MPA’s Summer Voter Engagement Campaign

There is a great deal at stake for Maine families in the 2014 election. The outcome this November will determine
the direction of the state for at least the next four years. Will Maine finally accept federal funds under the Affordable Care Act and expand health coverage to tens
of thousands of Mainers? Will Maine’s minimum wage be increased for the first time in over four years and lift Maine workers and their families out of poverty? Will a state budget be passed that finally sees the wealthy pay their fair share and protects vital programs for Maine families and communities?

MPA members are working hard this summer and fall to ensure the answers to
all these questions will be “yes!” During June, dozens of candidates for the Maine legislature underwent endorsement interviews with small groups of MPA members from their districts and nearby communities to talk about their support
for MPA’s vision for Maine. Our 2014 election theme is “Fair Share for Everyone,” which seeks to build a state where:

Everyone has what they need. Mainers deserve a clean, sustainable state, workers should earn a living wage, and everyone should be able to see a doctor, go to a good school, and retire with dignity.

Everyone contributes what they can. Right now, a broken system (especially when it comes to taxes) benefits a powerful few. When everyone pays their fair share, everyone will benefit—including even large corporations and the wealthy. Everyone is better off when everyone is better off.

No one is left behind. MPA supports candidates who offer solutions instead of scapegoats. Whether rich, poor, or middle class; here without papers or here for generations; gay, straight, male, female, or transgender; a person with disabilities or without, everyone deserves a life of dignity in Maine.

This summer, hundreds of MPA members are knocking on doors and talking to voters about the candidates they support and the vision they have for moving Maine forward. By Election Day, they will have visited the homes of 100,000 Mainers and built the kind of grassroots movement it will take to win back progressive majorities in the Maine House, Senate and Governor’s office.

In addition to talking to voters about the candidates, MPA will also work hard to talk to targeted voters about the struggles in their daily lives and the importance of voting this year. Tens of thousands of Mainers typically vote only in presidential years and many of these voters tend to be the low/moderate- income Mainers for whom the results of this election could matter most. MPA will work to contact these voters, over and over again this summer, at their doorsteps, over the phone and through the mail, making sure these folks know how to vote early at their local town hall and that they have information about the candidate stances on the issues that affect them and their families.

New voters are also key. In the past ten years, MPA has registered over 20,000 new voters in communities from Kittery to Fort Kent and the registration efforts will continue in 2014. MPA and allies will register 6,000 – 8,000 new voters in targeted communities this summer and fall.

If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. How can it be accomplished? With your help! If you have never volunteered in an election year before, now is the time to start. MPA makes it fun and easy to do your part to make Maine better. Contact your local organizer to find out how you can help!