By Pamela Mercier
This year may not be a big election year, but it's not an off year. Local elections are on November 4 and we are reaching out to mobilize our St. Paul community. The Voter Service Committee (VSC) engaged with Keystone Community Food Shelf, the Meals on Wheels Program, and SPPS high schools. Thank you to all our volunteers!
Keystone: VSC volunteers do voter education, outreach, and registration 2-3 times a week at the Keystone Community food shelf on University Avenue. We engage with participants, checking in about voter registration and reminding them about the upcoming mayoral election and ballot initiatives.
We've found that the most effective strategy is to talk with people waiting to “shop.” People are generally receptive to our interactions, sometimes discovering important details of which they were unaware. For example: two women we spoke to told us that they were felons and thought they couldn't vote. We informed them of the recent 2023 law which enables non-incarcerated felons to register and vote.
SPPS High Schools: Our volunteers visited three St. Paul high schools and helped seniors get registered to vote.
- Washington Technology Magnet: VSC Co-Chairs Pam Mercier and Chris Schnieders led volunteers at two parent-teacher conference nights. We greeted attendees with voting information, cards, and flyers, distributing 60 cards to families and many more to teachers.
- Open World Learning: LWVSP member Heidi Kloempken presented for 60 seniors and helped them register to vote online.
- Agape High School: VSC Co-Chair Chris Schnieders presented on and assisted with online voter registration for 12th graders.
Meals on Wheels: For Keystone and Open Arms (a nonprofit), VSC provided fliers from the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State that staff can insert into the meal boxes distributed to their clients. This is a new opportunity to reach potential voters.
UPCOMING
