VIRGINIA: Organizers Working Above And Beyond To Get Out The Vote

Nicola Wells, organizer with FIRM, talks to us about the role of community organizers getting out the vote:

In the face of numerous reports of voter suppression in VA we had over 90 folks come out to walk the streets of Annandale, VA for over 6 hours today encouraging over 6000 people to get to the polls.

While most media today focused on the wet ballots and long lines in VA, important stories in their own right, the real story for me was the courage and energy of these 90 people that braved rain, cold, and potch dark to search out potential voters and help encourage them to the polls. In some of these places you couldn't even see two feet in front of your face because of the rain and nightfall, but these folks stayed on the street and kept turning people out to the polls.

We hope to celebrate a winner in this election, but for us in northern VA the candidate won't be the only one that won. Our communities and our organizations have been strengthened by building GOTV programs that have built a new part of the foundation of or organizations for years to come. That is the power and the promise of community organizing.