vote already will ya

i took a pretty deep dive into understanding the recent chicago municipal election results. particularly with respect to the 2nd ward and my neighborhood- east village.

i think most people who are registered to vote want to vote. i think most care. i also think that on election day- most don't make it a priority- something comes up at work, one isn't feeling their best, a spontaneous invitation from a friend. life happens.

but.

this april 7th- let’s all vote. and encourage others to do the same. let’s make it as easy as we can for others to vote. if you run a business remind your employees that they have a right to time away from the office to vote. take your neighbor to the polling place with you. do something. after all it is our city, our ward, our neighborhood, and our election.

when i got home from the office on election night one of the first things i did was look at the raw turnout numbers in my ward. i was surprised to see so many precincts where turnout was below the pitiful citywide average of 34%. while studying the results i noticed that the largest precinct by area (20) had the lowest turnout in the ward while the smallest precinct by area (13) had the highest. it would seem that a large factor in who votes is simply convenience- not breaking any news here. no voter in the 13th precinct had to travel more than 1 city block to vote. while the 20th precinct travels north from north avenue (1600 north) almost all the way to fullerton (2400 north). walking a block versus a mile is a big deal in the dead of a chicago winter. the following graphic shows the irregular heartbeat of voter turnout within the new 2nd ward.

some precincts performed well compared to the city average- but no precinct reach, to me at least, an acceptable level of voter turnout. what can we do to make that happen?

during the campaigning leading up to the february 24th municipal election one item that really stuck with me was a letter that i received from a neighbor that i didnt know. the letter was campaigning for a particular candidate. i didn't vote for that candidate but it the idea of neighbors taking the time to persuade neighbors made an impact on me. such a powerful idea in building a true community. i tucked that idea away in my mind.

i know there have been candidates and their campaigns out knocking on doors. i have seen the pictures and every now and again i see a leaflet on my door saying “candidate was here”. but i have yet to have an actual encounter with a candidate or their volunteers within my neighborhood. i wonder how many of my neighbors haven't had that personal interaction. i wonder if it would matter. i think, and am operating under the assumption, that if a neighbor encourages you to vote it will make you more likely to vote.

in looking at the ward it is clear that there are two distinct sides of the ward. one side has the hancock building and oak street. the other side has a more traditional neighborhood. i was curious how the two sides of the ward would differ. in the following diagram of the ward the john hancock building is shown on the east side of ward and a 3 flat is drawn on the west. try as you might- i doubt you will be able to find the 3 flat (i know where it is and i cannot even find it). this goes to show how interesting the 2nd ward is. it comes as close as any ward to representing a slice through chicago and a series of different neighborhoods. the electorate needs to reflect it.

first i looked at the mayoral race. there was clear support on the west side of the ward for jesus “chuy” garcia while the east side was all in on mayor emanual.

these images were striking to me.

next i looked at where the money came from for the aldermanic race. an overwhelming majority of the campaign donations within the 2nd ward came from the far east side of the ward. intuitively it makes sense to me that a majority of the big donations come from the east side of the ward but i was surprised that so little came from the neighborhoods to the west.

before we move on to my neighborhood i have proposed a few ideas on increasing voter turnout across the ward.

1. cards against humanity’s office is within the new 2nd ward. they hosted a debate prior to the election. it was quite successful. the audience was engaged and they live-streamed it on youtube. they are obviously engaged in civic issues and i decided to write them and see if they would be interested in sending a card- perhaps they make a special card from their game about the run-off election and send it to everyone in their precinct. i hope they will do it.
2. there are 8 or so neighborhood associations within the new 2nd ward. i sent a letter to each of them asking them to engage their leadership & membership in getting out the vote. the majority of these organizations strive to engage in local politics- there is no better use of their time and resources than working to get out the vote in their neighborhood in a non-partisan way. i am sure that many neighborhood groups and their members are volunteering and working to get a certain candidate elected. i would like to call on these civic minded people to put aside their partisan goals for a day or a weekend and work to simply get out the vote.

i am excited to see if any of these items take off. we will find out in a few weeks.

my neighborhood

after spending time looking at the new 2nd ward as a whole, it was time to move on to looking at my neighborhood. my neighborhood, east village, lies within 2 wards- the 1st and the 2nd, not to mention the mayoral election this year has also brought out many strong opinions. there were and are hotly contested aldermanic races in both wards. the 2nd ward has proceeded to a run-off, dwindling down 6 candidates to 2. in the first ward there were 3 candidates challenging the incumbant, alderman moreno. two of alderman moreno’s challengers are suing the chicago board of election commissioners, alderman moreno, and the other challenger in the race- seeking a recount and to throw out alleged illegal ballots, to have legally cast votes not count based on activities by alleged moreno supporters, among other things. a pdf of the complaint can be viewed here. with all this going on i was certain that voter turnout in my neighborhood would be high. i was wrong.

my initial reaction to voter turnout being low in east village was that it must have something to do with the relatively large student/young adult population in the area. the trend graph above doesn’t totally bear that out- here is why. when you look at the census data- our neighborhood has been getting older the last ten years while there has been no real change in voter turnout- but if you look at the presidential elections- that is the only time that our neighborhood has outperformed the citywide turnout and the past two presidential elections have had high young voter turnout. so maybe it is all age related. i am not smart enough to answer that question. but that doesn't mean we cant work to change it.

i was curious what others in the neighborhood thought and asked the question on everyblock- why doesn't east village vote?

a have a few ideas to increase turnout within our neighborhood.

1. continue to ask the east village neighborhood association to get involved. the idea has been discussed at their last 2 meetings but to date, as far as i know, no action has been taken. one member indicated that he was willing to write letters- so there is hope! there could be a letter writing party, or a day of door knocking- there is a group of individuals who are invested in the neighborhood, and enjoy working on civic actions- it’s time to show it.
2. i am walking around and having a drink in bars & restaurants and asking the owner or manager if they would remind people to vote the weekend before the election. either actively with their voice or more passively by adding it to their receipts, or posting it on their chalkboard, etc.

the hope is these actions will convince people make voting a priority on april 7th.

my precinct

in november of 2012 i knocked on doors. i talked to people on the street. i talked to people at my bus stop. that election saw the highest turnout in my precinct ever.

while i cannot prove causation (and that isn't really the point- i wasn't the only one out knocking on doors) the following image shows the delta between citywide turnout and turnout within my precinct. the cyan areas show the elections when voter turnout was higher in my precinct than it was citywide. the blue areas show when turnout within the city was higher. out of the last 8 elections- only twice has my precinct out-performed the citywide turnout, in the 2008(barely) and 2012 presidential election.

it’s time to knock on doors. it’s time to write letters to our neighbors. it’s time to talk to our neighbors. it’s time to get out the vote.

this election i decided that i don't want to sit idly by. i want to work to get out the vote. i am going to focus on increasing the turnout within my neighborhood. i am going to do four things.

1. over the course of the next 3 weeks i am talking to bar and cafe owners adjacent to my precinct and asking them to tell people to vote. whether actively with their voice or a more passive measure like adding it to their printed receipts or the like. it is the only idea i have had to reach young voters. do you have any ideas?
2. 3 weeks before the election (this week) i am sending out letters to approximately 15% of my precinct. i am targeting these letters to new residents. the way i am targeting new residents is by addressing the letters to addresses that have been recently built or rehabbed. the letter is encouraging them to request an absentee ballot be mailed to them so that they can just vote and mail it back. i am also letting them know where our polling place (a bar- why not just vote so that you can tell your friends that you voted for mayor in a bar) is and what the ballot will look like.
3. 2 weeks before the election i am sending letters to another 15% of precinct residents. this letter is going to ask my neighbors to get out and early vote. it will also ask for the recipient to encourage the other residents of their building or their direct neighbors to vote. for this mailing i secured the usps’s harvey milk stamps- they seem appropriate.
4. the final week before the election i am going to knock on some doors and remind people to vote.

this work is being done in a completely non-partisan way. i have decided to not support alyx pattison or brian hopkins. the same with the mayoral race. i just want people to vote. i want to make it personal for my neighbors.

i thought about whether i wanted to do this or to do something like i normally do during an election. the last governor’s race for example- i made a donation to pat quinn. i volunteered for him. i have done the same for numerous candidates all of my adult life. but then i thought why not take those resources and use them to target voter turnout. which in some ways i care about more than supporting a particular candidate. i searched for groups working to get out the vote in chicago- but i couldn't find any. so i decided to just start doing it. my attitude about many things lately has been “if not now- when”.

let’s all vote. and encourage others to do the same. after all it is our city, our ward, our neighborhood, and our election.

see you at happy village to vote.

for additional 2nd ward election data visit our2ndward

for additional east village election data visit oureastvillage

p.s.

you are welcome to come over and help address envelopes- our write your own letters.