Since I turned eighteen I have registered to vote in at least six places. Each time the state asked for my party and I registered as a Democrat. Maybe the state or local party was notified when I registered; maybe not and they would need to regularly check the public voter checklist to find me.
Here is an example of the letter I never received from our local Democrats:
Dear voter,
Thank you for registering in our Democratic Party! We welcome and need your participation.
This letter has five purposes:
- To let you know that we appreciate you: it takes time and effort to vote!
- To give you some information about voting in your neighborhood. We have included a map of the city/town, with voting ward boundaries marked in thick lines. We have also circled the place where you vote.
- To let you know about some upcoming gatherings that you might enjoy. We’ve included:
- Where you can watch city council meetings on TV or listen on radio
- How to participate in these meetings in person
- An invitation to our nearby Democratic Party meetings
- A calendar of our informal, social Democratic meetings over th next few months
- To share some useful information sources with you. You will find a list of national, state, and local news sources—we will share our sometimes partisan view of them. We also provide some contacts for information sources—us, of course! But also the offices of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the local school board, and other agencies.
- And finally, to invite you to our next Welcome New Voters bash! It will be January 15th at the XYZ Hotel Superlative Room. You can meet our elected Democrats in state and local government, plus the people—including me—who try to make sure our local Party responds to your needs. We hope to see you there!
Am I naive? Have folks tried this sort of outreach and found that it fails? It seems cheap, compared to TV campaigns and even lawn signs, and it seems extremely well targeted.