FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 5, 2018
Press contacts:
Lizette Olmos
(240) 706-2624 mobile
Hyattsville, MD – CASA and CASA in Action relied on door to door contact as well as a team of Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria to help turn out voters during the mid-term elections. They made phone calls, used text messaging, and implemented CASA’s Puerto Rico Project to bring out these voters.
Immigrants played a large role at the state level propelling Governor Wolf to re-election. CASA in Action’s Puerto Rico Project engaged thousands of Puerto Ricans who had to leave Puerto Rico after being displaced by Hurricane Maria. Many of these Boricuas relocated to South Central Pennsylvania. CASA registered over 1,800 displaced migrants from Puerto Rico and their friends to come out and vote. At the congressional level, CASA in Action’s program was critical in flipping PA-6 for a more progressive candidate.
There were three phases to the project. The first phase involved deep canvassing where Puerto Ricans knocked on 1,619 doors in Lancaster, York, and Harrisburg. They also took 839 action/signed petitions about Puerto Rico to the doors. Congressman Luis Gutierrez held a rally with 76 activists and leaders identified. The second phase was voter registration from August to October where 1,585 individuals registered to vote in Lancaster and York. A total of 52 activists and leaders were identified and 7 took on leadership roles. The third phase consisted of voter engagement. There were 8,352 texts sent to voters and 9,461 attempts at 5,749 voters. Text messages were also sent out in Spanish.
The Puerto Rico Project was a successful model as it turned out more Latinos in high concentration areas. This was an increase over the 2014 mid-term elections.
Electoral Program Numbers:
Puerto Rico Project/c3 relational voter project summary metrics:
Phase 1 (May-July) – Deep Canvass
- Knocked on 1619 doors in Lancaster, York, and Harrisburg
- 839 Took action/signed petition about Puerto Rico on the doors
- 268 Registered to Vote
- 200 Participated in a committee meeting or action, including candidate’s forum, “Tu voto, tu poder workshop”, and Latino voter rally with Congressman Gutierrez
- 76 potential activists and leaders identified
Phase 2 (August-October) – Voter registration
- 1585 registered to vote in Lancaster and York
- 392 additional petition signors
- 52 potential activists and leaders identified
- 7 took on leadership roles
- 135 participated in an action or committee meeting including 1 year after Maria anniversary vigils in Lancaster and York
Phase 3 (October-November) – Voter Engagement/GOTV
- 9461 attempts at 5749 Doors, 1723 in person conversations with voters
- 6328 call attempts, 661 phone conversations with voters
- Joint mail with PA Voice to 1585 new voters
- 8352 texts sent to voters
- 23 rides to the polls and 4 volunteer interpretation
- 7 voter protection interventions with voters registered through our program. All were able to vote after initially being denied.
