'Trick or Vote' reminds all to cast ballots

Jonathan K. Sims, Staff Writer
Published On: 10/ 6/2008

The summer is coming to a close, fall is just over the horizon, and in less than a month people across the nation will be getting into the spirit of Halloween.

On Oct. 31 costumes will be donned and the streets of Birmingham will be filled with ghosts, goblins and all sorts of ghouls seeking candy. When answering the door this year, however, you may be reminded about another important event that is taking place just four days after Halloween. These tricksters are not assaulting your door for candy but to remind you to go to the polls and cast your vote on Nov. 4.

This event, Trick or Vote, is a nonpartisan campaign being held across the nation, and sponsored in the Southeast by the organization Empower Alabama.

As a nonpartisan campaign, meaning that they have no formal affiliation with either political party, the only goal is to get young people involved in the electoral process. On Halloween night, participants who have been trained in the weeks prior to the event will knock on doors in areas known to have low voter turnouts, and remind them to get to the polls on Nov. 4.

The idea behind Trick or Vote is that most people are inclined to open their doors on Halloween, and talking to people face-to-face will likely improve the chance of getting them to go out and vote. With this in mind, the final consideration is that the election is only four days after Halloween. In this relatively short amount of time, the likelihood of Trick or Vote influencing people to go out to the polls could be a very big possibility.
Where did this idea come from, and how did it make its way to Birmingham?

“Trick or Vote is the brain child of a grassroots powerhouse in Oregon, The Bus Project. Trick or Vote first launched in 2004 and has continued to grow, becoming the nation’s largest nonpartisan get-out-the-vote canvass,” saif Developmental Director of Empower Alabama, Anna Ruth Williams. “The Bus Project approached Empower Alabama in July about sponsoring the first Trick or Vote event in the Southeastern United States. We recruited two partner organizations, Catalyst for Birmingham and Greater Birmingham Ministries, to help organize and plan this great event.”

Williams hopes to have “at least 150 volunteers knock on 15,000 doors” the night of Halloween.

Bradley Davidson, executive director of Empower Alabama, described the organization’s beginning.

“[Empower Alabama] was founded in 2006 and began programming in the fall of 2007,” he said. “The basic idea is that we want to get young people (and by young we mean under 40 and the young-at-heart) to get more engaged in the political process.”

According to Davidson, Empower Alabama also registers voters at different venues and concerts through their program called Kids Got the Vote. Additionally, in the near future, they will start a new program in public high schools that registers high school seniors to vote.

For more information on Trick or Vote, or to find out how to get involved with Empower Alabama, visit www.empoweralabama.org.
 

Email: jsims1@uab.edu