Power to the Polls Does One Final Voter Canvass

Volunteers prepare for final neighborhood canvas ahead of 2024 presidential election. Photo taken Nov. 5, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered at Midtown Center Tuesday morning to spend the day on one last get-out-the-vote operation for Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot.

The final push on Milwaukee’s North Side was organized by Power to the Polls Wisconsin, a community organizing group focused on building long term voter engagement and turnout. The organization has been knocking on doors in Milwaukee all year in the lead up to the election.

“To be honest with you, the work is done,” former lieutenant governor and president of Power to the Polls Mandela Barnes told Urban Milwaukee. “We’re just trying to catch the stragglers.”

Power to the Polls has enlisted the support of local residents to knock on doors in their own communities, Barnes said, adding, “the real way you turn out voters is through sustained engagement and building trust… and today’s work is just seeing all of that, all of that effort, all the way to the finish.”

The past week and the feedback from local canvassing operations has left Barnes optimistic about the presidential race, though he believes it will be close.

If Harris wins, he said, “We‘ll have a leader at the top who understands us as a city, not just our political importance, but the complexities of the population.” And if Trump wins: “We’re F****d.” However, he added, “We had to deal with a Donald Trump presidency before, it wasn’t fun. I don’t wish that upon us. I don’t wish that upon anybody. It just means the work that we do is gonna be that much more critical.”

Before hundreds of canvassers filed out to knock doors, County Executive David Crowley took the floor to fire up the crowd and outline the stakes of the election, as he sees them.

“Because we know that freedom is on the ballot; we know that democracy is on the ballot; we know that good paying jobs is on the ballot; access to health care is on the ballot,” Crowley said. “So we don’t have the luxury of leaving no stone unturned for the next eight hours, eight and a half hours, that’s what we have until the election, till the polls close.”

The county executive told Urban Milwaukee he thought the election would end with Wisconsin going for Harris and that seeing the hundreds of volunteers prepared to canvass all day Tuesday was “energizing” and “inspiring.”

Among the volunteers were many members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a partner organization of Power to the Polls. Creasie Fowler, SEIU Senior Campaign Coordinator, told Urban Milwaukee the goal was to have at least 700 volunteers canvassing Tuesday, and she thinks they got close.

Power to the Polls isn’t just seeking to turn out voters, Fowler said, it is also trying to capture what issues are important to the electorate so it can advocate for them.

“And a couple days after the election, we’ll be back on doors, making sure that we are still out in the community, being that voice that people are looking for,” Fowler said.