Political ads and campaigning for the Nov. 6 election have been ongoing for several months, but the weekend prior to the election, as well as Election Day itself, showed the hardest efforts made by both Democratic and Republican supporters in Alamance County.
“The Alamance County Democratic Party has staff volunteers at all 37 voting locations to (give out) sheets that have our candidates listed on them, all the way from the president down to the local races for judges,” said Anna Gerow, vice-chair for the Alamance Country Democratic Party. “We have people staffing these precincts. Every computer terminal in here has been filled up and it’s been like that every day for a long time.”
At the computer terminals in the Alamance County Democratic Party headquarters, located in downtown Burlington, volunteers are calling Alamance Country registered voters to remind them to vote, where they are able to vote and what services are available to them.
“Every night, the headquarters are open and even on weekends we were making telephone calls,” Gerow said. “We’ve been working along with the Obama for America campaign, so it’s been a coordinated effort.”
At the Alamance County Republican Party headquarters, located at the Burlington GOP Victory Center, volunteers are doing very similar tasks for Republican candidates. Every Saturday over the last few months, the GOP Victory Center has hosted Super Saturday events.
“On Super Saturday, we come in and do phone calls, but we have probably been doing more as a group working for specific candidates,” said Polly Riddell, a volunteer for the GOP Victory Center. “We have Super Saturday this weekend, which is a really big push. We have the lines full all day long and we’re staying open until 9:00 tonight.”
Both Alamance County party headquarters have been continually staffed with volunteers who have made phone calls, sent out mailers and, on Election Day, were sent to polling locations for various tasks. “Today, we have observers that are inside certain polling locations, to make sure there’s no monkey business going on, to make sure no machines break down,” Gerow said. “We have runners who will go out three times a day – 10:00, 2:00 and 4:00 – to get inside the polling location, talk to the observer, see how many people have voted in each precinct and then report the number back. That way, we can get a feel for the turnout.”
Representatives were only able to campaign at a certain point before each polling location. Photo by Ashley Fahey.
On the morning of Nov. 6, representatives from both Alamance County party centers, in addition to organizations such as Elon University’s College Democrats, stood outside polling locations to hand out flyers, magnets and other items advertising a particular candidate or party affiliation.
“North Carolina is critical,” said Gayle Gunn, who campaigned at Hillcrest Elementary School. She is the wife of N.C. Sen. Rick Gunn, who is running for reelection for district 24. “I think that speaks to the diversity of our state and just the fact that we’re on the map this year as a swing state is great.”
Many volunteers were driven by passion and personal emotion toward a particular party or candidate platform to put in the time and effort to volunteer on behalf of who they supported.
“I have two daughters and I don’t like what I’m hearing – they’re talking about turning back Roe v. Wade,” said Barry Willis, a volunteer from the Alamance County Democratic Party who campaigned at the Burlington Elmira Community Center. “I don’t think politicians should be telling my daughters what to do.”Barbara Holt, who volunteered at the GOP Victory Center and is the president of North Carolina Right to Life, felt it was her duty to campaign for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates.
“I’m for Romney because he supports protecting unborn children and understands that abortion is not the best answer for mothers and the children,” Holt said. “I feel I have been able to do everything within my power to work to support the candidates that share my beliefs on life.”
The Alamance County Democratic Party is headquartered in downtown Burlington, but had volunteers all over Alamance County on Election Day. Photo by Natalie Dupuis.
Although both parties have employed several types of campaign strategies, many agreed face-to-face interaction and door-to-door campaigning made the most significant difference overall.
“I believe from years of experience doing this, always the most important and influential thing is the candidate meeting the people,” Riddell said. “When people get to meet the candidates and they can ask questions and actually have contact with them, that’s always effective.”
Riddell’s husband, Dennis Riddell, is a Republican candidate for District 64 in North Carolina’s House of Representatives. She said her husband has been campaigning door-to-door to give information about his campaign and to encourage people to vote.
“You want to contact voters and make them aware of your message and the phone calls and door-to-door help do that,” said Ben York, the second vice-chair at the GOP Victory Center. “It’s the last Saturday, so it’s all about getting the word out about voting.”
And despite the chilly temperatures on the morning of Nov. 6, volunteers who stood outside polling centers felt it was important to represent their respective parties and get the word out about voting.
“Really, it is such an honor and a privilege to be able to vote,” Gunn said. “No matter how (people) vote, they’re here to vote and I think that’s so important.”