ORGANIZATION: Hi Tony! #PostcardsToVoters does great work!
TONY: On behalf of the team, thanks!
O: We have an exciting and important project to propose to you for PTV.
T: Great! Tell me more.
O: You know that state with hundreds of thousands of voters about to be purged?
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TONY: On behalf of the team, thanks!
O: We have an exciting and important project to propose to you for PTV.
T: Great! Tell me more.
O: You know that state with hundreds of thousands of voters about to be purged?
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T: Yes. It’s all over the news.
O: Would you organize your volunteers to write to those hundreds of thousands of addresses urging the voters to take action to restore their voter registrations?
T: Well, let me understand a little more first.
O: Okay.
T: Yes. It’s all over the news.
O: Would you organize your volunteers to write to those hundreds of thousands of addresses urging the voters to take action to restore their voter registrations?
T: Well, let me understand a little more first.
O: Okay.
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T: Are any of these records for voters who may have moved away?
O: Yes, that is a certainly a part of the list.
T: Ok. Can we match the purged records to the USPS National Change of Address file?
O: What’s that?
T: It’s a service offered by the USPS to businesses.
T: Are any of these records for voters who may have moved away?
O: Yes, that is a certainly a part of the list.
T: Ok. Can we match the purged records to the USPS National Change of Address file?
O: What’s that?
T: It’s a service offered by the USPS to businesses.
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O: How do they get all that data?
T: When people move, they almost always want their mail forwarded to their new address. They complete and sign a form and give it to the Post Office. All these address changes are stored to direct mail efficiently to the new address.
O: So?
O: How do they get all that data?
T: When people move, they almost always want their mail forwarded to their new address. They complete and sign a form and give it to the Post Office. All these address changes are stored to direct mail efficiently to the new address.
O: So?
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T: Well, it’s common knowledge that when people move, they very rarely send a written notice to their local elections administrator asking that their voter registration be canceled.
O: Agreed.
T: Since the purge list is so large, we can reduce it by comparing to the NCOA.
T: Well, it’s common knowledge that when people move, they very rarely send a written notice to their local elections administrator asking that their voter registration be canceled.
O: Agreed.
T: Since the purge list is so large, we can reduce it by comparing to the NCOA.
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O: Compare the purged addresses to the list of addresses where people write in that they were moving?
T: Yes! The vast majority of the list will probably match and we don’t need to write to addresses where there’s absolute proof the voter moved away.
O: How would that work?
O: Compare the purged addresses to the list of addresses where people write in that they were moving?
T: Yes! The vast majority of the list will probably match and we don’t need to write to addresses where there’s absolute proof the voter moved away.
O: How would that work?
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T: Businesses do it all the time to save postage. There is software that can take the list and compare it to the NCOA. In fact, every state Dem party that uses VAN or VoteBuilder has a field showing which voters’ addresses are matches in the NCOA.
O: Sounds complicated.
T: Businesses do it all the time to save postage. There is software that can take the list and compare it to the NCOA. In fact, every state Dem party that uses VAN or VoteBuilder has a field showing which voters’ addresses are matches in the NCOA.
O: Sounds complicated.
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T: Well, it is an extra step to take. But, since we are considering asking volunteers to spend their time and postage, we owe it to them to remove all of the records we know without a doubt match mail forwarding requests.
O: And this is something you can do?
T: Yes.
T: Well, it is an extra step to take. But, since we are considering asking volunteers to spend their time and postage, we owe it to them to remove all of the records we know without a doubt match mail forwarding requests.
O: And this is something you can do?
T: Yes.
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O: How much will it cost?
T: If the state Dem party will let us use their database, it can be free. Otherwise it might cost a couple hundred dollars based on number of records to process.
O: And then if the moved records are scrubbed, you’d consider helping?
T: Yes
O: How much will it cost?
T: If the state Dem party will let us use their database, it can be free. Otherwise it might cost a couple hundred dollars based on number of records to process.
O: And then if the moved records are scrubbed, you’d consider helping?
T: Yes
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- The End -
I’ve had this basic conversation numerous times over the last couple of years. To date, not one single group has ever followed back up. To my knowledge, not one group has spent their own money to send mail to all of those purged addresses. It’s too expensive.
- The End -
I’ve had this basic conversation numerous times over the last couple of years. To date, not one single group has ever followed back up. To my knowledge, not one group has spent their own money to send mail to all of those purged addresses. It’s too expensive.
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That’s why they turn to volunteers.
But, when they want #PostcardsToVoters’ volunteers to help, I put the condition out there that the list must be scrubbed first so that we aren’t writing to addresses where it’s known the voter moved because the voter filled out a form.
That’s why they turn to volunteers.
But, when they want #PostcardsToVoters’ volunteers to help, I put the condition out there that the list must be scrubbed first so that we aren’t writing to addresses where it’s known the voter moved because the voter filled out a form.
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And then crickets.
Be careful and ask questions to understand voter purge postcard writing efforts. On the surface, they sound urgent. The volumes are large. The idea’s important.
But, the devil is in the details.
Dealing with dormant records and moved voters is not new.
And then crickets.
Be careful and ask questions to understand voter purge postcard writing efforts. On the surface, they sound urgent. The volumes are large. The idea’s important.
But, the devil is in the details.
Dealing with dormant records and moved voters is not new.
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If multi-million dollar groups with historied and national presence have not for years prioritized their spending to write to unscrubbed lists, why should volunteers?
If simple, industry-standard list management practices allow for accurate matching to reduce list size...
If multi-million dollar groups with historied and national presence have not for years prioritized their spending to write to unscrubbed lists, why should volunteers?
If simple, industry-standard list management practices allow for accurate matching to reduce list size...
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...so that valuable volunteer resources aren’t wasted writing to voters who haven’t lived at those addresses for years, isn’t the responsible thing as an organizer to require that step be taken?
It may not get the same media treatment when the list goes from 400k to 4K.
...so that valuable volunteer resources aren’t wasted writing to voters who haven’t lived at those addresses for years, isn’t the responsible thing as an organizer to require that step be taken?
It may not get the same media treatment when the list goes from 400k to 4K.
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But with so much important work to do and limited volunteer resources, it’s better to work smarter and sacrifice the media attention.
If any of the organizations who approached us for help want to reconsider, we’re here and willing.
Thanks!
But with so much important work to do and limited volunteer resources, it’s better to work smarter and sacrifice the media attention.
If any of the organizations who approached us for help want to reconsider, we’re here and willing.
Thanks!
