voter registration at FFF
Jan. 14th, 2004 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiSheeri had the brilliant idea to print up voter registration forms and dual-purpose the Bisexual Resource Center table as a voter registration drive at the Fetish Flea Fair. Strangely enough, at the last moment, she didn't have enough volunteers for Saturday, so Marmota and I volunteered. I didn't believe at first that Sheeri was really lacking for volunteers-- it seemed like such a great deal, just 4 hours manning the table (with other people) getting comp for FFF admission. But, sure enough, when I showed up at noon, Sheeri was manning the table all by herself, pushing pamphlets on bisexual issues, STD info, free safer sex supplies, buttons, beads, books, and voter registration forms all at the same time. So I'm glad I went, doing voter registration is a splendid thing to do and Sheeri deserved all the support in the world for getting it going.
Sheeri's cleavage did its part for democracy. She wore this little latex top with as much cleavage as she could get and stay legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and had written across her chest "Ask me how to register to vote". Bless Sheeri and her freedom-loving libido.
First time ever doing voter registration was a learning experience for me. I think the most important lesson I learned is that I am not doing the world any favor by trying to do voter registration before having had a hearty breakfast. Why do I keep denying that my body has any needs? When I found out that Sheeri really was in need of help, I rushed on down to the Park Plaza in such a tizzy that I didn't stop to eat. When I got to the table, just Sheeri was there, so I didn't want to abandon her for the sake of breakfast. I called Marmota and told him to get "anything-- muffin and coffee are fine" on his way in, figuring that would perk me enough that I could then figure out the food thing more rationally. He didn't get there until 1:00, by which time my stomach started to be neurotic, doing the "yes I'm starving-- no I'm too queasy to eat anything" thing. The muffin and black coffee kept me going at a minimal level but made my stomach even more unsettled. So I sort of went into famine mode for the rest of the day. Low-blood-sugar shakes, not really thinking clearly, and yet putting on the energetic cheery facade to try to reel in people and register them.
I regret that we didn't have a sign announcing/explaining the voter registration drive. It's really hard to make eye contact with and inquire the voter registration status of everyone who goes by. It's especially hard for a sleep-deprived starving shy mumble-tongued introvert. I tried to do the "Hi! Are you registered to vote? Hi! Is your voter registration up to date?" constantly, every minute that there were people in our hallway, but it was really hard, and I failed to keep going at times. If we had had a sign, then perhaps some people who were interested in registering to vote would have seen what we were doing even when we weren't yipping about it and then they could have approached us. It would have helped to convey in a non-threatening way what we were doing to all those people who pointedly won't make eye contact with anyone holding a clipboard. (Lord knows I don't make eye contact with people holding clipboards. They might be asking for money, or asking me to sign a petition that I don't have time to figure out if I agree with.) I did make a crude sign late in the day when we found a box and the marker, and much discussion of how to get away with taping a sign to the Park Plaza wallpaper ensued. Not sure if that sign did any good-- it didn't stand out in an environment with so many other visually arresting things.
If we had had a sign with the proper graphics that conveyed something about the idea of voting, in the U.S., for elected officials, perhaps it would have helped with the problem that a lot of people didn't know what we were talking about even when they deciphered that I said "Are you registered to vote?" A lot of people would ask "Vote for what?" or say "But I'm not a member yet." They seemed to think we were talking about voting for officials of NELA, or some subterrenian nation of leather, or something. I would explain "You know, vote for president... governor... congressmen... mayor... city council..." until they seemed to get it. Sometimes they still didn't get it, still thinking I was talking about NELA or something. Hah, like I know anything about NELA politics.
START SARCASM
Oh sure, being kinky has nothing to do with voting for elected officials! It's not like they have anything to do with the government! And even if they did, the government would never break down your doors and take away your wooden spoons! Right, we don't have to work for freedom. Freedom is a free gift from God that we get just for being white, or something. Oh, no, being kinky has no bearing on politics at all. Leave governance to those people whose so-called Christianity inspires them to try to stuff their own ideas of sexual morality down the rest of our throats, why don't we.
END SARCASM
A variety of reactions from the people who did understand what voter registration meant. Many people were, of course, like "of course I'm registered! Never miss an election!" Bless them. Then there were the people who didn't want to register. Some people don't bother because they always hate all the available options. I can understand that-- I don't agree with that, I think that if you learn enough about what is going on, you come to hate some of the options more than others, and start so vehemently wishing that some people would lose that you put as many the clothespins on your nose as you need to vote for Joe Lieberman or whomever if that's what it takes. If you're paying attention. But I can understand the "they all suck" feeling. I don't understand the people who act like I'm trying to get them to swallow something vile when I try to hand them a voter registration form.
Sheeri had printed off a bunch of the National Mail Voter Registration Form. Were I to do this, I would get a big pile of the Massachusetts form, and use that for all the Mass residents. The national form has some problems. It asks for an ID number, which Sheeri thought, from the instructions, should be the Social Security Number. People balked at writing their SSN on the form, and they were right to. I spoke with Rich about this later, and he said that this was totally bogus. The Massachusetts form does not ask for SSN. It is totally inappropriate for the national form to ask for the SSN, so much so that Rich thinks that some states might reject the form if it does have SSN on it. I don't know what kind of dingbats in the federal government put this form together. It also asks for race, fortunately marked optional, but offensive nonetheless. I'm a U.S. citizen, I'm over 18, I live at this address, period; this is not about the color of my skin or the shape of my nose.
We were collecting the completed forms in a box to mail in to the various states. This was OK with most people, but some people may not have filled out forms because they may have harbored suspicions that we were doing something uncool and immature like collecting addresses or weeding out the Republicans. So, the other thing I would do differently would be to provide the addresses, so that people could mail the form in themselves if they wished. Sheeri had meant to bring the booklet with the addresses, but alas, it was mislaid. Having that booklet with all the instructions would also be really helpful in case you get, oh, someone from Nebraska who wants to know, for example, if they have to write down a party affiliation.
We were lacking generally in general voting information. Like, say, when is the primary in Massachusetts? I don't feel like that was a big deal, though. Fortunately, Marmota was knowledgeable about how being registered as unaffiliated with any party impacts your voting in primaries and vice versa.
I did take a brief break to poke around at the FFF vendors. But, tired, shaky from hunger, overwhelmed with the crowds, all wound up about politics, I was insufficiently in touch with my libido to have any idea whether I even want a vibrating dildo.
Bases to cover when I do this again, in decreasing order of importance:
* Massachusetts voter registration forms with mailing instructions if needed
* Breakfast
* Clipboards and pens
* Posters
* National forms and addresses and instructions
Did I forget anything?
Sheeri's cleavage did its part for democracy. She wore this little latex top with as much cleavage as she could get and stay legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and had written across her chest "Ask me how to register to vote". Bless Sheeri and her freedom-loving libido.
First time ever doing voter registration was a learning experience for me. I think the most important lesson I learned is that I am not doing the world any favor by trying to do voter registration before having had a hearty breakfast. Why do I keep denying that my body has any needs? When I found out that Sheeri really was in need of help, I rushed on down to the Park Plaza in such a tizzy that I didn't stop to eat. When I got to the table, just Sheeri was there, so I didn't want to abandon her for the sake of breakfast. I called Marmota and told him to get "anything-- muffin and coffee are fine" on his way in, figuring that would perk me enough that I could then figure out the food thing more rationally. He didn't get there until 1:00, by which time my stomach started to be neurotic, doing the "yes I'm starving-- no I'm too queasy to eat anything" thing. The muffin and black coffee kept me going at a minimal level but made my stomach even more unsettled. So I sort of went into famine mode for the rest of the day. Low-blood-sugar shakes, not really thinking clearly, and yet putting on the energetic cheery facade to try to reel in people and register them.
I regret that we didn't have a sign announcing/explaining the voter registration drive. It's really hard to make eye contact with and inquire the voter registration status of everyone who goes by. It's especially hard for a sleep-deprived starving shy mumble-tongued introvert. I tried to do the "Hi! Are you registered to vote? Hi! Is your voter registration up to date?" constantly, every minute that there were people in our hallway, but it was really hard, and I failed to keep going at times. If we had had a sign, then perhaps some people who were interested in registering to vote would have seen what we were doing even when we weren't yipping about it and then they could have approached us. It would have helped to convey in a non-threatening way what we were doing to all those people who pointedly won't make eye contact with anyone holding a clipboard. (Lord knows I don't make eye contact with people holding clipboards. They might be asking for money, or asking me to sign a petition that I don't have time to figure out if I agree with.) I did make a crude sign late in the day when we found a box and the marker, and much discussion of how to get away with taping a sign to the Park Plaza wallpaper ensued. Not sure if that sign did any good-- it didn't stand out in an environment with so many other visually arresting things.
If we had had a sign with the proper graphics that conveyed something about the idea of voting, in the U.S., for elected officials, perhaps it would have helped with the problem that a lot of people didn't know what we were talking about even when they deciphered that I said "Are you registered to vote?" A lot of people would ask "Vote for what?" or say "But I'm not a member yet." They seemed to think we were talking about voting for officials of NELA, or some subterrenian nation of leather, or something. I would explain "You know, vote for president... governor... congressmen... mayor... city council..." until they seemed to get it. Sometimes they still didn't get it, still thinking I was talking about NELA or something. Hah, like I know anything about NELA politics.
START SARCASM
Oh sure, being kinky has nothing to do with voting for elected officials! It's not like they have anything to do with the government! And even if they did, the government would never break down your doors and take away your wooden spoons! Right, we don't have to work for freedom. Freedom is a free gift from God that we get just for being white, or something. Oh, no, being kinky has no bearing on politics at all. Leave governance to those people whose so-called Christianity inspires them to try to stuff their own ideas of sexual morality down the rest of our throats, why don't we.
END SARCASM
A variety of reactions from the people who did understand what voter registration meant. Many people were, of course, like "of course I'm registered! Never miss an election!" Bless them. Then there were the people who didn't want to register. Some people don't bother because they always hate all the available options. I can understand that-- I don't agree with that, I think that if you learn enough about what is going on, you come to hate some of the options more than others, and start so vehemently wishing that some people would lose that you put as many the clothespins on your nose as you need to vote for Joe Lieberman or whomever if that's what it takes. If you're paying attention. But I can understand the "they all suck" feeling. I don't understand the people who act like I'm trying to get them to swallow something vile when I try to hand them a voter registration form.
Sheeri had printed off a bunch of the National Mail Voter Registration Form. Were I to do this, I would get a big pile of the Massachusetts form, and use that for all the Mass residents. The national form has some problems. It asks for an ID number, which Sheeri thought, from the instructions, should be the Social Security Number. People balked at writing their SSN on the form, and they were right to. I spoke with Rich about this later, and he said that this was totally bogus. The Massachusetts form does not ask for SSN. It is totally inappropriate for the national form to ask for the SSN, so much so that Rich thinks that some states might reject the form if it does have SSN on it. I don't know what kind of dingbats in the federal government put this form together. It also asks for race, fortunately marked optional, but offensive nonetheless. I'm a U.S. citizen, I'm over 18, I live at this address, period; this is not about the color of my skin or the shape of my nose.
We were collecting the completed forms in a box to mail in to the various states. This was OK with most people, but some people may not have filled out forms because they may have harbored suspicions that we were doing something uncool and immature like collecting addresses or weeding out the Republicans. So, the other thing I would do differently would be to provide the addresses, so that people could mail the form in themselves if they wished. Sheeri had meant to bring the booklet with the addresses, but alas, it was mislaid. Having that booklet with all the instructions would also be really helpful in case you get, oh, someone from Nebraska who wants to know, for example, if they have to write down a party affiliation.
We were lacking generally in general voting information. Like, say, when is the primary in Massachusetts? I don't feel like that was a big deal, though. Fortunately, Marmota was knowledgeable about how being registered as unaffiliated with any party impacts your voting in primaries and vice versa.
I did take a brief break to poke around at the FFF vendors. But, tired, shaky from hunger, overwhelmed with the crowds, all wound up about politics, I was insufficiently in touch with my libido to have any idea whether I even want a vibrating dildo.
Bases to cover when I do this again, in decreasing order of importance:
* Massachusetts voter registration forms with mailing instructions if needed
* Breakfast
* Clipboards and pens
* Posters
* National forms and addresses and instructions
Did I forget anything?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-01-15 06:22 am (UTC)Don't forget some sort of receptacle to hold the registration forms for those people who would prefer you to mail the forms for them. Also, maybe a sandwich board-type sign to wear to make it clear what you're doing? If you don't have a table, that is; if you do have a table, make a big, garish sign to attract attention. Make being able to tell what you're doing as clear as possible just from looking at you.