North Carolina Congressional Districts
NC-11, Our District
Good day and welcome to
DKos Asheville. This is the weekly DKos Asheville open thread for Saturday, May 30th. We try to get together every weekend to share with everyone what we're all up to in Western North Carolina and beyond. We hope this group and others serve to invigorate us locally and regionally here on Daily Kos, building on the sense of community that's grown through our online engagement. DKos Asheville and other local and state groups can give us all a better sense of connection, a better understanding of who we stand with, work with, and share with. We hope this local and wider community can help leverage our orange passion for progressive politics to elect more and better Democrats.
Tip of the week: Don't be afraid of strangers
1- Always remain cool and conversational, never confrontational.
2- Choose your subject carefully. You'll find the more you do it, the more confidence you get which allows you to expand your choice of people you might strike up a conversation with.
3- Start with the weather or "They could really use another checker" or whatever the two or more of you will have in common.
4- Then ask them what they think of Bernie Sanders.
5- See what happens
5- Feel good, make a difference.
Please follow us below the fold. This week's edition is another opportunity to talk about local and NC politics and discuss what we can do to support each other and build networks.
This week's focus is on the mechanics of precinct leadership which I'm finding more and more to be the most important elected office in America.
Today I would like to present some resources I dug up that were enlightening for me when thinking about what makes up the leadership and membership of a precinct. I have been writing on precincts for awhile now but every time I take a deeper look, I find something useful and interesting like the quote from President Lincoln laying out early formations of precincts to get the Whigs to the polls.
Following is a look at precinct leadership from a variety of sources. I hope someone reads this and says, "Hey, I could do that!"
North Carolina Congressional Districts. An excellent site listing all NC Districts with pictures and maps.
Wikipedia's definition of a precinct.
A precinct is generally the lowest-level governmentally-related division in the United States, and in that context is also known in some places as an election district. The US Census uses the term voting district.
Precincts usually do not have separate governmental authorities, but in some states, including Ohio, the voters within a precinct may by initiative or referendum vote on liquor control laws that will be applicable only within that specific precinct (called "local option elections"). For purposes of conducting elections, an entity such as a county or township is typically subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific location where its residents go to vote. Sometimes several precincts will use the same polling station.
Individuals, known by various titles such as precinct committeeman, precinct captain, or Precinct Committee Officer, are elected by ballot or county party executive committee, to represent precinct residents in every level of party operations. They represent how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and encourage people to vote. In theory, a precinct would have at least two such individuals (one for the Republican Party and another for the Democratic Party), though in areas where one party is dominant only that party may have such an individual.
Emphasis mine. All across every state, this is a problem. This is where we can fill gaps and challenge the belief that we can't win locally in red districts.
I was pleased to find this place which was right in my category for today's diary, Precinct leadership.
PRECINCT CHAIR DOT COM
The Responsibilities of a Precinct Chair
Precinct Chair Responsibilities
Seek Out Training Opportunities
Many of the tasks a good precinct chair should perform may seem rather intimidating at first. A lot of them can involve a fair amount of interaction with strangers, which can be a little nerve wracking if you have not done a lot of community work before. If you do not know exactly what it is you are supposed to do, it can be even worse!
Thankfully training is available to help you get a handle on these tasks – remember that the State and County party desperately wants you to be as successful as possible, and are there to help.
*Serve On Your County’s’ Democratic Committee
Each county in the United States hosts a county committee that is the official local branch of the state and national parties.
*Organize Your Precinct
As precinct chair, you are the organizer in chief of the party in your precinct boundaries. Active precinct chairs will seek out volunteers (more on this in later posts) to help them with get out the vote efforts both before and during the election cycle.
*Get Out The Vote (GOTV)
This is very important. Ideally all precinct chairs will do this, but it does take some effort and time which not everyone does have. Organizing phone banks to your local democratically inclined voters, arranging block walks, and offering drives to voters who cannot get to the polls unassisted. These are just a few examples of get out the vote activities precinct chairs can get involved in.
*Be A Local Resource
Sometimes voters simply want to know more about what is going on in the political arena. As a precinct chair odds are you will be keeping fairly well informed about the policy positions of your local candidates, and about issues that are important to the local community.
I really like the passion at this local Seattle effort to educate and win elections.
The Precinct Committee Officer
As a precinct committee officer, you are the representative of the Democratic Party to and for the citizens of your precinct. As government becomes more and more complex, and elected officials seem further and further removed from the voters, the precinct committee officer's role has become much more important. The PCO brings to the party organizations the concerns of the voters and of the neighborhood. Conversely, the PCO provides a link between the voter and the legislative district and county organizations, disseminating information and providing assistance where needed to the voters of the precinct.
Table of Contents
Who is Eligible
Election of a Precinct Committee Officer
Terms of Office
Vacancies and Appointed PCOs
Duties and Responsibilities of Precinct Committee Officers
Your role as a member of the County Central Committee
Minimum expectations of a PCO
Election Board Workers
The following is a manual for Precinct Chairs and Workers. It is a 14 page PDF and is packed with information. So you want to go to work? Well, here's a manual.
PRECINCT ORGANIZATION
A Manual for Precinct Chairs and Workers
The whole state must be so well organized that every Whig can be brought to the polls. So divide the county into small districts and appoint in each a committee. Make a perfect list of the voters and ascertain with certainty for whom they will vote... Keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters and have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence... On Election Day see that every Whig is brought to the polls. --- Abraham Lincoln, Letter to a friend, 1840
INTRODUCTION
The basics of precinct organization are the same today as they were 150 years ago when Abraham Lincoln wrote this letter. Computers, targeting and modern media have changed the face of campaigns but the basic battle plan to achieve victory at the polls remain the same.
Our job is straightforward: Find Democratic voters, get them registered to vote, and get them to the polls. Whether you are now a Precinct Chair, or want to be a Precinct Chair, or just want to help organize your precinct, this manual is for you.
Please join us in remembering Celtic Lassie and supporting Otteray Scribe and Burns Lass in this time of loss. And send well wishes to Gordon20024 as he recovers from some stuff. Best wishes for a great weekend.