Last week, we wrote a piece about the unprecedented level of organizing we’re seeing in a midterm year. The level of activity we’ve seen to get-out-the-vote has been so astonishing, we’ve updated the numbers and charts here.
Since Thursday:
- The total number of shifts scheduled on MobilizeAmerica has grown from 608,439 to 737,393. These shifts have been scheduled by 371,506 unique volunteers.
- 230,798 volunteer shifts were scheduled to be completed in just four days between November 2–6
- Many races saw thousands of in-person canvassers over the weekend. Here’s a video of what that looks like on the ground.
- In total, we now estimate volunteers scheduled through MobilizeAmerica have attempted to contact 30.2M voters.
This volume of activist and volunteer energy is approaching or exceeding levels seen in presidential years. MobilizeAmerica has a unique perspective as the volunteer platform used by nearly 1,000 campaigns and progressive organizations.
TL;DR: These historic levels of activity are powered by engaged and mobilized volunteers. Progressive organizations and campaigns are collaborating in new ways and building power for real change. And, women are leading this charge, online and offline.
The following maps and graphs give a sense of the level and composition of the volunteer activity we’re seeing across the country.
Online-to-offline mobilization has been critical from the beginning of this cycle. The DCCC recognized that early and, starting in April, joined MobilizeAmerica and extended access to their Red-to-Blue candidates. Since then, more congressional campaigns have joined, and we’re now powering online volunteer recruitment for 117 Congressional battleground races.
We’re proud to partner with the DNC, which has made the platform available to state parties and coordinated campaigns across the country. In total, 46 state parties are using MobilizeAmerica. In addition, more than 300 candidates for critical state and local races are using the platform to recruit volunteers.
The campaigns on the platform are joined by nearly 500 progressive organizations — from local grassroots groups to the largest and most active national membership organizations. Leading organizations are using Mobilize to organize a combined membership base of more than 20 million. National partners include the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Crooked Media, Daily Kos, Flippable, the Human Rights Campaign, J Street, OFA, League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL, MoveOn, SwingLeft, Stand Up America and many others.
With MobilizeAmerica as a common platform, more people can find more ways to take action. In the last week, shifts contributed by partner organizations represented 43% of signups on the platform.
In October alone, increased energy leading up to the election has translated into 403,277 volunteer sign-ups. In this final week, each day seems to set a new record: on Monday and Tuesday alone, volunteers signed for nearly 50,000 shifts. During daylight hours, we’ve observed 1 volunteer sign-up for action every 2.5 seconds.
Phone banks, text banks, and canvassing events account for over 67% of all volunteer commitments through MobilizeAmerica. The end result? An estimated 8.2 million doors knocked, 8.1 million phone calls made, and 13.8 million texts sent to voters, all aimed at driving much-needed change.
Canvassing (knocking on doors) is the hardest volunteer activity to get people to join, but on Mobilize it’s the most popular choice for volunteers. More than 40% of all shifts have volunteers going door-to-door in their communities.
Even in traditionally conservative states, MobilizeAmerica is helping to build a lasting infrastructure for the future, and virtual events have made it possible for volunteers in deep blue places to take action far from home, in places that need extra help. In 2018, more than 85,000 unique events have been offered on the platform.
Volunteers through MobilizeAmerica have always been disproportionately female.
With Stacey Abrams leading the ticket, Georgia stands out among key states with the highest percentage of female volunteers. In California, inspiring candidates like Katie Hill (CA-25) and Katie Porter (CA-45) are working to flip key House seats blue, energizing a higher-than-average share of female volunteers.
Young people are engaged and taking action at record levels this election cycle.
The story of the “apathetic millennial” is a myth that needs to be retired. Historically, young people have participated at comparatively low levels, especially in midterm elections. But, this year they’ve been exceptionally active. Volunteers under 34 make up the largest segment taking action through MobilizeAmerica.
