In the new era of Jim Crow policies, state legislatures are implementing voter suppression laws, while candidates enjoy unregulated campaign spending. These anti-democratic laws and the indifference for money in politics dilutes the voices of the American people. As a result, the passing of the For the People Act is crucial to maintaining the integrity of our democracy.
Swing Blue Alliance and Common Cause have worked tirelessly to mobilize for the passing of S.1, and our preliminary research shows that the postcards we sent to West Virginia and Arizona and our phone banks calling constituents in Arizona, Maine, and New Hampshire have produced promising results.
In April, about 80% of constituent calls to Senators in our four target states were in opposition to S.1 and 20% in support. Our data shows that after sending 100,000 postcards to Senator Manchin’s constituents in West Virginia, his office received over 951 calls in support of S. 1. Similarly, Senator Sinema’s office received over 1,585 calls of support for S. 1 after we sent 150,000 postcards to her constituents.
Based on data from our hub dialer phone banks with Common Cause, almost 66% of the phone conversations with constituents in Arizona resulted in patch-throughs or verbal commitments to call their Senator. During a week of virtual phone banks in New Hampshire and Maine, almost 70% of conversations led to verbal commitments to calling their senator.
The calls generated by our campaigns shifted the balance, and now about 50% of calls are in opposition to S. 1 and the other 50% are in support. These results prove that our efforts are effective in galvanizing support amongst constituents and contacting Senators that are vital for the passing of S.1.
According to Senate Majority Leader Schumer, “Manchin and Sinema are against reforming the filibuster but there are lots of Senators out there that [we] should bolster and let them know that [we] have their back when they stand up and do the right thing.”
Given the efficacy of our postcard campaigns and phone banks, and that Senators backing S.1 need our support, we must double down on our postcard and phone-banking efforts for the passing of the For the People Act. Our democracy depends on it.
–Tara Joshi, Tufts University student and intern at Swing Blue Alliance