MASSIVE Voter Registration Blitz - Ossining (Voter Registration Drive)
FACT: According to the Westchester County Board of Elections, Ossining (10562) has 13,940 registered voters. According to the U.S Census Bureau (2000 report, **hyperlink provided below), 24,483 people in zip code 10562 are 18 years of age or older. This suggests only 57% of all eligible voters in 10562 are registered.
FACT: In neighboring Briarcliff Manor (10510), using the same method we find that almost 95% of all eligible voters are registered. (6,837/7,208).
CONCLUSION: We have a lot of work to do in Ossining.
We are organizing a huge effort to register as many eligible citizens as possible in Ossining. Can we register everyone? Maybe not. But can we do everything possible to make certain that every single person has easy access to registration forms and help filling them out?
Yes we can.
We are planning a massive voter registration effort on the Weekend of June 14-15. This is not going to be a traditional registration event. In other words, we are not limiting our activity to stationing volunteers outside of grocery stores handing our forms, although that will be an important part of the effort. A brief outline of our plan is as follows:
1. The traditoinal drive: station volunteers outside of heavily trafficked markets (and churches on Sunday)
2. Set up a table at the Ossining Town Fair: the fair attracts upwards of 20,000 people annually, so this is an important opportunity for exposure.
3. Neighborhood canvassing: We have actually determined where unregistered citizens live and are planning a house-to-house canvassing effort. This micro-targeting effort is the most important aspect of the drive, and has the greatest potential to register a large number of voters. For years political candidates have canvassed neighborhoods soliciting votes. Surely we can canvass neighborhoods to create more voters.
4. Canvassing new residents. People who moved to Ossining within the past two years may have forgotten to reregister. When most people move, they don't consider reregistering a priority and some people even think that their registration automatically transfers. We have a list of houses bought and sold since 2007 and can easily register these new residents.
5. VoteZip.org. What about people who are not home, or people who don't have time to fill out a form? Hand them a VoteZip.org flyer along with a registration form. VoteZip.org is an online voter registration service that alerts local volunteers when a person in their area needs help registering. To learn more, visit www.votezip.org.
We plan to have a presence around town, in the neighborhoods, and at the town fair. In short, on the weekend of June 14-15, there will be nowhere a resident of Ossining can go without having the opportunity to register to vote. But we need at least 50 volunteers to make this happen. Please volunteer now, and let's make an historic impact on the town of Ossining!
If you have any questions, please email TJ Rogers - tjrogers85@hotmail.com.
** http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=10562&_cityTown=10562&_ state=&_zip=10562&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&show_2003_tab=&redirect=Y
58 people have signed up to attend this event.
