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2
Thursday, June 29, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Washtenaw County Democrats organize
to promote communication, voter turnout
Event was intended
to steer Democrats
toward more
effective canvassing
By JENNIFER MEER
Summer Managing News Editor
About 40 Washtenaw County
residents gathered Sunday afternoon
at the Washtenaw County Learning
Resource Center for an event titled
Mobilizing
for
Michigan:
2017
Listening Tour Launch. The event,
led by the Precinct Organizing
Committee
of
the
Washtenaw
County Democratic Party, aimed
to organize residents from county
precincts to canvass effectively
and communicate better with local
Democratic voters.
Catherine Daligga, a vice chair for
the Precinct Organizing Committee,
said the event is meant to encourage
community members to listen to
their neighbors, act upon their
concerns and volunteer to canvass
locally.
“Our objective today is to start
grouping people geographically so
that we can use a team approach to
talk to people in the neighborhoods,
listen to what people have to say
about their reactions to the 2016
election and start to serve as a
reliable conduit of information back
and forth from the people in the
community to elected officials and
to the Democratic Party, and vice
versa,” she said.
She
noted
in
recent
years,
canvassing and reaching voters
has been based on Big Data
and
technology
instead
of
communication.
“To do it, it’s a relatively novel
approach in some ways, because
we’ve been relying on Big Data for
a while, but the personal touch
is indispensable,” she said. “The
politics is based on relationships. If
we foster good relationships, then
we’ll be stronger.”
The Listening Tour itself will
consist of acquiring 65,000 contacts
— Democratic voters in Washtenaw
County — by the end of 2017, by way
of volunteers who will canvass and
reach out to their communities.
Daligga opened the event and
explained
the
importance
of
precinct-based organizing, as well
as the plans for the Listening Tour.
She said Washtenaw County needs
to improve their voter turnout.
“We’ve done remarkably well in
the county for keeping our turnout
better than it has been in some
places, and yet it’s still true that our
turnout is not as good as it could
be and we still have a noticeable
fall-off in the non-presidential
elections,” she said. “To this end,
precinct organizing is the key.”
Precincts refer to the smallest
political units in the American
electoral system, and they are
represented
by
one
or
more
precinct delegates. These delegates
serve as a primary link between
residents and their party, and
according to Daligga, a strong
precinct organization generally
corresponds to a much better voter
turnout.
Daligga
emphasized
the
importance
of
community
relations to be fostered by the
Listening Tour.
“Over and over and over again,
study after study shows that the
most effective way to mobilize
voters is to talk to people, and to
talk to people face to face, not on
the phone, not online, not through
emails — it’s remarkable,” she said.
Daligga noted Hillary Clinton
lost the 2016 election in Michigan
by 2.2 votes per precinct. She said
the Democratic Party has failed
to organize people and has only
served in the context of specific
political parties.
“The party has existed really as
an adjunct in many ways to political
parties,” she said. “It’s had the loss
of an independent existence in
terms of organizing people. That’s
what we’re here for today.”
Daligga noted 2017 is not nearly
as intense in terms of political
campaigning as are presidential
election years, and so it should
serve as an opportunity to regroup
and improve upon the situation the
party found itself in last year.
With regard to reaching 65,000
residents, Daligga said the number
may seem staggering, but it is
definitely possible.
“The closer we get to that goal,
the more we grow the number of
people that are willing to take on
a few people to talk to, the farther
ahead we have ever been,” she said.
“Our objective is to aim to recruit
people to go talk to their neighbors,
serve as a community liaison and
resource, and socialize — get to
know each other.”
She emphasized the importance
of not just asking people for money
and votes but really listening to
their concerns and transforming
those concerns into actions.
Washtenaw
County
resident
John Erdevig also addressed the
group, speaking on his experience
as a canvasser. He noted the
importance of asking people to
refer their neighbors and friends to
gain a stable foundation of voters.
COURTESY OF JENNIFER MEER
Catherine Daligga, vice chair for the Precinct Organizing Committee of Washtenaw
County Democratic Party, speaks at the Mobilizing for Michigan event at the
Washtenaw County Learning Resource Center.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com