Bucks Player Canvases for Early Voting

George Hill press conference. Photo by Ethan Duran.

Milwaukee Bucks point guard George Hill joined volunteers from Common Ground to knock on residents’ doors in Arlington Heights, Uptown and Park West to encourage people to vote early for the November 3 election. Common Ground, a nonpartisan group, is running a get-out-the-vote campaign on Milwaukee’s south- and north-side communities through conversations door to door and over the phone.

“It’s important to get out early and vote,” Hill said in front of St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church on 1616 W. Atkinson Ave. “Make sure it’s in, make sure you’re not rushing at the last minute. We don’t want to do it on the last day where you may not get in line to do it and the doors close.”

Hill had flown from Texas to Milwaukee to canvas for early votes. “This is a big state,” he said. “This can make or break the election.”

George Hill meets with drivers. Photo by Ethan Duran.

Speaking with Hill was Rev. Dr. Joy Gallmon and Gabriela Dieguez. “One of the initiatives of Common Ground, as well as St. Mark, is to ensure that anybody who can vote, who wants to vote, will be able to vote,” said Gallmon, the senior pastor at St. Mark AME.

Dieguez, who leads Common Ground on the South Side, said that the organization has helped convince 15,000 people to vote through knocking on doors and talking. “We go door to door, always using masks and practicing social distancing, in order to talk to voters. Not about just the election, but what’s good about their neighborhoods and how we can keep their neighborhoods vibrant and looking forward.”

Hill walked with 50 volunteers in yellow vests on the sidewalks in Arlington Heights and rang doorbells at surrounding houses. Residents who answered received flyers with information on where to register to vote in person, nearby early voting sites and instructions on turning in absentee ballots. Volunteers also offered residents transport to early voting locations.

Respondents were encouraged to give their name and phone number in exchange for a mask with “Votes Count in the 414” printed on it.

The neighborhood between W. Atkinson Ave. and W. Keefe Ave. was responsive to Hill and the volunteers. Residents took photos with the Bucks player and thanked him for visiting. One woman standing in her lawn said that everyone in her house would vote early. “All my people are voting,” she said.