Jim Caldwell, Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts, at the "Hang the Net" event with Ray Robinson (at left) and Sean Maxwell.
This week was all about some Youth Voter Pledge cards. We hit the ground running on Monday and Tuesday by going to local recreation centers and talking to kids about voting. We were looking especially for high school students but when the “big kids” started signing the cards all the little ones wanted to do it too. So yeah, we ended up with a few voter pledge cards from some 12 year olds, but hey… can’t start early enough!
We had a one-on-one meeting this week with Mr. Tim Grant, director of Winston-Salem Parks and Recreation. He was very helpful and identified several upcoming opportunities for us to get into contact with lots of youth. He showed us all around the office, introduced us to everyone, and even referred us to a city-sponsored Youth Council that might be a good “focus group” for future youth-oriented Dem NC endeavors.
One of the events Mr. Grant told us about was the annual “Hang the Net” competition at Hanes Hoisery recreation center. The event featured Wake Forest basketball players, local street ball legends, Cameron Kent from WXII 12 News, and Coach Jim Caldwell of the Indianapolis Colts (see picture above). The event featured a three point shooting contest and slam dunk contest. We were able to set up a booth in the lobby and, with everyone lured nearby thanks to the free Frosty coupons, sign dozens of pledge cards to reach our goal.
This week also saw plenty of VAN phonebank action, as well as some short trips to Greensboro campuses to plan for fall GOTV. At North Carolina A&T University we met with Mrs. Nastasha Johnson at the Bluford Library, who then connected us into all the right people for our August plan to perform voter registration at the A&T Welcome Week.
I’m going to have to cut this blog post a little short since we have to get outta the office and back to Greensboro. We are doing some flier distribution today for next week’s Community Movie Night event with Mr. Darryl Hunt. We also hope to stop by the Beloved Community Center and liaison with Rev. Nelson Johnson, who is planning some GOTV efforts. We think there is a good opportunity for some collaboration.
We hope everyone is having a great week!
-Sean Maxwell and Ray Robinson
We need to avoid problems with fraudulent voting. I believe we need some identification requirements to ensure the voter is legal. Showing a drivers license would be appropriate. We want to avoid fraud where dead voters vote. We also don’t want convicted felons to vote.