July 15-21, 2004

city beat

Knock the Vote

POLL WORKERS: Symantha Lorick (left) wants to vote in November, but she's intimidated by new voting equipment. Photo By: Mike Mergen

Activists get out to make sure voters do the same in November.

by Deborah Bolling

On Saturday morning, Richard Boone sat on the curb as he scarfed down some scrambled eggs and home fries, fortifying himself for the long day ahead. Armed with campaign literature, voter registration forms and his Palm Pilot, which contains an extensive database of city residents, Boone would be going door-to-door to encourage non-voters, infrequent voters and swing voters to make their voices heard this November.

Since May, Boone has been canvassing Philadelphia for America Coming Together (ACT), a national nonprofit organization intent on making sure voters are registered for the upcoming election and well-educated about the issues that affect them most.

It's just after 10 a.m. More than 300 volunteers who have traveled on chartered buses from New York City have joined Boone outside ACT's North Third Street headquarters. For the six months leading up to Election Day, members of ACT and a host of other nonprofit voter organizations like MoveOn.org and the League of Conservation Voters will descend on "battleground states." Pennsylvania, which casts 21 electoral votes in the presidential election, is one of 17 states where pollsters believe people remain undecided about who should occupy the White House next year. For good reason: Activists say the Bush campaign has been targeting Pennsylvania since losing the state by a 5 percent margin in 2000. Since becoming president, Bush has visited the commonwealth at least 30 times.

"We want to get the people excited," says Candido Silva, of ACT. Silva, a North Philly native, is surrounded by hundreds of out-of-state members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who have volunteered to help mobilize area voters. The SEIU members, all dressed in purple T-shirts and sneakers, have divvied up the city, and before day's end, they intend to knock on as many doors as humanly possible. All told, they hope to knock on 10 million doors nationwide by November.

"This is the land of the free and the brave, and we're gonna get that cowboy out of office," Silva says, his supporters cheering him on. "We're full of electricity. We're gonna have the biggest volunteer force in America. We're gonna plant the seed and watch the flowers grow."

For Boone, an ACT staff member, the task of voter mobilization is large but simple.

"People are tired," he says. "They're tired of false hopes and false dreams. I tell them the reason I'm here is to help them express their concerns. I feel that if one person believes it — like the cliche — it can be achieved. For me, this is about patriotism."

ACT members, whose aim is to talk to people about campaign issues, maintain that they're not pro-John Kerry but are intent on sending George Bush "back to Crawford, Texas."

Boone says of the 45 homes he planned to visit that day, he hoped to enroll at least six or seven new voters. He's observed that many young people have shown an interest in this year's election. He jokingly says he believes young Americans would rather go into the voting booth than off to Iraq.

"Have you had the opportunity to update your voter registration information?" Boone inquires of everyone he passes. Most respond affirmatively, but when rebuffed, his cheerful disposition is his best ammunition. "When people know that you're going to treat them as a person and not a thing, it helps develop a good rapport. I try and let everyone know that what they think does matter."

Getting people to the polls in November is only half the battle. Making sure they're prepared when they arrive is just as critical. For more than 50 years, Philadelphia voters were familiar with machines that utilized an uncomplicated mechanical lever. In 2002, however, the city spent $18.5 million to purchase 3,500 new electronic voting machines that use a Microsoft Windows operating system. For potential new voters, the change may be daunting.

Symantha Lorick, who hasn't voted in at least eight years, has Election Day concerns. Having recently moved from North Philadelphia to Southwest Philadelphia, she hasn't formally changed her address and doesn't know where her polling place is. But, even more importantly, the 46-year-old admits she's intimidated by the new voting equipment.

"I'd like to vote," she tells Boone. "But, I don't know how. I hope somebody can help me learn how to use the machine."

Boone has encountered other worried voters like Lorick.

"There is some fear of the new machinery," Boone says. "But, like myself, there are trained people at the polls who are there to help. It's all part of this operation we're involved in. We're about registration and education. É We're not willing to let one voter slip by because they don't know how to use the machines. Trust me, that won't be the reason people in Philadelphia don't vote in this election."