Kitchen Table Activism

Background: Kitchen Table Activism (KTA) is a monthly project of the Rural Organizing Project. Often building on quarterly themes, short actions are described in each KTA. The theory is that basic steps and tasks can lead to powerful collective results as small groups of people gather to complete the same action throughout the state of Oregon.

ROP works to keep the basic tasks easily achievable so that groups with other projects or groups with limited immediate energy can still manage to complete the KTA each month.

Rural Organizing Project
PO Box 1350,      Scappoose, OR 97056 

(503) 543-8417              Fax: (503) 543-8419

office@rop.org

April 2008 Activity

Registering Voters Early and Often: Jumpstart Your Civic Engagement!   

WHAT IS THE ACTIVITY?  In Klamath Falls, one senior at Klamath Union High School has decided to make it a goal to register all the members of his class who are eligible to register – any US citizen who is 17 or older.  These 100 or so young people will then receive ballots if they turn 18 by Election Day.  They will also receive voter guides from ROP so that they are not only registered, but educated voters.  In Wasco County, the local human dignity group is setting up a table outside of the Catholic Church where Spanish speaking volunteers will register eligible voters and hand out information on the ballot measures that target the immigrant community and threaten human dignity. 

This month’s KTA activity is to get a jumpstart on voter registration.  April 29^th marks that last day that new voters can register prior to the May primaries.  While we will be able to continue registering voters for the general election in November until October 14^th, this is a year when we want to start registering voters early.  There is a lot of excitement leading up to the primary election, even with Oregon’s relatively late primary, and we want to build on that interest among new voters.           

WHY THIS ACTIVITY? There is a lot at stake this election year in Oregon and nationally.  We will vote on a new president who is not a Bush!  We will consider a full slate of ballot measures that threaten democracy and seek to expand the war at home including initiatives that are anti-tax, anti-immigrant, and would expand mandatory minimum sentencing.  These issues and the candidates in 2008 are reaching segments of our population that often don’t vote and who feel excluded from the political process.  Young people, people of color, immigrants, women – all of whom are also people that we would like to engage more in our human dignity groups. 

Voting is only one small part of civic engagement.  Our real political power comes from getting involved early and often and organizing to build collective grassroots power that can impact outcomes not only on Election Day, but in the days and months both before and after the election.  But for many people, their entrance into our ongoing movement for justice will come in an election year when politics are a little more engaging and a little more accessible.  Ramping up our civic engagement work now starts with registering voters.  The next vital step is to engage them and educate them so that they exercise their vote in an informed way.   

STEPS TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY:

1.       Gather your human dignity leadership together or create a plan over email – the last day to register voters for the primary is April 29^th! 

2.       Decide who and how you will register voters.  Do you want to target youth by setting up a table at the community college or high school?  Are their existing events that could be good places to register voters?  Remember to think strategically about who you want to engage in your human dignity group.  And the very legal parameters for an open process.  (Read more below.)  You will be following up with voter education materials, but also think about where you are more likely to find people who will be interested in your group’s ongoing activities. 

3.       Go to your county elections office or post office and get voter registration cards.  You can find contact information and addresses for your county office at www.sos.state.or.us/elections/other.info/clerk.htm.

4.       Review the basic rules for voter registration below.  Calling 1-866-ORE-VOTES (1-866-673-8683) will connect you to the Secretary of State’s office for any questions about voter registration, ballots and voting. 

5.       After you register someone to vote, you will have 5 days to turn in their card to the elections office.  Before you turn it in, make sure to make a photocopy of their card.  This is perfectly legal as all of this information is public record and is a vital part of taking responsibility for educating the voters that you register.  Send your photocopies to ROP (or bring them to the Caucus on April 26^th in Hood River) where we will compile them into a spreadsheet and make sure that either through your local group or through ROP these new voters receive ROP’s Voter Guide by and for Small Town Voters. 

6.       Contact ROP to let us know what your plan is, to talk through any questions or ideas, or ask for other support.

7.       Register for the April 26^th Rural Caucus & Strategy Session in Hood River to plan next steps on how we move our civic engagement and movement building work forward!  Download a registration form at http://www.rop.org/Mar08.htm or email cara@rop.org today!

Voter Registration Drive Guidelines

Distribution of Voter Registration cards

Voter registration cards may be distributed in any reasonable manner that facilitates registration, including door to door.  Common techniques include setting up a table at events or in popular places, and having volunteers walk around with clipboards, pens, and registration cards.

While registering voters, Oregon law prohibits:

Ø      Seeking to influence political preference or party registration.

Ø      Displaying political preference or party allegiance (such as a button).

Ø      Making statements or taking any action to discourage a person from registering.

Ø      Making statements or taking any action the purpose or effect of which is to lead the person to believe that registering or not registering has any bearing on the availability of services or benefits. 

Ø      Seek to induce any person to register or vote.  This means that you cannot directly pay people or offer them anything in return for their registration.

Ø      Using lists of electors for commercial purposes.

Who can register?

There are only three requirements. You may register to vote if you are:

·         A resident of Oregon;

·         A United States citizen; and

·         17 years or older.

If you are 17 years of age, you will not receive a ballot until an election occurs on or after your 18th birthday.

How do I register to vote?
You may register to vote by filling out a registration form, available online or in person at your county elections office or the Secretary of State’s Elections Division.  Any person may request delivery of up to 5,000 voter registration cards from the Secretary of State in any year.

Registration cards must be returned to the county elections office of the county in which the registrant resides within five (5) days of the date the card is signed.

If registration cards are to be mailed, they must include a copy of the registrant’s identification.  Valid forms of identification include a copy of current government photo identification, or a copy of a paycheck stub, utility bill, bank statement, or government document showing your name and address.

If registration cards are to be dropped off in person, a copy of identification is not required.

A more complete list of Voter Registration Guideline and Q & A is available HERE