TENNESSEE: Organizing Led to Smooth Election Day in Nashville

Our partner, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition sent us this update on how their organizing to get voters to the polls early helped Election Day go smoothly in Nashville.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and the Our Voice, Our Vote campaign strongly encouraged immigrant voters to participate in Tennessee's Early Voting, and the efforts paid off! Phone bankers, canvassers, and poll monitors discovered today that much of Nashville's immigrant population voted before November 4^th, many of them citing the early voting mailings, phone calls, and Community Voting Days held by the campaign as reasons for their decision. These far-reaching, coordinated efforts happened only because of the participation of a variety of community groups, ranging from Asociación Latina to the Sudanese Center of Nashville.

Community groups also collaborated to make sure that all voters had a ride to the polls. The Our Voice, Our Vote campaign partnered with the Nashville Metro Taxi Drivers Association (many of whose members are also immigrants) and community volunteers to provide free rides both during Early Voting and on Election Day.

The result of this community-wide organization was that today went relatively smoothly! Lines were long only in the morning at most polling places, and few voters experienced Election Day difficulties. There have been a few reported cases of translation services being denied to voters, but widespread voter suppression has not been indicated.

TENNESSEE: Youth Canvassers Help Get Out the Immigrant Vote in Tennessee

This was shared by Karen Usselman at the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition:

They might be too young to vote, but they aren't too young to make a difference in their community! Election Day is a school holiday in Davidson County, and many high school students from the Salahadeen Center of Nashville are using the opportunity to knock on doors and encourage their neighbors to vote.

The students are mostly Kurdish, and they have been canvassing and phone banking for almost a week with the "Our Voice, Our Vote" campaign. The area they are targeting is one of the most diverse in Nashville, consisting of Middle Easterners, Asians, and Latinos, and many of their neighbors are first time voters.

The response to their campaign has been outstanding! Virtually all of the people the students talked to had either already voted or planned to, many of them as a result of earlier phone calls made by the campaign. Kasar, one of the organizers of the campaign, said "I've been in the U.S. since 1991, and I've never seen the immigrant community so excited about an election."

TENNESSEE - Change Memphis Volunteers Prepare Voters On Eve Of Election

Change Memphis just got TV coverage from WMC-TV!

Check out the video and story here.

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - As police and others prepare for Tuesday's election, volunteers are making sure voters are prepared when they head to the polls.

Volunteers with Change Memphis spent most of the night calling people urging them to go to the polls Tuesday and exercise their right to vote.

It is all a part of the Change Memphis Community Voting Project. It is designed to register voters and increase participation and turnout in various communities. The group also strives to educate and make residents aware of the issues and amendments they'll be voting for on election day.

"We've registered people. We've followed that up by calling them on the phones, letting them know some educational stuff and proposed changes to the Memphis and Shelby County Charter on the ballot," Jacob Flowers of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center said.

Change Memphis is a non-partisan organization which does not endorse any particular party or candidate.

TENNESSEE: ChangeMemphis GOTV Phonebanking

Less than 12 hours before polls open, a committed group of youth is hard at work making sure that their community gets out to vote tomorrow!

These youth, part of a Metropolitan Interfaith Association student program, are making hundreds of calls and fielding dozens of requests for polling information, rides to the polls and other assistance.

TENNESSEE TURNOUT: ChangeMemphis contributes to record turnout

We have a report and some photos from Jacob Flowers, Director of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center about voter turnout in Tennesee. These voters are turning out in record numbers!

"All reports in from early voting in Memphis point to a record turnout in our communities. Since October 15, almost 40% of registered voters have cast their ballot during early voting. If trends continue we are set for a record turnout of 74-78% here, smashing the last presidential election turnout of 57%. What is even more impressive is that 46% of black voters have already cast their ballot, meaning that by the end of the day on Nov. 4, 90% of the black community may have voted.

But why? There are no hotly contested local races, in fact most candidates find themselves running unopposed. The national campaigns have written off Tennessee and neither major party candidate has graced our city to energize their bases.

Maybe it is because for the first time in a long time Memphians have answered their door to find a nonpartisan and grassroots effort wanting nothing more from them than a chance to increase their participation in our community. Maybe it is another sign that the Memphis community realizes that we are all in this together as we struggle to deal with the day to day effects of being too high on too many of the wrong lists in our country. One thing is for sure, that while national politics are tied up in a race to decide who will change Washington, our communities have not forgotten that meaningful and sustained change is needed here, on the local level. We demand it and we aren't stopping at the ballot box."