New Georgia Project Action Fund empowers ‘high-opportunity southwest Georgians to vote

ALBANY – Canvassers with the New Georgia Project Action Fund spend five days a week knocking on doors and encouraging southwest Georgians to vote.

Team Lead Patricia James drove around Lee and Dougherty counties with her canvassing partner Tuesday afternoon. The two tried to engage voters at their homes and left door cards with details about voting and election days. They wore recognizable neon yellow shirts and took down data about the voters they spoke with – election feelings and who they planned to vote for – to get a hand on the pulse of the upcoming election in southwest Georgia.

“I love giving people information,” James said. “It’s good because you have foot soldiers on the ground who go out and actually talk face-to-face with a person and see how they’re feeling and report it back.”

The NGPAF is a nonpartisan voter advocacy and mobilization organization. Since March, southwest Georgia canvassers have knocked on 11,600 doors and spoken to more than 2,000 Georgians about voting. NGPAF is an arm to The New Georgia Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic engagement organization that focuses on empowering underserved Georgians: people of color, young people, members of the LGBTQ community and rural Georgians.

All eyes are on battleground state Georgia for the upcoming presidential election. In 2020, the state flipped blue when President Biden defeated former President Trump, making it the only Southern state that Biden won. Because of this, candidates are paying special attention to the state and its voters, hosting campaign trails and rallies in an effort to connect with people in the state.

NGPAF tries to reach those voters that are often forgotten.

Annie Lipsitz, the senior writer for NGPAF, said the group engages primarily with what are often called “low-propensity voters” – those deemed not worth the investment because traditional campaigns assume they won’t turn out. NGPAF has had an office in Albany for years due to the large black population and proximity to rural voters.

Lipsitz said NGPAF sees high opportunity in these voters – especially black and young Georgians – and makes a strong effort to mobilize them to vote.

“It’s our goal as an organization to invest in … black voters … to help them feel like they are the heroes of the story of elections and voting in elections,” Lipsitz said.

However, team Lead Shayla Jackson said the canvassers aren’t tied to any particular neighborhoods or parts of southwest Georgia. They just try to reach as many houses as possible.

James and her partner made their way through the River Pointe Plantation neighborhood Tuesday. They drove past neat yards, displaying political yard signs in support of both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. They wound along Sportsman’s Club Road and its surrounding neighborhoods in Lee County, then traveled back to Albany – visiting neighborhoods off Palmyra Road and along Lincoln Avenue.

They knock a couple of times and wait about three minutes at each door. If there is no answer, they leave a door card. If the homeowner appears, they engage with them using a script that is informed by research conducted by NGPAF. The canvassers ask everyone how they’re feeling on a scale of 1 to 10 about voting in the upcoming election, what their top issues are and who they’re voting for.

Jackson said most southwest Georgians bring up the cost of living, affordable housing, roadway repair needs, crime, reproductive rights and climate change.

On Tuesday, canvassers spoke with Anno Harris. The 55-year-old has owned his Leesburg home since 2001, which he said he’s grateful for as he’s watched the cost of housing skyrocket. He said affordable housing is one of his top issues for the upcoming election.

Harris said he regularly votes in elections but has never interacted with a canvasser. He said he appreciated what they were doing to get the word out.

If they come across a person who seems discouraged about the upcoming election, the canvassers explain to them why their vote matters. They share stories from actual people who have been impacted by policy changes from the Biden administration. It’s an attempt to show voters that the elections have a tangible impact on daily life struggles.

“It’s that personal level that really gets people’s attention to want to vote,” Jackson said. “It might be something they can relate to … they might be going through the same thing. It’s important for them to vote because they want to see change with those issues.”

The nonprofit is also making an effort to celebrate voters who showed up for the 2020 presidential election. Through the “Thank you Georgia” campaign, NGPAF is thanking Georgian voters for voting in 2020 and letting them know the impact their votes had by breaking down policies like the Inflation Reduction Act into digestible stories.

“They appreciate us coming out and saying thank you to them,” James said.

The hope is that the voters feel mobilized to show up again.

Canvassers noticed a shift among southwest Georgia voters when Harris announced she was running for president. James said she’s talked to more people who are excited to vote.

“They’re excited for the possibility of change … of something new happening … now that we’ve got a black woman – a woman period – running for office,” she said.

Those who work as canvassers for NGPAF said the work they do makes them more passionate about the election as well.

Thirteen canvassers ages 21 to 75 work from the nonprofit’s Albany office. They spend about six to eight hours, five days a week canvassing.

Brothers Kel Miller, 29, and Kennedy Miller Jr., 40, have canvassed with the group for more than six years. They leave their regular jobs for about four months during the election cycle to work with NGPAF. Kel Miller said his employer understands as the $21 that NGPAF pays him an hour doesn’t compare to the pay he regularly makes. He said he feels strongly about letting people, especially young people, know that voting matters.

Kennedy Miller said canvassing isn’t just about the money.

“You have to want to do it,” he said. “You’ve got to get your feelers out into the community. You can’t be lazy.”

This is Cortez Covin’s first year canvassing. The 26-year-old found out about the job through a friend.

“I started just because I needed the money,” he said “Now, I really enjoy it.”

Covin said he’s learned a lot about politics and the importance of elections through the work. He said he’s never voted in an election before but plans to show up at the polls in November.

James said she imagines most of the canvassers got into this work for the money.

“I know I did,” she said. “But now, this is my passion. I love doing what I do – just the idea that you’re going to be able to hear how people feel and be able to relay that information to someone that cares.”

Staff Photo: Lucille LanniganStaff Photo: Lucille Lannigan

Staff Photo: Lucille Lannigan