March 2024 DEI Committee Blog

Inclusive Voter Mobilization

It’s 2024, the time when all WGR members turn their attention to the elections that will shape our work.  The WGR DEI Committee invited Dr. Mary Esther Van Shura, Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Education of the University of Pittsburgh to join our March meeting to discuss best practices for inclusive voter outreach and engagement.

Don’t assume that there is a neatly cleaved ideological divide across Democrat and Republican camps. The picture is more complex and plays out across progressive, moderate, and conservative lines within the parties. These inconsistencies and the desire to identify outside the political establishment has been a major rationale for the “uncommitted” vote movement in this general election. 

 – Dr. Mary Esther Van Shura, Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Van Shura is an expert in grassroots campaigning and in the social and political dynamics of education. She has coordinated Democratic campaigns at the federal, state and local levels and has served as a Teller for the 2020 Electoral College for President-elect Joseph Biden and as an Elector for President-elect Bill Clinton in 1992. Regardless of one’s political objectives or alliances, Dr. Van Shura’s insights are applicable for anyone who seeks to deepen connections with their communities. We’ve paraphrased many of her insightful comments here.

Q:  How do the political issues of the moment impact voter turnout? 

A:  The Presidential race is an indicator of voter engagement, generating about 70% of turnout. Regardless of party, many people do not vote even though so much is at stake from a federal and local perspective. In many communities, including Pennsylvania, the driving force in the health of community voter engagement begins with school board elections, at least in PA.  In communities like this, “grocery store politics” are important.  Residents are individually engaged on issues because they feel relevant and personal, as with school taxes. 

Q: How do campaigns identify communities of voters to engage and mobilize? Are these   practices sustainable?

A:  Depending on the campaign’s resources, campaigns strategically target voting districts and analyze the messages and issues that will spur engagement. 

Effective campaigns combine statistical and psychological strategies. Volunteer strategies include signage and door-knocking. Because of demographic changes, the voters of the future are people of color. This doesn’t mean that you can discount older voters. They are the most reliable voters and most consistent taxpayers. 

Particular rural communities are interesting to both Democrats and Republicans. These are areas where the local economies are struggling, and people become disengaged from politics or susceptible to opportunistic political tactics. While some people refer to these communities as marginalized, Dr. Van Shura personally challenges that term, because it points to those that she views as victims of "those that have the power to draw the margins”. 

In communities with lower voter turnout, it's important to focus on issues that are personal and to use messengers that are familiar and ‘look like the community.’ Casual conversations, for example in the line at the grocery store, are a great way to develop a really keen understanding of the types of issues that matter to everyday people. Key quote: “You need to meet people where they are, not where you want them to be.”

Q: What kinds of reforms could have the biggest impact on expanding voter access and engagement?

• Election Day as a federal holiday, or if voting occurred on a weekend? If the intent is to increase voter turnout, yes! But we also want to provide the best mechanism to provide access. A designated federal holiday would raise the importance, however, we don’t have national elections. We have an electoral college. Not sure it’s going to change the success rate. 

• What if voting were required, as part of your civic duty? I think there’d be resistance to that, state-by-state.

• How about early voting? Early and mail-in voting are advantageous to the democratic party, but there are real concerns about people who may vote without all the information. This is particularly relevant in the timing of a presidential election, where many of the major national or international issues can occur as an “October Surprise” after people have cast their ballots before election day.

• Biggest obstacle: the lack of uniformity in the primaries. All 50 states do not have the same process for primaries, some are closed whereas others are open. This intersects with the increasing partisanship that is leading us down the path of dysfunction as moderates are voted out.

Q: Do you think that people still feel that elections are important or have they become more distrustful or cynical. Does this vary by party or demographic group?

A:  There’s been a significant decrease among those with more conservative republican affiliation in the “belief in science and data.” This is influencing decisions and should influence how we reach out to potential voters. We are now in a situation where people do not believe the data, and wielding data to them is counter-productive. We Need to talk about other variables, which include the ideological divide.

Q:  How do you get people excited to vote, when we are watching a repeat election with the same candidates? It seems like there is a large swatch of voters who aren't motivated to vote in general.

A:  Generally, people are very hesitant to talk about politics, but that does not mean they don’t have strong opinions about it. Dr. Van Shura believes that people care about the local and federal issues and that voter turnout data, interpreted with other socio-economic data illuminates the important issues. 

Historically, it’s savvy to be skeptical of the early polling data. Always take it with a grain of salt. Trying to engage people for a year at a high level is unrealistic and misreads the general public. People will get engaged as the issues shift and come into focus, and as we get closer to election day. A significant portion of voters don’t really pay attention to the details of a candidate’s positions or campaign until the end of the summer. 

We welcome all WGR members to join DEI Committee Meetings on the third Tuesday of each month. Register here for the next meeting on April 16th from 12 - 1pm Eastern Time. For more information on WGR’s DEI Committee, please reach out to dei.wgr@gmail.com.

WGR DEI Chairperson Larkin Willis and Co-Vice Chair Sylvia Aguilera authored this month’s blog.