AFSCME gives its local union members the tools to get out the vote
Background
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, is the largest active union of public employees in America, representing the workers who keep local governments running. AFSCME is composed of over 3,400 local unions in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Its over 1.2 million active and retired members include sanitation workers, firefighters, police officers, lunch professionals, and health care providers, all contributing to essential public services in communities across the country. AFSCME is also part of the AFL-CIO, a federation of unions that has a separate partnership with BallotReady.
AFSCME is tasked with lobbying and organizing on behalf of its members to promote their socioeconomic well being and improved working conditions. In addition to their legislative work, AFSCME assists members with registering and preparing to vote in local elections and promotes candidates endorsed by their local affiliates
During the 2021 municipal election cycle, AFSCME and BallotReady partnered to help union affiliates across the country help members cast ballots and vote for union-endorsed candidates. Nowhere was the outcome of this work more apparent than in New York City’s local affiliate, DC 37, with AFSCME playing a key role in many high-profile races.
We recently chatted with Courtney Brunelle Kim, a Political Action Representative with AFSCME who works to build a long term political engagement capacity within local affiliates including in New York. We talked about her work this past cycle and how she helped promote BallotReady’s tools to help engage its members and reach its political goals.
DC 37
While many organizations were still recovering from the 2020 presidential election, DC 37, the AFSCME affiliate for New York City, was gearing up for the vital 2021 city elections featuring key races such as mayor, city council, comptroller, and more. With 125,000 members, DC 37 is one of the largest affiliates in the country, giving them the opportunity to influence local elections and promote issues critical to a significant bloc of members.
AFSCME’s best resource to ensure the victory of pro-labor candidates is utilizing its network of members. “Our job is to run effective campaigns and keep in touch with our members to say ‘here’s what is going on politically, here’s what’s going on legislatively, and here’s how you can make a difference,” Courtney said.
AFSCME’s Slate Tool from the 2021 New York election.
During election season, this means ensuring every union member is registered and has the tools they need to vote. In order to simplify this process and increase turnout, AFSCME partnered with BallotReady to set up a digital platform connecting members to voting resources. With over forty endorsed candidates in races across the city, DC 37 used BallotReady’s custom Ballot and Turnout Engines to make sure that every member could easily get registered, identify union-endorsed candidates that appear on their ballot, and find their unique polling locations either before or on Election Day. By using AFSCME’s slate card , members could simply type in their address to find a list of the locally endorsed union candidates they would see when they went to vote, including links to their campaign website, social media, and donation platform.
DC 37 promoted this platform to its members leading up to Election Day in a variety of ways and provided them with a one-stop shop to get prepared to vote.
Outcome
This strategy helped the union meet its goals. On June 23rd, Eric Adams, DC 37’s pick for New York City mayor, won the primary election against a crowded field of Democratic candidates. In the city council primaries, 37 AFSCME candidates prevailed, representing the vast majority of the contests the union endorsed in. These candidates also went on to win in the general elections, ensuring that New York City will be represented by labor-friendly leaders who will work with AFSCME to achieve their objectives.
AFSCME’s TurnoutEngine tool helps users make a plan to vote.
AFSCME’s digital voter effort played a significant role in this outcome, with over ten thousand users accessing their tools during the 2021 primary cycle.
“We’ve found that BallotReady works really well for us when we follow the best practices that your team has provided, and works best when you consistently send folks to it.”
— Courtney Brunelle Kim, Political Action Representative
What’s Next?
As AFSCME looks towards 2022 and beyond, they are intent on expanding access to BallotReady’s elections tools, both with DC 37 and across the country. With thousands of AFSCME affiliates across the country, each with unique goals and locally endorsed candidates, AFSCME and BallotReady are working together to ensure that every affiliate can provide its members with access to their voting platform in 2022.
With many states changing voter access laws, AFSCME is focused on expanding their use of BallotReady nationally so all of their members have the information they need to vote. The BallotReady Turnout Engine will continue to be a feature on AFSCME's website, and AFSCME will explore promoting the voter registration engine through digital ads.
Armed with the knowledge that BallotReady’s tools are effective when promoted, AFSCME aims to expand members’ political engagement and continue to spread its local influence.