Precinct Ops: Let's Do It!

Hi there, all-

I live in a Republican-leaning city (pop: 180,000) in Southern California, and, working with my local Democratic Party club, am trying to get a precinct organization system in place.

Though we don't have a lot of elected officials to show off, we do have some small triumphs: we out-registered the GOP by roughly a third in 2004, and got over 300 volunteers involved in the quest to unseat Bush. Our club membership is growing at 3X the speed of the local GOP club. And, in a city with just over a hundred precincts, we have reason to believe that we have the activist base to get a presence in every neighborhood.

I've written a proposal to convince the local party steering committee to add a "Precinct Committee," (we now have 6 other committees in place on various topics) and adopt precinct organizing as a priority for club volunteer resources. I'm looking for feedback, advice, and also want to offer this effort up for use by anyone else in the same boat. My letter's under the fold - check it out, and leave behind any comments or suggestions you might have. Thanks!

Subject: PWalking Foundational Document.

One of the central values of the Democratic Party is that broad citizen engagement is essential to the functioning of our society. We believe that government can and should be a force for good, and that open participation in the political process, combined with the generous and respectful aspects of human nature, will inevitably lead to the best possible government. Ours is a politics of optimism and ideas, but it is clear that there remains a significant need to build communication between our political system and ordinary citizens. If we invest in the political process by listening to the concerns of our neighbors, and  those issues are addressed - with relevant policies and values communicated - by our party, we will reap long-term benefits in the form of increased trust between voters and the Democratic Party, better and more effective messages from candidates, and ultimately, a better government and a stronger community fabric. Precinct operations are a uniquely local-scale activity, where political representatives engage face to face with other citizens in their neighborhood, and is remarkably well suited to further the political and social aims of the Democratic Party.

In the short term, our goal should be to foster an information exchange that builds familiarity and trust. Precinct volunteers will introduce themselves as a representative of the Democratic Party, and identify both the partisanship and the key issues for individual voters in their home precinct. This information should be solicited with the intent of building a more responsive political system, and will become the base of information we use to communicate with voters in the future.

In the medium term, precinct operations can be used as a tool to encourage enhanced political engagement among ordinary voters. Traditionally, the primary task of precinct organizing has been to mobilize partisan voters identified in the first round of canvassing, and in support of this task, organizers should use second- and third-round visits to disseminate information, invite Democrats to social, political, or informational events, deliver candidate slates, or, in the case where a potential activist is identified, encouraging that person to join the precinct committee or engage in some other manner.

While the obvious goal for the party's precinct operation is to get Democrats elected to office in an equal or greater proportion to the city's Democratic registration - specifically through voter mobilization -  in the long term, the aim should be to persuade normally apathetic or unsympathetic voters to support progressive candidates and policies. Perhaps the most gradual, but longest-lasting impact of our short- and medium-term activities will occur as the promise of a "more responsive political system" is realized, building the ethos of the Democratic Party in the public sphere.

Working towards this goal, the precinct organization should make efforts to disseminate its data, as relevant, to all other committees within the party. Additionally, the precinct workers may function as an organ of different committees, by soliciting or distributing information to voters as time allows, and by inviting constituents to candidate forums or other activities that will allow the party to "road test" its ideas while building excitement among its core voter base. In this sense, the precinct organizations will reflect the passions and strategies of the day within the larger, club- or AD-centric infrastructures.

Certain core activities are required of the precinct committees, and should be considered the basic requirement of precinct and turnout operations. I am proposing the following structure for adoption by the local Democratic Party club, including the formation of a "Precinct Organization Committtee" to support the efforts within individual precincts.

-- In the context of voter ID, precinct walkers should visit every residence in their precinct, outside of election season, in order to determine key issues and partisanship of voters. This information should be documented in order to use for more targeted appeals at a later date. Precinct walkers should also keep abreast of new or departing neighbors, and make an effort to contact new residents at the earliest convenience.

-- Every precinct walker should be prepared with voter registration forms, permanent absentee ballot applications, and a sheet or card containing both their contact information and the party club's contact information and meeting time, which should be distributed to supporters while canvassing.

-- Leading up to election day, leaders in each precinct should determine relative priorities for turnout, and target each "positive" priority voter at least once. Precinct committee members should target absentee voters with a party slate within a couple of days of ballot distribution, and follow up to ensure that the ballots are returned on time. And, on election day, time allowing, committee members should do a phased turnout operation, encouraging voters from their priority list to visit the voting booth as each polling place releases its "already voted"  lists.

-- Further specific "core" activities should be defined by the committee in each precinct, with advice from club leadership.

-- The "Precinct Organization Committee" within the club should keep as its primary task the support of individual precinct operations. The support committee should define the default data format for all voter records, and facilitate the timely transfer and safe backup of this data. The support committee should assemble materials to give to new precinct volunteers, and arrange for training of these volunteers (whether by the AD, by nearby volunteers, or by the support committee itself.) Additionally, the support committee should be given the authority to moderate disputes that arise within a precinct (regarding leadership, effectiveness, etc) as they see fit, with the aim of ensuring dependable precinct operations and keeping Democrats interested in participating within the party's activist sphere. Finally, the support committee should decide on the scope and hierarchy of the precinct organization structure (i.e. geographical subcommittees, expansion into new or unincorporated areas, etc), and for periodically adjusting these parameters allowing for increased participation or new strategies.

--Those precincts which attract a large number of precinct committee members should function as a "Precinct Lab", and should be the test organs for new ideas, signature drives, candidate forums, etc. Having a large and motivated activist core will generate the ideas that drive the party's precinct organization forward, and allows for rapid dissemination and evaluation of the relative effectiveness of these new strategies. Any precinct whose committee members are willing to work in a more focused and proactive way should be allowed to do so, with the additional requirement that they report their successes and failures to the support committee. Ideally, a link should be forged between Precinct Labs and the different club committees, in order to facilitate the timely exchange of information in the service of responsive politics.