GETTING THE WORD OUT: Get Out the Vote Campaign Is in Full Swing

Rob Ybañez (right) fires up participants in preparation for canvassing efforts. Photo by Blythe Spindler-Richardson.

The efforts to spread the word about the August 4th election, and the disastrous amendments on the ballot, are well underway. STUN is just one of many area organizations collaborating on the Get Out the Vote campaign, including many of our frequent partners like Missouri Jobs with Justice and the NAACP. The campaign kicked off on July 18th, with a rally at the Drew Lewis Foundation, as part of the statewide John Lewis Weekend of Action, inspired by the late civil rights activist's directive to "get in good trouble".

Speakers from each participating group led chants and pumped up the assembly with motivational speeches. To recap, the ballot items of particular concern are the proposed Amendment 4, which would add burdensome requirements to passing citizen-led ballot initiatives, and Amendment 5, which would replace the state's income tax with an expanded sales tax which would shift the state's financial burdens from the rich to the working class. Amendment 4 is an attack on democracy, and Amendment 5 is a poverty tax, plain and simple. And that's why all of the participants were energized, angry, and ready to brave the July heat to go out and start spreading the word, which they started doing immediately after the rally.

I myself participated in the first day of canvassing, during which our group of four quite proudly canvassed an entire apartment complex, and found the tenants there overwhelmingly receptive and willing to take action once they'd been informed of the facts. Between all of the participants representing STUN, we knocked on over 200 doors and spoke with almost 50 people in just that first session. That doesn't even count the participants from the other organizations! And while the campaign is still underway, as of this newsletter we currently stand at 480 doors and 107 conversations. 

There are still more canvassing events scheduled, and we still need as many people participating as we can get. Every door we knock on is another voter we can potentially convince to cast their vote to protect the power of the people. Come help make sure Springfield voters know what's at stake, and what they can do to stop it!