by Larry Kuranowicz, Precinct Captain Coordinator
Charlotte County Democrats have begun the work of getting out the vote by signing up registered Democrats to Vote By Mail. This is our primary mission as regards increasing voter turnout in 2020.
Precinct Captains are phoning those Warm Democrats who are inconsistent in their trips to the polls and turning them into reliable Democratic votes in every election cycle.
Let’s take a look at my Precinct 43 in Port Charlotte and see how that has worked, and why it is a critical mission.
In the 2014 midterm election, 21% of the voters in Pct.43 voted by mail. This was just slightly above the county average. By 2018 that had risen t
o 28%. This increase was due solely to the efforts of Charlotte County Democrats.
In real terms, this resulted in 48 votes being cast at a higher rate than they would have been in 2018.
In 2018 the turnout rate for Voters enrolled in VBM was 88%! Of those not enrolled, turnout was just 50%.
Turning out those 48 votes took an investment of significant volunteer hours. My neighbor Mike Salino and I put in a lot of time calling and knocking doors to bring in those votes. Fortunately, we had fun doing it. Meeting our neighbors was a great experience!
How important are 48 votes? Floridians know all about close elections. 48 votes turned out in a Precinct of 821 registered Democrats is significant. It’s over 5%! Elections being as close as they are statewide, this increase in turnout has an impact.
We felt good about what we had accomplished, but it left us wanting to do more.
Imagine if we had gotten five more. Just five more votes!
Now, imagine if all our sixty-odd Precincts had delivered five more, and this was repeated across the State.
Imagine Governor Andrew Gillum and another term for Senator Bill Nelson!
Imagine one less climate science denier in the Governor’s seat, one less vote for Big Pharma in the Senate! Five more votes can be the game changer!
Remember, in the 2018 midterm the voter turnout for Vote By Mail enrollees was 88%!!
Can you imagine what our State could be if 88% of Democrats turned out for every election?
This is our mission. And it is within our grasp. We just need to do the work in our own neighborhoods, our own little corners.
We have pledged our time to deliver this result in 2020 and we are well on the way to taking back our democracy! It’s time to stand up and fight for the future of our State and our Nation, vote by vote!
Join us!
