The importance of organizing your precinct

By Megan Risbon

Salt Lake County, as many people know, leans Democratic. We have an excellent County Mayor in Peter Corroon, 15 of the 30 State House seats, and 7 of 12 State Senate seats are held by Democrats. Additionally, we only need one more Democrat to hold a majority on the County Council.

This year, Democrats county-wide are excited, organized, and ready for November’s elections. There must be something in the water because it seems like everywhere I go, people are excited about our Democratic candidates and doing whatever they can to ensure they are elected.

As we have learned, and as we’ve been working on throughout the state, Democrats are only going to win if people are actively engaged and working hard in their precincts. If each Democratic activist talked to 10 people in their precinct about voting for Democrats, we will win on November 7^th. If each person registered 10 people to vote, we will win in November. If people spent one night a month for the next three months walking their neighborhoods with a candidate, Democrats will win.

The importance of a true grassroots party and organization has never been more critical for Democrats. In many places, the organization is already there but the actual feet-on-the-ground and implementation is not.

Since Salt Lake County has the largest Democratic performance and population in the state, we also get the most amounts of delegates. All precincts get one delegate spot—no matter what. To determine how many delegate spots there are per precinct, we calculate the percentage of Democratic performance compared to actual voters and give 1 to 2 more delegate spots per precinct.

In 2004, the Salt Lake County Party held a contest, of-sorts, to increase the turnout in each precinct and gave precinct organizer an incentive to do so. If precincts achieved 5 simple goals, they received an extra delegate spot.

In 2006, we’re doing it again. Each precinct chair (or organizer) is given the following 5 goals:

1. Find 10 lawn sign locations for candidates on the ballot in your precinct

Deadline: September 16, 2006

2. Register 10 new voters (return completed forms to County Party)

Deadline: October 1, 2006

3. Raise $100.00 (return money to County Party)

Deadline: October 20, 2006

4. Recruit Election Day Volunteers (return completed forms to County Party)

Deadline: October 20, 2006

5. Canvass your precinct with candidates
   

Only 5 precincts completed all 5 goals in 2004. This year, I am challenging every precinct in Salt Lake County to become organized and activate the voters it their precinct for this crucial election year. You don’t have to be an elected precinct officer to help out. Anyone can do this.

Together, we can and will win. If you would like the forms needed for this challenge, please email me at megan@slcountydems.com. Include your name, address, and precinct number.