Essay: Reaching Wisconsin voters with Operation Swing State

Editor’s note: You can read the Roundtable’s guide on how to get involved in the elections here.

I volunteered to recruit registered voters in Wisconsin through the Democratic canvassing group Operation SwingState. When I signed up, I didn’t see any groups leaving from Evanston, so I chose a group leaving from Northbrook. We met at 10am on a sunny Sunday. The very informal briefing, which was held outside, started around 10:15 am. There was a carafe of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and some snacks.

This was my experience.

Various volunteers

Other volunteers included a couple with two young children, three women who I think knew each other, two men who did not know each other and myself. The Northbrook leader explained where we would be going and what would typically happen when we arrived at our destination and knocked on the door. He suggested we stop for lunch on the way to Wisconsin since our shift was scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. The women rode together in one car and I drove up with the two men. We were all on our way around 10:40 am

My driving friends were Jed Weiner, 70, a healthcare communications consultant living in Chicago, and Matt Cassidy, 51, a financial technology systems analyst (“I’m not a trader,” he emphasized) living in Northbrook. As Matt drove, we discussed why we were volunteering, what we did professionally, and other polite small talk. Jed was concerned that we had finished our shift before the Packers game started, a concern I had not considered. (What’s a Packer? Just kidding.)

Royalty on Route 94

I said I hadn’t been to Wisconsin before. As we continued on Route 94, someone pointed out the famous Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. The what? The castle was on the other side of the highway and I missed the view, but they pointed it out on the way back. They asked if I wanted to stop for some cheese, but I declined and decided to save that experience for another day.

MiniVan 9

Our destination was Greendale, Wisconsin. I was concerned about the ease of use of the only software application, MiniVan 9part of NGPVan, a leading technology provider. “MiniVAN is the leading mobile app for democratic and progressive campaigns and causes,” it says on its homepage.

I worried unnecessarily; the app is easy to use and updates every few minutes. I downloaded the app before I left Evanston. Once on site in Wisconsin, I entered the code for my assignment. Within a minute, my assigned neighborhood appeared on my phone.