True Confessions of a Phone Bank Convert

One call did it

True Confession: I don’t answer the phone unless the call is someone on my contact list. So when I started volunteering for The Union, phone banking just wasn’t my thing.

Photo by Mockup Free on Unsplash

But I wanted to defend democracy. All the experienced folks swore by phone banks. So earlier this year, when Tom Suozzi was running in a Special Election, I decided to volunteer to make calls. This was a flippable seat in the U.S. House with a slim GOP majority, and I felt an obligation to suck it up and register with The Union Action Center to make calls. 

How does it work? The voter doesn’t see your phone number, and the organizers provide all the info you need. It’s a very user-friendly system. When we were ready to start calls, we signaled for a voter’s name and address on our laptop and the call was made by the phone bank. The organizers also provided a wealth of information that might be useful to the voter, including his or her precinct number and location, the voting hours, whether they could register at the polls and some of the pro-democracy candidate’s issue positions. We had all the info we needed at our fingertips.

What reaction did I get? I have to admit that I got a lot of “no answers” and some “hang-ups.” At first I was irritated. But then I realized that they had already voted, had a plan or just didn’t want to answer the phone - and that could have been me!! Plus, those calls took very little time. I also had some pleasant and rewarding conversations with folks who were supporters or needed information like poll hours or ID requirements. Some needed rides, and I gave them the number to call for a ride. All this info was provided by the organizer of the phone bank.

Then I had the call that made me a convert: Toward the end of my shift, I spoke with a very sweet lady who said that she knew about Suozzi, but couldn’t vote for him because she didn’t live in the district. Did she move? No. I gave her the address and precinct location that I had for her and she said that was her address and that’s where she votes. She could vote, and she was pleased! We discussed the inclement weather, and I asked her if she would need a ride to the polls. She said that she would wait for her son to come home from work, and she would go with him and his wife - who would also vote! I let her know when polls closed, and she said he would be home in time.

Democracy Defended. I felt like I earned my “Democracy Defender” status that day. Of course Suozzi would have won without any of the calls I made. But he did get at least 3 votes he wouldn’t have otherwise gotten - and probably more. More importantly, we (the pro-democracy coalition) made a connection with a family that will last through November and beyond. And while my shift may have been a “drop in the bucket”, there were tons of volunteers doing the same thing, and we helped to create the “tsunami of votes” that flipped a seat to the pro-democracy candidate. 

So call me a convert.  You can be one too! Find a Phone Bank of your choice at The Union Action Center so you can help your own sweet voters and create another tsunami of votes. Thank you, Democracy Defenders!  

Post submitted by Amy Lecocq, a volunteer with The Union. She is a former Republican, current Independent and a proud member of the pro-democracy coalition at The Union.

Note: The views and opinions expressed by volunteer contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Union, a single-issue organization that welcomes all and is dedicated to protecting democracy.

If you’d like to help defend democracy in the US, we invite you to join The Union.