Final Report on Single Issue Abortion Voters Identified at their Doors. Looking Good!

[This diary was specifically requested a few days ago, seeking the final numbers in this regard.]For 3 years, Hope Springs from Field PAC’s [website] volunteers have been asking voters whether they had a single issue that would determine for whom they were voting. Almost 20 Million Doors Knocked since Hope Springs started tracking these things (when the idea of a pop-up PAC was abandoned). All this data was entered into VAN, the Democratic database we all share. We just stopped doing anything but GOTV, so it is timely.Besides the Economy, Reproductive Freedom was the single issue that the most voters told us would determine their vote. Since we started asking this question, 1,307,717 voters have told us they would vote with abortion in mind.This number, of course, has been juiced by the states that are voting to have Reproductive Rights enshrined in their state constitutions. We found early on that voters responded to our Single-Issue question at a much higher rate when the topic was in the news.All this data is entered into VAN and Democrats and progressive campaigns that share VAN with us get access to it after Labor Day. Admittedly, we’ve not always gotten the data collected since Labor Day into VAN immediately. This is what happens when you are a grassroots group run by volunteers. And, since Labor Day, most of us have been busy. But we did get it all in, even if it wasn’t fast enough for the groups driven by this issue.Hope Springs volunteers in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Montana spent much of the Summer (and all of the Spring) circulating their state’s Abortion petitions (if they choose to) along with our Issues Surveys (and other materials) each Saturday. Except in Montana; given the short time frame there, Montana volunteers received walk lists of Democrats to help them circulate petitions. As a result, Hope Springs volunteers turned in 185,718 verified signatures in those 4 states to get the Reproductive Freedom amendments onto the ballot this November (62,844 in Arizona, 70,006 in Florida, 41,016 in Nevada and 11,852 in Montana). Signatures with errant or missing information were noted (but not counted) when we returned the petitions to the originating organizations.But collecting signatures was not our only contribution here. For several years, we’ve been asking voters if they had a single issue that would determine who they were voting for and entering that information into VAN, the voter file that most Democrats use. Those voters’ preferences are available to all the Democrats who run in these areas.The chart to the right shows the number of Single Issue voters who identified Reproductive Rights as driving their voting decisions. Hope Springs focuses on suburban, competitive Congressional Districts, so these aren’t statewide numbers, but voters who live in these suburban Swing areas. Democratic campaigns can use these self-identified single-issue voters to message them directly with distinct messages about our shared value here. But that’s 1,307,872 single issue voters Hope Springs volunteers have identified over the last couple of years that are voting on the issue of Reproductive Freedom.As i mentioned before, organizers cross-checked signatures against the voter file and we documented where the signer either was not registered to vote or not registered to vote at the address used to sign the petition. For those who were not, given the fact that they signed the petitions, we went back to those we could and re-registered those we verified had that conflict in order to vote (in compliance with the law).But Hope Springs volunteers have long had a campaign plan to mobilize these 1,307,872 single issue voters that we found in the course of our regular canvassing efforts. And the final aspect of our Single Issue Voter Mobilization plan will be a reminder door hanger for these 1,225,872 voters who haven’t voted yet right before election day — the actual number is expected to be smaller (we’re getting 750,000 printed). Some will vote by mail, others early, so while we watch that, we don’t know how many of these single issue voters will wait until the day of the election to cast their vote.Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors on March 2nd to set up a favorable “battle space” or foundation for Democrats in 2024 in what grew to be 13 Battleground or Swing States. We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. The voters we talk to in these Swing States tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization2024Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do. Now we are focused on turning out every Harris (and, in states with referendums, abortion voter) that we’ve identified in this final phase of the election cycle.Here’s the thing: we all have different priorities each election cycle. But all this work blends together. Whether it is getting out the vote for our issues or our candidates, reminding voters that there are many reasons to vote this November will turn out more Democratic votes for Democrats. My issue (SCOTUS and rebalancing the courts to better reflect America) may not be your issue. But we are all working towards the same end.Some of those who canvassed with us in the Summer have not moved over to the Harris or Coordinated Campaigns but are now volunteering with the Abortion Initiative organizers in their states. Some even send along observations, like evidence of MAGA canvassers. Others are dividing their time between those org’s GOTV efforts and presidential, senate or Coordinated campaigns. We are all building towards the same outcome. Democratic success in November.Much of Hope Springs success has been reliance upon the relationships that i built with printers in various states over the decades i’ve done campaign work. Those relationships are severely tested by the amount of printing we’ve done this year. It took us five months to pay off the printers for the Ohio ballot initiative and now we have 4 states where we are providing help to the abortion initiative state orgs. So we definitely all the help we can get. And, yet, i am just like you, receiving what seems to be dozens of texts and emails a day from the Harris campaign and our Democratic Senate nominees. We don’t want to deter donors from meeting the needs of those campaigns. 2023 Hope Springs expensesPrinting the literature we leave at voter’s doors (or hands) is our largest cost this year. Our second biggest expense is the Voter File. But it is also a fixed cost. That won’t change as we raise and spend more money. Printing and mailing our our Post Cards to New Voters is our third cost and paying the fees for ActBlue is the smallest of our monthly costs.If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please help:https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization2024If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the ActBlue page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!