.org/campaigns/voting/

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 14 “I Vote for More Affordable Homes!” Educating Voters Before Election Day Tuesday, August 21 Voter Mobilization: Getting Out the Vote 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