Several Advance Huntsville peeps attended the September meeting of the Madison County Democratic Party. I wrote a few notes. Sheila McNeil, Chair of the Madison County Democratic Executive Committee (MCDEC), told us that their primary focus is on GOTV (get out the vote) for the November election.
MCDEC member and Alabama Democratic Party Delegate April Hodges is currently coordinating phone banking and training phone bankers. If you can’t make any of the posted training times, reach out to April who will train you separately. The MCDP is only calling Democrats right now. If you don’t have April’s contact info, the best email for the MCDEC is info@madisoncountydemocrats.com.
The MCDEC has postcards/mailers with “Alabama for Harris” on one side. The other side is blank for volunteers to write a personal message to registered Democrats. The MCDEC will fill out mailers from 4-6pm (dates/days of the week unclear to me) starting in Oct. April told volunteers to please bring stamps with you, and include your receipt for filing with the state treasurer.
The MCDEC has asked the Alabama Democratic Party if Madison County can phone bank for Shomari Figures. They are waiting for permission, according to April.
State delegates are currently phone banking in battleground states. April told us that someone has asked the state party for permission to open phone banking to volunteers and is waiting to hear back.
Since SB1 passed last session it is illegal to help someone you’re not related to fill out their absentee ballot in the state of Alabama. April told us that violators face up to 20 years in prison and $6000 fine. If someone is blind or illiterate you cannot read their ballot to them unless you are related to them. Even if someone from outside the country does this (through Be My Eyes or a similar service) the state can throw their vote away. The AL ACLU and LWV have filed suit. It is still legal to help disabled Alabamians get them to the polls or fill out their ballot at the polls.
In this meeting I discovered that Sheila writes a weekly column for Speakin Out News.
The MCDEC needs volunteers to:
- Help clean and verify data to create a master list of all supporters
- Wear tee shirts and attend local community events
Guy Sotomayor, candidate for County Commission Chair, had three asks:
- Bring someone with you to the next meeting
- Tell three people about the two Democrats on the ballot (himself and Violet Edwards)
- Donate to Guy’s campaign
Sheila told us the MCDEC has two goals:
- Elect Harris/Walz
- Overwhelmingly show that Madison County is blue