COLORADO SPRINGS – Despite getting election information on your television or online, we’re taking a closer look at how canvassing neighborhoods still plays an important role when it comes to shedding light on local issues.
News 5’s Jessica Barreto tagged along with a group going door-to-door today to raise awareness for a ballot issue to raise money for schools in the Harrison School District.
Jenny Devries is part of that effort. She spent her Sunday afternoon canvassing this neighborhood in Colorado Springs.
“Every door i knock and every phone call that i make, it’s really like actually getting our message out and getting the community politically active,” she said.
She’s the community organizer of Opportunity Harrison, trying to get the word out about ballot measure 4-E.
If approved, it’ll raise funds for the Harrison School District.
But at the end of the day, she just wants people to vote.
“Just asking people ‘how are you sending your ballot?’ like ‘what is your plan?’ walking them through that process,” Devries explained.
And she’s a firm believer in the old-fashioned face-to-face approach.
“The reason I like talking like person to person is because they can ask me whatever questions they want,” she added.
In today’s world, issues in Washington D.C. can often take center stage.
“It’s so easy to, you know, get distracted by so much of the national stuff that commands so much attention,” remarked Anthony Carlson, the campaign manager for Opportunity Harrison.
“But oftentimes the things that we can have the most are the local issues that unfortunately don’t receive that same attention.”
This group and many others advocating for different issues and candidates want to bring local issues to your doorstep.
“As soon as they see like there’s someone going like door-to-door that is clearly passionate about this, then they start to realize just how important it is,” Devries pointed out.
They’re raising awareness and getting out the vote out one door knock at a time.
“Excited about canvassing because it’s really the last place where we still get to have these dynamic, face-to-face conversations,” Carlson said.
“Even if somebody doesn’t agree with, you know, our issue, the fact that they actually got to have a conversation with a real-life human being makes a big difference to people.”
A note on voting locations in that area: the Southeast YMCA voting location has been moved to the Sand Creek Library.
The library will start collecting ballots on Monday.
There’s just a little more than two weeks left until election day, which means time is ticking quickly to get your ballots returned.
If you plan on mailing them, get them sent out by Halloween.
Otherwise, you can drop them off until 7:00 p.m. on November 6 at your local ballot drop box.
If you’re mailing them, you’ll need two stamps to ensure it’s delivered.
For complete election watch coverage, check out our “election watch” category.
