This document was created by the campaign to elect Joe Kopsick to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020. It was created to instruct campaign volunteers on how to approach potential voters and signatories to the petition to get Joe Kopsick on the ballot, by name, on November 3rd, 2020.
The document has been published here, for two reasons: 1) to allow campaign volunteers to access this information for job training purposes; and 2) to show other independent and growing campaigns how to train signature gatherers for their own campaign's purposes.
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Phase
1:
APPROACHING VOTERS POLITELY AND CASUALLY
and
FINDING
OUT WHETHER THE PERSON YOU'RE TALKING TO IS A REGISTERED VOTER
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Step
1A:
Decide, carefully, whom to approach. Avoid people
who are using cell phones, talking to other people, or who appear to
be in a rush. Take care not to bother people who may be busy.
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Step 1B:
Approach
the person casually; do not come within 6 feet of them. Take care
not to appear to follow people or intimidate them.
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Step 1C:
Avoid
misgendering the person; do not use the phases “ma'am”,
“madam”, “girl”, “sir”, “dude”, “man”, “my
guy”, etc..
Address
the person in a gender-neutral fashion,
using any one of the following icebreakers:
- “May I
have a moment of your time?”
- “Do you have a second to talk
about the election?”
- “Hi, are you a registered voter?”
or “Excuse me, are you a registered voter?”
If
the person is interested,
then
proceed to Step 5 (determining
whether the person is registered).
If the person is
not interested, then
see Step 4.
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Step
1D:
If the person appears very reluctant to engage you,
or says they're not interested, do not bother them any further. If
they say something, say “Thank you for your time” if it's
appropriate. Avoid inconveniencing and upsetting them, wait a moment,
and move on to another person (i.e., go
back to Step 1).
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Step
1E:
If the person says “I don't know” (after Step
3), show them the QR code that lets them know whether they're
registered, and which districts they live in. Tell them that they
can enter their name, address, and birth date on that page, to get
that information.
If the
person has time,
invite them to do it on their cell phone,
or use your own (if the voter is OK with that).
If the person
is not registered to vote, but they want to
help, tell them that their
signature will be counted as long as they register to vote by July
20th,
2020.
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Phase 2:
EXPLAINING
THE CAMPAIGN AND INTRODUCING JOE KOPSICK
and
EXPLAINING
WHAT THE PETITION DOES, AND WHAT THE SIGNATURE
MEANS
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Step
2A:
If the person is registered to vote,
say either:
- “I'm working with a
campaign to elect Joe Kopsick to the U.S. House. Do you know who
you're voting for, for Congress, this year?”,
or
- “I'm working with a campaign to
start a Mutualist Party in Illinois. Are you satisfied by the current
set of choices you have, in regards to political parties in America?
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Step
2B:
If the person is interested,
and wants to know more, then tell them the following:
- “I
work for a campaign that's collecting signatures to get independent
candidate Joe Kopsick on the ballot for U.S. House on November 3rd.
Every signature also helps establish a Mutualist Party in Illinois.”
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Step
2C:
Offer them
free campaign literature,
whether they want to sign the petition or not. But do not make them
take it if they don't want it.
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Step
2D:
If the person wants to know more about what they're
signing, and what the petition does, tell them the following:
-
“This petition helps get independent
candidate Joe Kopsick on the ballot for Congress, and it helps
establish a Mutualist Party in Illinois.”
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Step
2E:
If the person wants to know more
about the Mutualist Party, then give
them the relevant literature, and explain the
following:
- “Joe Kopsick has
founded a Mutualist Party in Illinois, but he is currently the
party's only candidate. Every signature that helps get Joe Kopsick on
the ballot, helps the Mutualist Party get closer to 5% of the vote,
at which point the party would be legally recognized as a major party
in the State of Illinois.”
If the
person still wants to know what the Mutualist
Party is about, explain the following:
-
“The party supports making the economy
fairer and more free at the same time, and wants the economic system
of Mutualism to be a balancing influence between socialism (on the
left) and capitalism (on the
right).”
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Step
2F:
If the person wants to know more
about what they're signing, and what the
petition does, tell them the following:
- “This petition
helps get independent candidate Joe Kopsick on the ballot for
Congress, and it helps establish a Mutualist Party in Illinois.”
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Step 2G:
If
the person needs more information
about what the petition does, say the following:
“It's for
registered voters (or people who will register to vote by July 20th)
who want to see Joe Kopsick appear on the November 3rd
ballot for Congress. The full name of the position is U.S.
Representative from Illinois's 10th
congressional district. Signing this petition helps Joe Kopsick get
on the ballot by name.”
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Step
2H:
If the person doesn't know whether
they live in the 10th
district, then show them either or both of
the following two things, to find out:
1. The list
of towns, with the district map on the other
side (copies of which have been provided to you).
Towns:
Bannockburn, Beach Park, Buffalo Grove (portions), Deerfield, Des
Plaines (portions), Diamond Lake, Fort Sheridan, Fox Lake, Fremont
Center, Gages Lake (portions), Glencoe, Glenview (portions), Great
Lakes, Green Oaks, Grayslake, Gurnee (portions), Hainesville,
Highland Park and Kennedy, Highwood, Indian Creek, Indian Trails,
Ingleside, Kildeer, Lake Bluff and Knollwood, Lake Forest and
Mettawa, Lake Villa (portions), Lakemoor (portions), Libertyville,
Lincolnshire, Lindenhurst (portions), Long Grove, Long Lake, Mt.
Prospect (portions), Mundelein and Ivanhoe and Sylvan Lake, Niles
(portions), North Chicago, Northbrook (portions), Park City, Prairie
View, Prospect Heights (portions), Riverwoods, Rondout, Round Lake,
Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, Round Lake Park, Third Lake,
Vernon Hills, Volo (portions), Wadsworth (portions), Waukegan, West
Miltmore, Wheeling, Wildwood, Winthrop Harbor, Zion
2. The QR
code that allows voters to determine whether they're registered,
and which districts they live in
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Step
2I:
Ask the person to sign the petition. Say “Would
you like to sign the petition?”
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Phase 3:
CLOSING
THE
DEAL
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Step
3A:
If they're already eager to sign,
and you've skipped over some of the previous steps,
and they want to know, quickly, what the
petition does, then give them this concise
explanation:
- “This petition helps
get independent candidate Joe Kopsick on the ballot for Congress, and
it helps establish a Mutualist Party in Illinois.”
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Step
3B:
If the person asks “How many
signatures do you need?”, tell them
this:
- “One thousand two hundred nine (1,209).”
If
they ask “Why is
that?”, tell them this:
- “It's one-half
of a percent of the number of people who voted in the same race in
the previous election, which was 2018”.
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Step
3C:
If the person asks, “What
happens if you don't get enough signatures?”,
say the following:
- “If the campaign doesn't get enough
signatures to get Joe Kopsick's name
on the ballot, then voters
will still be able to vote for him on November 3rd;
by writing his name into the write-in space
on the ballot, which will be underneath the names of his opponents
who get their names on the ballot.”
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Step
3D:
If the person asks where
you're getting this information from,
say this:
- “All of this information is available in the
2020
Candidate's Guide,
which can be downloaded from the Illinois state Board of Elections
website.”
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Step
3E:
If the person asks whether they will be obligated
to do anything, or prohibited
from doing anything,
as a consequence of signing this form
– or if they ask specifically whether they will be obligated to
vote for Joe Kopsick on Election Day – then tell them the
following:
- “This form is not
a binding obligation
to support the candidate on Election Day; this is only saying 'I want
another choice on the ballot for U.S. House, and I want that choice
to be Joe Kopsick.' But if you sign this petition, then you may
not sign a
petition supporting any of his opponents'
efforts to get on the ballot, for the rest of the signature gathering
period.” (That period ends on July 20th,
2020.)
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Step
3F:
If the person makes
a mistake
while filling the form out, ask
them to start over again, and fill a blank line in
correctly from the start. Remember which line they made the mistake
on, so you can include
that line on the list of deletions.
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Step
3G:
If the person asks whether they can leave
a petition out for people to sign,
tell them no.
Petition circulators must be physically present while signatures are
being collected.
Tell
them that they can help us collect signatures to put Joe Kopsick on
the ballot, but only if they stay with the forms while collecting, to
make sure that voters fill out the forms correctly.
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Step
3H:
Thank
the person for their signature.
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Step
3I:
Offer
them additional literature.
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Step
3J:
Point
to business cards, or other information, to let them know how to get
in touch with the candidate and the campaign.
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Step
3K:
Tell the person, “Would
you like to stay updated about the campaign via
e-mail, or help the campaign collect signatures?”
If
they say yes,
then
show them the sheet;
ask for their name, town, and e-mail address; and ask them to
indicate whether they'd like to receive e-mails, volunteer, or both.
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Step
3L:
Wish them a pleasant day (or week, or month;
whatever is appropriate for the situation).
Unless it would
be rude, also remind them to register to vote by July 20th,
and/or to vote for Joe Kopsick on November 3rd.
If
they leave the encounter still unsure as to whether they'll support
Joe, remind them to vote that day in general.
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In
order to sign petitions to help Joe Kopsick get on the ballot,
you
must meet ALL FIVE of the below
requirements:
___________________________________________________________________________________1.
You must be an eligible voter.
(convicted felons' signatures will
be counted, but undocumented immigrants' signatures will not)
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2.
You must turn 18 by Election Day (must be born on or before November
3rd, 2002)
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3.
You must register to vote by July 20th,
2020.
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4.
You must NOT have signed a petition for any of Joe Kopsick's
opponents in the 10th District race
[i.e., Brad Schneider (D),
Valerie Mukherjee (R), David Rych (L), and Bradley Sigmund Heinz (I)]
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5.
You must be a resident of Illinois's 10th Congressional
District, comprised of the following towns:
Bannockburn
Beach
Park
Buffalo
Grove
(northern half only)
Deerfield
Des
Plaines
(northern half only)
Diamond
Lake
Fort
Sheridan
Fox
Lake
Fremont
Center
Gages
Lake
(central and southern parts only)
Glencoe
Glenview(western
half only)
Great
Lakes
Green
Oaks
Grayslake
Gurnee
(southwest, southeast, and
northeast corners only)
Hainesville
Highland
Park
(incl. Kennedy)
Highwood
Indian
Creek
Indian
Trails
Ingleside
Kildeer
Lake
Bluff
(incl. Knollwood)
Lake
Forest
(incl. Mettawa)
Lake
Villa
(southern half only)
Lakemoor
(northeast
quarter only)
Libertyville
Lincolnshire
Lindenhurst
(all parts except portions
of northeast)
Long
Grove
Long
Lake
Mt.
Prospect
(eastern half only)
Mundelein
(incl. Ivanhoe
and Sylvan Lake)
Niles
(extreme northwest corner only)
North
Chicago
Northbrook
(areas northwest
of Shermer Rd.)
Park
City
Prairie
View
Prospect
Heights
(southern half only)
Riverwoods
Rondout
Round
Lake
Round
Lake Beach
Round
Lake Heights
Round
Lake Park
Third
Lake
Vernon
Hills
Volo
(central and
north only)
Wadsworth
(eastern half only)
Waukegan
West
Miltmore
Wheeling
Wildwood
Winthrop
Harbor
Zion
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1,209
signatures will be required (0.5% of the number of people who voted
in the 2018 election)
and must be collected and turned
in before July 20th, 2020.
If you'd like to volunteer to
canvass / collect signatures for Joe Kopsick for Congress,
Illinois's 10th congressional district
Written and Originally Published on July 3rd, 2020
Expanded on July 4th, 2020
