2. T he New York Immigration Coalition is proud to have coordinated
a powerful and effective statewide civic participation campaign
in 2012. Since starting civic engagement programs in 1998, NYIC
members have been able to register over 300,000 New Americans to vote; to
contact close to 1 million voters through personal interactions, educational,
and outreach materials; and enrich civic culture within diverse immigrant
communities.
The NYIC’s civic participation program was founded on the premise that
immigrant communities cannot effectively protect their interests until they
become a force at the ballot box. Since its inception, campaign partners have
utilized this multi-faceted non-partisan initiative to break through the racket
of electoral politics and inform immigrant communities of their rights and the
issues affecting all New Yorkers. Each year, NYIC members and partners fan
out across their communities and talk to thousands of their neighbors about
their work, in the process recruiting new members and raising their profiles as
trusted community resources.
We are pleased to report that due to the incredible commitment of our members
and partners, we have successfully exceeded our projected goals for the 2012
election cycle with over 11,000 New Americans registered to vote and over
42,000 voters contacted through the campaign, 12,000 more than we originally
thought possible!
In addition to the tangible numbers, we were able to deepen partner civic
engagement programs and help augment the leadership of our participant
groups in their communities. The Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign energized the
immigrant community with its focus of multi-ethnic, collaborative empowerment
of the varied immigrant communities of New York.
The NYIC remains grateful for the support of our funders and other supporters,
without whom this important work would not have been done in 2012, adversely
affecting thousands of New Americans and aspiring citizens in New York.
This report reflects just one program of the incredible and varied work done by
New York Immigration Coalition members in 2012. It is through the collaborative
efforts of the over 200 members of the Coalition that New York’s immigrant ...registered 300,000 New
communities are able to have the information and access to influence local,
state, and national policy and advocate for a better New York for all. American voters since 1998...
3. CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE
“The immigrant voice is pivotal in New
The Immigrants Vote! 2012 campaign was struc-
tured along a hub model developed by the NYIC
York and it is our collective responsibility
over the last 12 years. Each partner group made a to empower our communities during the
commitment to a specific outreach goal prior to the
general election along with events, trainings, and election process.”
voter registration activities. The NYIC provided fi-
nancial support, access to the State Voices table Almirca Santiago
and Voter Activation Network data-management Director of Programs and Development
software, individualized campaign planning and Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
campaign management support, online coordina-
tion, a library of resources, and volunteer support.
The 10 groups recruited for the campaign repre- LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
sented a wealth of geographic, and language diver- The NYIC works with the New York State Civic Engagement Table,
sity and an ability to deliver results. a collaborative effort of 501c3 organizations in New York State, as a
founding steering committee member. Through the Table we were
In addition to NYIC staff – Chung-Wha Hong, ex- able to provide partner groups with access to the Voter Activation
ecutive director and Karen Kaminsky, deputy executive director– prior staff Network (VAN), voter lists, outreach tools, as well as technical assis-
and consultants who specialized in electoral and tance and training from table staff.
outreach work were brought on-board to help co-
ordinate the participant organizations.To develop a The NYIC’s National partnership with the Center for Community
cohesive structure, throughout the campaign sea- Change brought the Campaign much valued technical support
son partner groups had coordination meetings with from their National Electoral Staff, coordination with other Na-
NYIC staff and consultants to strategize, share in- tional and Regional partners, along with valuable coordination
formation, and discuss successes and challenges. tools and online reporting mechanisms. Conferences sponsored
In this way the campaign was able to create a high by Four Freedoms Fund, National Partnership for New Ameri-
quality, coordinated, sophisticated voter outreach cans, and Fair Immigration Reform Movement brought needed
strategy to maximize its impact. information and knowledge exchange with groups throughout
the country engaged in similar work.
VOTER REGISTRATION
The NYIC has led the oldest courthouse-based im- WWW.WHOISONTHEBALLOT.ORG
migrant voter registration project in the country since 1998. During the last 14 Who’s on the Ballot is a not-for profit project of the School of Inter-
years, NYIC partners registered over 300,000 New Americans to vote at natu- national and Public Affairs at Columbia University. www.whosonthe-
ralization swearing in ceremonies, pioneering the courthouse method that ballot.org is an easy to use website and mobile app that provides
has been taken up by groups around the country. This volunteer run effort NYC residents with the location of polling places, information on
has continued to be the most effective method of registering large numbers candidates, sample ballots, and voter registration information. The
of New Americans at one time, on average registering 150 people a day in a project is based on the fact that the more
yearlong, ongoing effort. informed we are, the more likely we are to
participate in elections. The mission is to
In 2012, partner groups Minkwon provide voters with the tools they need to
Center for Community Action and La make an informed choice on Election Day.
Fuente took the lead in providing vol- Who’s on the Ballot is guided by a group of
unteers for voter registration in the leaders in the non-profit, business, and city
court, delivering the majority of NYIC government communities.
voter registration numbers. Their com-
mitment, with strong support from Project Director and Columbia Professor
the NYIC and other partner groups, Esther Fuchs worked closely with the NYIC
has allowed the campaign to register throughout the election season, bringing in
11,520 New American voters in 2012 Pilobolus, a performance crew with a mis-
and pass the 300,000 registered voter sion to engage voters, and helping thou-
mark for the program! sands of people find information to inform
their vote.
4. “...immigrants face the language barrier, which complicates
every aspect of voter participation and overall civic awareness...
to have our voices be heard, we must work doubly hard to
improve registration and turnout rates in our communities.”
Steven Choi, Executive Director,
MinKwon Center for Community Action
VOTER OUTREACH
New York based groups have a ‘target-rich’ geography for immigrant voter outreach.
This environment allows NYIC partner groups to focus on parts of the immigrant
community not ordinarily contacted by campaigns.
Since 2006, the NYIC has encouraged partner groups to target newly registered
and sporadic voters in their communities, also cross-targeted by language and
geography.
Comparison of Trainings to Events Held During Campaign
Data has repeatedly shown that immigrant service groups are the most trusted
messengers in their communities, frequently breaking through the electoral din to
get the message out to their neighbors and educate voters about the issues. (Gerber
& Green, GOTV) Knowing that, partner groups were able to maximize their volunteer
time and focus their contacts on increasing the voter base in their communities and
building immigrant voter power through education and direct ballot box impact.
NYIC partners were able to ensure that door-to-door outreach, mailings, and phone
banking efforts were language specific, and led primarily by bilingual volunteers.
Volunteer and paid staff hours during the campaign.
Partner groups conducted outreach in 12 languages, including in Arabic,
Bengali, Chinese, English, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Nepali, and Spanish
among other languages and dialects familiar to campaign volunteers. Partners
were able to reach thousands more at community events throughout New York,
through press coverage, and by holding 62 events and 74 trainings around the
counties of focus.
Because NYIC electoral efforts are built on over a decade of best practice knowledge,
we were able to have immediate impact by using a 3-contact model with door,
phone, and mail contacts supplementing each other for maximum impact.
The program continues to have incredible success in building the pipeline of civic
engagement, which develops member groups into civic engagement powerhouses
who are able to take the knowledge and experience learned during non-partisan
electoral outreach and apply it to their policy and service goals in order to benefit
Breakdown of all contacts by contact method
and empower their communities.
5. IMMIGRANTS VOTE! 2012 CAMPAIGN RESULTS
CAMPAIGN IMPACT
In 2012, while the NYIC’s civic engagement efforts took a necessary electoral Registered 11,520 New Americans to Vote
focus, the level of success was clearly the result of long-term engagement efforts
undertaken by the NYIC and partner groups over the last decade. By focusing
on building the capacity of groups, providing education, and connecting them Made 142,334 Contacts with 42,531 voters
to technology, the NYIC is able to tap into a highly effective network of partners
committed to civic engagement year-round, and amplify their efforts during this Recruited 643 Volunteers and 367 Part-Time Staff
important election year.
Logged 13,957 volunteer and staff hours
The civic engagement pipeline that the NYIC has been developing is a multi step
effort that begins with advocacy for immigrants regardless of status, moves on to Held 74 trainings and 62 events.
naturalization support services, connects to voter registration efforts, and builds
into voter engagement efforts, which connect back to post-election advocacy Sponsored 3 Candidate and Community Forums
on issues affecting New York’s immigrant communities.
In recognizing long-term capacity-building goals beyond the numbers-oriented
voter outreach cycle, the NYIC collaborates with a wide variety of groups
who work in dozens of different communities in New York not yet individually
represented or visible on the political spectrum, including Russian-speaking
Central Asian communities in Queens, Nepali pockets in Jackson Heights, The 10 Immigrants
Arab-Americans in Bay Ridge, and numerous African communities on Staten Vote! 2012 Campaign
Island. The partner groups represented in the Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign partners, conducted
frequently had the only inroads into these smaller, underrepresented, emerging
immigrant community groups, many of whom were able to know the issues and campaign activities
make an informed vote, often for the first time, due to the work of NYIC partners in 11 communities,
on the ground. speaking 12 different
This unprecedented level of language coordination led to excellent experiences languages, in
by volunteers and an incredible impact on those voters who never before had Brooklyn, Queens,
a chance to get politically involved in their native tongue. The response from Bronx, Manhattan,
community members was tremendous, and led to higher profiles and more
recognition for partner groups in their communities.
Staten Island,
Rockland, Putnam,
The 2012 Immigrants Vote! Campaign was able to activate far-flung immigrant Westchester, Nassau,
communities, build strength, inform voters on the issues, and create a sense of and Dutchess
power in the New American voting bloc.
Counties
6. Arab American Association of New York
* text taken from group final report. edited for length.
The Arab American Association of New revelation allowed us to act fast and recruit Ur- The audience was very diverse, which displayed the true
York is the only advocacy organization du- speaking volunteers. Of the thirty five core
‐ power of the local Arab American immigrant community.
serving, empowering and engaging the volunteers, at least 7 of them were South Asian Hurricane Sandy hit New York City one week before elec-
Arab American community of New York to ensure that these voters were able to ac- tions and that delayed much of the work and for some de-
City in electoral politics. We focused cess the critical voter information that we had creased the amount of electoral work they were planning
our campaign in Southwest Brook- available. to implement. We were very fortunate at the Arab Ameri-
lyn, which includes Sunset Park, Bay can Association of New York to continue to do our work
Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst We facilitated 5 workshops of 50 people at as planned. Obviously we knew that many of those af-
neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Southwest two local Islamic institutions.These work- fected would be preoccupied with Hurricane Sandy so we
Brooklyn is the most highly concentrat- shops provided critical information about the edited our phone scripts. Our scripts were an opportunity
ed Arab American community in the en- importance of voting and the electronic ballot for us to ask people how they were doing, assess their
tire state of New York. We reached over process. These workshops were for many the needs and use the call to remind voters about upcoming
6500 people through mailers, phone first time they participated in an informed dis- elections. Voters were more likely to continue conversa-
calls and canvassing. We also organ- cussion on the electoral process. On average, tion after responding to questions about their wellbeing
ized a civic engagement street team approximately 40% of those who identified post Sandy.
made up of high school and college age themselves as registered voters also said they
students. would vote in 2012 for the first time. Two days after Sandy on Halloween, AAANY resumed
with an event that was planned before the Hurricane,
AAANY conducted four trainings that “Trick or Vote”. Volunteers came wearing costumes and
focused on GOTV strategies. Each The Arab American Association of New made calls to voters. During this one evening, AAANY
training had 15 people in attendance. York organized a Candidate’s Forum at made over 550 calls with 20 volunteers. Volunteers also
We had over 35 volunteers who recruit- labeled the second wave of mailers that were mailed out
Public School 170. All candidates run-
ed other volunteers, aggregated lists of the next day. During the last 4 weeks before elections,
Middle Eastern voters, made the calls ning for State Senate, and two local As-
volunteers would choose one of 3 to four shifts to knock
and joined teams to knock on doors. sembly races attended the event. Ap- on doors. Teams of two were sent out for 3- our shifts
h
As we were making calls through the proximately 250 local residents attended with walking lists obtained through VAN. Volunteers wore
Voter Activation Network we noticed this event. badges that identified them as volunteers with the AAANY
that many of those who were catego- and included our phone number. AAANY knocked on ap-
rized as Arab American due to their proximately 2800 doors of Arab, Asian, and Latino voters.
surnames were in fact South Asian.This
7. Hudson Valley Community Coalition and the Westchester Hispanic Coalition
Our campaign got off to a strong start when we hired Just when we were really building up the * text taken from group final report. edited for length.
Jonathan Stribling-Uss,. Jonathan recently graduated team momentum, Hurricane Sandy struck
from CUNY Law, is bilingual Spanish/English and had and completely changed our focus. Towns
a lot of great organizing and field work experience. in Westchester, Rockland and southern
Plus he was from the Hudson Valley, raised in Monroe, Putnam counties were placed under a state of
Orange County. Jonathan worked with our Director emergency because of countless fallen trees
of Community Organizing, Norma Pereira-Mora, to that tore down power lines and blocked roads.
recruit a team of volunteers. The volunteer stipends Several of our team were without heat and hot
were a big help in getting commitments from people water for eight, nine and ten days, and with
to work the whole campaign. our schools shut down as well, parents had
to miss work to take care of kids and other
neighbors too. Several others joined up with
The ages ran from 17 year old student Paula other community groups’ relief efforts around
Mora, to retired postal service employee the affected areas, helping out wherever and
Steve Glusker. While Jonathan and Norma however they could.
were putting together the team, our partners
at Westchester Hispanic Coalition registered Election day arrived, with power still out in
over 1,000 new voters, enabling them to vote most places in Westchester and Putnam
Counties. Our team was determined to finish
in time for the November elections. the campaign strong. Graciela Heymann, the
director of Westchester Hispanic Coalition,
offered her entire office space and all her staff to
We ran our first GOTV Volunteer Training in early make calls on election day. With the recruiting 2012 Campaign
October. Jonathan put together this initial workshop, efforts of Wiliam Méndez, Walfre Martinez
Hudson Valley Community
Coalition/Westchester Hispan
ic Coalition Immigrants Vote!
which we held at the Westchester offices of our
Member Profile:
Campaign Volunteer/Team
and Lorna Leiva, who brought in four more
partners, Neighbors Link of Mt. Kisco and the Elias
York
Lorna Leiva, Carmel, New
volunteers, we launched an all-out effort to Get
Foundation. Most team members hadn’t participated Out the Vote on November 6th. We ordered a
in a GOTV effort before. One person who came to dozen pizza pies for lunch, kept making phone
the initial training, did not take part in the rest of the calls, and then sent out teams of canvassers to
campaign. At the wrap-up celebration, he confessed hit the streets of White Plains.
Photo: Lorna connecting
with new voters.
year old daughter Zoe. She
was born in Costa Rica and
that it was just too painful to take part in another
l, New York with her 11 by her friend and our
Lorna Leiva lives in Carme recruited to the campaign
y as a hairdresser. She was
works in Westchester Count
campaign, after working so hard on trying to get CIR
izing, Norma Pereir a-Mora.
Director of Community Organ
We worked into the late evening, finally calling
a huge number of
team. She personally called
est campaigners on our
passed in 2010, but coming up short.
Lorna was one of the strong Vote Campaign.”
was her first “Get Out the
d other volunteers. This
it a night after 9:30 p.m. We had made 3,700
voters, and she also traine
, and we were all on the
ly. “I met different people
ence,” Lorna said recent
“It was a wonderful experi
phone calls! We wrapped up the campaign a
fantastic.”
was great. The energy was
determined. The feeling
same page. We were so
At the initial training, we shared the campaign goals, few weeks later, with a potluck celebration and Before joining the campa
ign, Lorna hadn’t planne
d on voting. When she was
get involved past that. One
younger, she would take
afternoon in September
she ran into a
talked about how to run a nonpartisan GOTV effort, debrief. Almost all the feedback was positive,
her Grand ma to vote. But she didn’t
friend in the A&P grocer
y.. He said to her, “You gotta
vote. I know you’ve been
that conversation struck
disappointed in the past,
her. “It was done for me
and also did a lot of role plays. Throughout the month
nce.” Something in if she wanted to join the
but your vote makes a differe called a few days later, asking
with members feeling great about being a part
involved. When Norma
then.” She decided to get
of October, we organized training at different locations
and willing.
campaign, she was ready
of a team, and about knowing that they made an
working as part of a
the campaign. She liked
asked her to be a part of
throughout the area. Organizing in the Hudson Valley
Lorna is grateful that Norma other advice, and encou
raged each other.
team members gave each
impact on the people they connected with. Two
team. She enjoyed how
red Italian -American
is always a challenge due to the geography: getting
calls was to a newly registe
communicator. One of her vote for anyone. He asked
Lorna who
Lorna is a very effective
members who didn’t take part in the campaign
motivation to go out and
voter. He had no idea who to vote for, or but that he should just follow
anywhere requires wheels and takes time. One
’t tell him who to vote for,
told him that she couldn ced me Seňora.”
he should vote for. She
(but had attended the initial training) were sorry
“Well thank you. I think you convin
the conversation, he said,
his heart. At the end of
evening we used the offices of Bedford Presbyterian to not participate, but said that they looked Submitted by:
Church to call voters. Another evening, Norma opened forward to joining the efforts in 2013. (These
Betsy Palmieri
her home to the team. When we canvassed door-to-
Executive Director
Coalition
Hudson Valley Community
two members also recruited several young
door in Brewster, my stepdad John Hagedorn let us people who did take part in the campaign.) It
occupy his house as our “home base.” was a fun celebration and we all felt energized
for the next campaign in 2013.
8. New Immigrant Community Empowerment and Queens Community House
“This was my first time knocking on doors in this country and I * text taken from group final report. edited for length.
found it to be an amazing experience. In general, people received Engagement Coordinator, designed
us well and I discovered that while it may take longer or be more and implemented a curriculum to train
work to knock on each door one by one, it is definitely a more pro- volunteers how to knock doors and talk about
ductive and efficient way to reach people. It gave us the opportu- the elections. Between five separate trainings
nity to explain on a personal level the importance of getting out to held by the staff in three different languages,
vote and representing the local immigrant community.” all of the fifty-six volunteers received training.
Luz Marina, volunteer Overall, volunteers took pride in ensuring all
voters had the opportunity to use their vote.
This year, NICE and QCH jointly participated in Concerned that two different homebound
the Immigrants Vote! Campaign. The collaboration elders would be unable to get to the polls on their own,
allowed us to expand our individual reach within two QCH volunteers took the initiative to investigate
Northwest Queens and to activate immigrant voters transportation options for them on Election Day.
of Latino, South Asian and Asian backgrounds.
Together, we engaged over 70 community members NICE members framed the work as ensuring that their
through basic civic workshops, sent out 3,613 GOTV interests were heard on Election Day. They educated
postcards, made 1000 phone calls and knocked on each other on what was at stake and how as non-voters
993 doors reaching 1,388 registered voters in the they were having a say in making this country better. For
neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and QCH members, many of whom are students in an ESOL
Corona. program, it was also an opportunity to gain much-needed
work experience and for many who are new to the country,
Starting in September 2012, the Civic Engagement a chance to gain hands-on understanding of not only US
Coordinator implemented a series of civics workshops civics but also their local community.
to inform new immigrants about the structures of
government at the federal, state and local level.
The workshops also covered which seats were up Because NICE and QCH serve a diverse cross-section
for election and which candidates were running for of the local community, one of the most important
office in the upcoming elections. parts of the collaboration was bringing together
volunteers across linguistic and cultural barriers with
They included which levels of government are a common goal. On each of the three door knocking
responsible for different issues, such as immigration days, volunteers, speaking Spanish, Bengali, Urdu
reform, police enforcement, schools, healthcare, and Hindi, came together for an opening training
public space, and services; seventy community review and then set out in teams based on their native
members participated in two workshops held at language(s). In neighborhoods as ethnically diverse
Queens Community House and one at NICE. Many as Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona, this was
of the participants were not aware of the upcoming an important opportunity to highlight our common
elections, and were eager to participate. struggle as immigrant New Yorkers and together, rally
the community around issues of deep importance to all.
Staff reached out to the base of both organizations and
other members of the community of Jackson Heights
to inform them about the GOTV campaign. They The Immigrants Vote! campaign proved rewarding for
made thirteen presentations about the campaign to volunteers and for the organizations. Our efforts were
over one hundred and thirty community members in validated on election night once returns were reported and
ESOL classes, organizer and member meetings and at showed immigrants turned out to vote in full force. We look
other community events. As a result of these efforts, forward to joining forces with the coalition and its members
they were able to recruit and train fifty-six volunteers again in the coming year to ensure immigrant voices are
to assist with work on the campaign. The Civic strongly represented in the New York City elections.
9. Minkwon Center for Community Action
* text taken from group final report. edited for length.
In 2012, the MinKwon Center for Community
Action announced its largest voter
mobilization and registration drive ever to
contact 2,000 households in-person and to
phone-bank over 7,000 voters as part of its
“Vote 2012: Your Voice, Your Vote” Campaign.
This joint campaign, with the New York
Immigration Coalition, worked to bolster
awareness among voters, particularly to
recent immigrants and limited-English-
proficient persons in Queens for the 2012 As part of the Campaign, the MinKwon Center conducted phone banking and door knocking
Primary and General Elections. around Flushing ahead of the Election. At each household, staff and volunteers canvassed
the community and distributed multilingual literature. The literature, translated into both
Korean and Chinese, had photos of all the candidates who were running for elections in the
Using a new 2012 Voter Guide, a voter area, as well as various voting help resources. Community residents responded positively to
registration drive, and intensive get-out-the- receiving this basic information; in fact, most people canvassed did not even know who was
vote efforts, MinKwon Center’s “Vote 2012: running to represent their districts. Our scripts posed questions that made voters think about
Your Voice, Your Vote” Campaign featured who was on the ballot and what was at stake for them in these elections.
a comprehensive set of voter initiatives –
voter registration, education, protection For 2012, the MinKwon Center also debuted a new “Voter Pledge” Postcard Campaign. For this
and mobilization – designed to fully engage pcampaign, the MinKwon Center asked voters to sign a form pledging to vote on November 6th.
voters in the 2012 elections. A week before the elections, MinKwon
Center mailed back over 600 postcards “When I first started door knocking, I was really nervous.
The MinKwon Center took the lead in to those voters, reminding them to vote. However, the more I did it, the more I began to enjoy it. One
registering new immigrant voters with the The pledge cards were translated into of my most memorable door knocking experiences was on Hal-
NYIC at its new citizen registration initiatives Korean, Chinese, and several South Asian loween.
at the Federal Courthouse. Every week, languages. In addition, the postcards
the MinKwon Center coordinates volunteer feature important resources, such as the Many residents in the area were at home because of Hurri-
teams to the courthouse to register all the Board of Elections hotline and various cane Sandy that had just passed through a few days ago. We
newly naturalized citizens. In addition to internet pages to look up polling location were only 6 days away from Election Day and it was crucial
voter registration, volunteers also educate and voter status. In helping to conduct that we disseminated as much information as possible. It was
new citizens at the courthouse about the street outreach, phone-banking, and a really great experience because people were so kind when
many different facets of voting, including they opened the door to us, expecting us to be trick-or-treaters.
door-knocking efforts, youth volunteers One resident was particularly receptive to talk to us. She glad-
where to vote and what it means to enroll in were able to develop critical analysis ly answered all the questions on our survey and was excited
a political party. skills in addition to their leadership skills. about being able to vote.
In order to increase capacity to reach more With the City Council lines being redrawn From this experience, I learned that door knocking is one of
voters ahead of the elections, MinKwon now, the Minkwon Center is looking the most intimate and effective ways to reach a voter. It was
Center mobilized community members, forward to working with the NYIC again great to know that I definitely had a positive impact on the
youth, volunteers, and other program staff to to make an even greater impact in the democratic process.”
strengthen electoral engagement work. critical 2013 New York City elections.
Kanupriya Pandey, Volunteer
10. Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Manhattan and Bronx community. * text taken from group final report. edited for length.
Through our organizing meetings,
citizenship classes, and previous GOTV
campaigns, we have participants
who have demonstrated outstanding
leadership skills and those with the
desire to develop them.
We hired twenty-four bi-lingual
individuals from the community, of
ages ranging from sixteen – sixty,
to focus on spreading the message
on the importance of voting for their
leaders and holding our presidential
candidates accountable to the Latino
and immigrant community.Many of our
canvassers learned what it truly means
to be an active participant in their
Since the fall of 2006, Northern Manhattan communities. They learned about it
Coalition for Immigrant Rights has managed through the process of performing this By Election Day, November 6, 2012, NMCIR
GOTV campaigns in partnership with type of outreach as well as from the and the exceptional team of canvassers/
the NYIC with the goal of increasing the people they were able to and unable callers made 16,974 contacts to a list of 4,905
community’s awareness of the importance to engage. registered voters.
of civic participation as community
members, lawful permanent residents, and NMCIR planned to send out a second mailing
U.S. citizens; as well as to increase the One of our veteran callers, Rosa during the week before Election Day but
number of Latino registered voters in both M. Rodriguez, who was also a first was not able to. The effects of Hurricane
Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. time canvasser, felt more inspiration Sandy were not physically devastating in the
as the days went by because of Northern Manhattan area, but the effect it had
With 2012 being a presidential election the community’s response to the on the rest of the city was destructive enough
year, we were focused on ensuring that campaign. She quickly learned to derail us for a few days.
the Latino and immigrant presence and that door-knocking was her favorite
power was felt. During 2008, President form of outreach because of the Overall, the Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign
Obama made a campaign promise that connections she was able to make was successful and exciting. We always
comprehensive immigration would occur with the community, both registered hope to have more than a few weeks to plan
during the first year. After dealing with a voters and unregistered voters, their and strategize for the upcoming GOTV cycle
difficult political landscape over the past feedback and desire to become but the support we received from the NYIC
four years, we felt it was important for all involved in things that affect their and partner organizations made it easier
candidates involved to be fully aware of the community. to manage. The meetings leading to the
power of the Latino vote. The only way we campaign and mid way through truly helped
could do that was by mounting a very strong in addressing any questions or concerns we
effort to encourage Latinos and immigrants In general, the canvassers (door- may have had throughout the planning and/or
of the area we serve. knocking) experience was a more execution process. The sharing of documents
positive one even if the registered and best practices also made things easier for
NMCIR developed great relationships voter they were trying to contact was organizations who were either working with
with active members of the Northern not at the address they obtained from this for the first time or had limited capacity.
the database.
11. Russian American Voter Education League
During the Campaign period, the Russian– * text taken from group final report. edited for length.
American Voters Educational League
further strengthened the Russian–speaking This campaign gave us the
community of Queens and provided it with opportunity:
meaningful tools that facilitated its engagement
in the social and civic life of New York. to unite people
to prove that each vote counts
to show community strength
RAVEL significantly enlarged its voter to see the results and
mobilization activities in the Forrest Hills understand the importance of
part of Queens. In addition to traditionally community involvement
targeted Russian immigrants from European to build bridges between
parts of the former USSR, special attention
was paid to “Bukharian” Russian-speaking different communities
By expanding RAVEL’s effective to identify and engage future
immigrants, and others from Central Asia, combination of voter education,
from Georgia (USSR) and Caucasus, most organizing and nonpartisan
leaders
of whom settled in Queens in the 1990’s. get–out–the-vote efforts during the
election, RAVEL was able to reach
over 3,000 Russian–American
voters of Forest Hills three times
Due to specifics of the areas these groups each. Particular attention was
come from, they brought with them a deep- devoted to first time voters and
rooted skepticism towards political and civic people who had not voted in
participation and fell away from mainstream of previous year’s general elections
community life. That is why they have indeed and usually vote at very low rates.
been overlooked as a voting power. These
immigrants are compactly accommodated During the campaign period
in Queens, and have their main community RAVEL worked in cooperation
institutions in Forrest Hills. By maintaining with other Queens community
their specific religious and cultural habits they based organizations to conduct
have become an isolated part of the Russian two Candidate forums. As always,
community. RAVEL partnered with Russian radio
and Russian newspapers who
RAVEL, as the only Russian group in this area, played an extremely positive role in
specifically fully focused on voter education providing non-partisan information
and involvement , paid close attention to this to thousands of Russian-speaking
phenomena and in the effort to fix the situation voters.
started performing voter educational and
outreach activities in collaboration with local
Russian community based organizations.
12. La Fuente
* text taken from group final report. edited for length.
La Fuente set out to increase the culture of civic participation
for its membership and allies through the Votos y Voces pro- “We are working tirelessly to ensure that our immigrant commu-
ject in the fall of 2012. nities exercise their right to vote on Election Day. The immigrant
vote and the hundreds of individuals working to ensure that eve-
We were able to hire and train a group of people who never ryone turns out and their voices are heard are at the heart of this
canvassed before, recruiting from our own membership and
that of allied organizations. On average we had 4-5 canvass- effort, and La Fuente is excited to be a partner.”
ers a day as well as a canvass coordinator who also was de-
veloped in the field. The canvass training included basic in- Lucia Gomez-Jimenez, Executive Director | La Fuente
formation and best practices for meeting their goals but also
important discussions about the relationship between power, highlight was the Washington Heights committee which, without any paid organ-
politics at every level of government and the immigrant com- izer, was able to staff a volunteer office the last two weeks before the election and
munity. Canvassers learned to value the role that immigrants fill it with volunteers to make phone calls and knock on doors. We held trainings
can play in impacting decisions at every ring of government. in Queens, the Bronx and at the Manhattan office where member leaders learned
how to run phone banks. One of our active members, Claudia Carias, took on
As a result, the canvass was able to achieve our of goal two more and more responsibility to the point where she was planning a youth phone
rounds of door knocking to 2,000 voters in our targeted bank in order to engage youth from the immigrant community to become more
neighborhoods in South Bronx, Washington Heights and Co- engaged in voting at an early age.
rona, Queens. In total we made more than 4,132 knocks!
Linking Issues to the Elections through Action
La Fuente was able to further its coalition work during this period connecting im-
portant campaigns to civic participation. As a result volunteers attended rallies
The Votos y Voces project set out to do more than just and press conferences highlighting the need to register and vote, such as the rally
knock doors. The goal was to build capacity within the against Bain Capital during National Get Out the Vote Day. On that day, volunteers
organization and better know the neighborhoods. The registered over 100 new voters in the South Bronx, Nassau County, Long Island
canvassers all used voter surveys to find out whether or and Corona Queens. As people registered they were encouraged to participate in
not they were parents, workers, and what issues are most one of La Fuente’s major campaigns of educational justice, economic justice or
important to them. The canvassers exceeded expecta- immigrant services and rights.
tions by getting over 2,000 surveys filled out.
La Fuente also held Get Out The Vote book fairs to highlight the challenges our lo-
cal public schools are facing and encouraging partents to get out the vote. Work-
Leadership Development Among La Fuente Volunteers: ing with specific public schools adopted by La Fuente’s committees, La Fuente
La Fuente was able to train and develop over 20 volunteers to organized book fairs where every parent who registered was given free books to
take on leadership roles in the Votos y Voces campaign. One read to their kids.
13. El Centro del Inmigrante de Staten Island
* text taken from group final report. edited for length.
We used combined lists of Project Hospitality friends
and supporters to identify targeted potential voters
and offer a get out the vote phone message delivered
to 800 new voters. A number of these calls took place
post Sandy and we began all the calls with a Sandy
check in.
We had two meetings with the NAACP to de-
velop a coordinated message from the immi-
grant and African American community. Our
plan was to distribute 4000 cards, working with
NAACP volunteers in all the housing projects
and surrounding immediate neighborhoods -
integrating the lives of African Americans and
their immigrant neighbors.
We developed an agreed upon message which we then produced
in a postcard format on the back of the postcard were the polling “El Centro is having hundreds of conversations with potential vot-
site addresses for each of the public housing sites.The messaging ers on the North Shore of Staten Island. The needs of our com-
emphasized the importance in our voice in choosing elected lead- munity are at stake and we will help guide voters to the booth on
ers who will address the concerns of our community. Election Day!”
Gonzalo Mercado, Executive Director
We agreed to distribute these cards in all of the public housing
projects on Staten Island. We distributed cards at the Jersey St El Centro del Inmigrante de Staten Island
NYCHA projects and at the Al-Noor Rhine Ave Mosque - repre-
senting a majority Pakistani community.
We had planned to leaflet at the ferry but the ferries were not running
We produced 4000 postcards pre-Sandy. We distributed many of after Hurricane Sandy. Several of the poling sites were changed
the cards at local commercial districts near the housing projects due to Sandy. For many people it was hard to know where to vote
on Election Day. Because of the devastation of Sandy and the so postcard distribution on election was also a help for direction to
fact that none of the housing projects on Staten Island had elec- the polls.
tricity from October 29th through Election Day, it was not wise nor
safe for us to visit the targeted housing projects, without access All in all, with our targeted phone calls and card distribution and
to electricity or elevators. reaching out to and igniting interest in our efforts with the local
NAACP, we believe our victory was demonstrated in a high number
of votes in communities of color and immigrant communities on
Staten Island.
15. D espite warnings and
preparations, nobody
expected Hurricane
Sandy to have the
kind of devastating
impact that it ended
up having. Low lying areas of New
York, which were often immigrant
neighborhoods, got hit especially
hard, with homes destroyed, power
gone for weeks, and no access to
jobs or official relief services. As
the storm abated, the extent of the Daniel Goodine photo
damage became apparent. Local,
SANDY RESPONSE
State, and National authorities
responded immediately, but with
an area as densely populated as
New York and New Jersey it was
inevitable that some areas would
become crisis zones.
of access to the franchise arose almost 24 hours. By Monday morning, the letter went to Albany
Once again, like in all times of crisis, immediately. Many poll sites looked like with over a hundred signatures gathered during a draining
New Yorkers came together to help they would remain flooded for weeks, weekend. Governor Cuomo signed the Executive Order to
each other through, with neighbors and access to information was made allow affidavit ballot access to all displaced New Yorkers
organizing support kitchens difficult by the disruption of cell networks across New York State on Monday afternoon November 5th,
and cleanup efforts. Immigrants and communication chains. The NYIC saying that he could not let democracy be stopped by the
Vote! Campaign partners were reached out to Common Cause New York storm.
immediately involved in clean-up and the New York Election Protection
and support efforts in Brooklyn, Table to formulate The resilience of all New Yorkers was
Staten Island, Queens, Hudson a joint strategy inspiring to see, with many groups
Valley, and Long Island. Meanwhile of advocating for going full out to coordinate relief
NYIC staff came together on affidavit ballot access efforts and alleviate immediate issues
phones to help connect disaster for all displaced New in South Brooklyn, Staten Island,
relief efforts with translation Yorkers regardless of Westchester and Putnam Counties,
services, disseminate information, location. Long Island, and Northern Queens;
and advocate for immediate action while others continued their outreach
to help immigrant communities Using the fast efforts, getting up to date information
and all New Yorkers. These efforts response online on poll site changes and ride shares
happened in spite of the reality that network developed to voters throughout the city.
many partner offices were shut by the Immigrants
down for many weeks, with the Vote! 2012 Campaign, All partner groups were back into
New York Immigration Coalition’s all partner groups final outreach mode on Election
office and servers inaccessible for were able to add Day, providing rides, poll monitoring,
over a week. their voices to a
A handout photo released on 04 November 2012 showing New York Governor An-
drew Cuomo surveying the destruction from Hurricane Sandy in Lindenhurst, New addressing issues, and going door to
sign-on letter to the York, USA, 03 November 2012. The storm was one of the largest in history to hit the
US East Coast and has caused power outages for millions of people in the Eastern US door in affected communities to make
With Election Day only a weekend Governor and an and crippled transportation in New York City. EPA/JUDY SANDERS / sure people came out to vote.
away when the storm hit, problems online petition within
16. The Latino community, by no means o Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights worked with NALEO to
uniform in New York, has been the most hold educational forums, and to reach Latino voters in the Bronx and Upper
numerous immigrant group over the last Manhattan.
decade. Latino enclaves have sprung up o La Fuente activated thousands of Latino voters across New York and in
in every borough of NYC and in small Nassau County in Long Island. They were co-leads on the NYIC voter
towns all over New York State. Latino registration efforts and led one of the largest outreach efforts of the campaign,
outreach has been a major focus of the talking to over 7,500 Latino voters.
immigrant rights movement and we saw o The Hudson Valley Community Coalition focused all their outreach efforts
some impressive results, with 71% of on Spanish speaking groups who are dispersed all through Westchester,
Latino voters sending President Obama Dutchess, and Putnam Counties in a continued effort to retain focus on areas
back to the oval office. outside of NYC where most immigrant population growth has taken place over
Panel at America’s Society sponsored by the Rockefeller Broth-
ers Fund. Photo courtesy of the NYIC.
the last decade.
Partner groups engaged with Latino o The NYIC co-hosted two panels with the America’s Society under the
communities in and out of NYC: auspices of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Each one focused on the impact of
o NICE & QCH engaged a primarily undocumented community in Queens, the Latino vote on immigration reform
getting their students to go door to door and encourage voters to cast their o The programs looked at advances (or setbacks) in immigration policy
vote to help and empower those who cannot. in the next four years including the likelihood of immigration reform, with a
o El Centro del Inmigrante de Staten Island engaged day-laborers in outreach focus on what form it could take, how immigration legislation could work its
and Sandy cleanup work to help all Staten Island residents, regardless of way through Congress and how to get stakeholders on board. The audience
status. consisted of a varied group of educators, students, NGOs, foundations, and
public and private sector representatives.
Hispanic Community Engagement o Panelists included: Erica Gonzalez, Executive Editor of El Diario La
Prensa; Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition;
Jorge Pérez, Senior Vice President, Manpower North America; and Muzaffar
SPOTLIGHT
Chishti, Director, Migration Policy Institute Office at NYU School of Law
o NICE and QCH worked closely with the growing South Asian Community in
Jackson Heights, Queens. They recruited volunteers who spoke Bengali, Hindi,
Pashto, and Urdu to reach those new Americans who have not been engaged
Asian Community Engagement before, and they had an incredible impact, with many voters saying that this
was the first time they could engage with the issues in their own languages,
giving them a real stake in the election.
The Asian-American community is now the fastest growing immigrant
community in the US, and it has traditionally been one of the most difficult o The Arab American Association of New York worked with the increasingly
general groups to engage in civic participation efforts. This year partner groups diverse Middle Eastern and South Asian communities in Bay Ridge and
made some strong inroads into activating this sleeping giant. The results have Bensonhurst in Brooklyn.
been stunning, with large Asian-American turnouts voting 73% for President Recruiting native speakers of
Obama. Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali along
with their core of Arabic speakers
Immigrants Vote! Campaign partners have been at the forefront of engaging gave them an outsized impact in
Asian-American voters since the beginning of NYIC’s civic engagement the neighborhood. The candidate
programs forum AAANY hosted drew
over 250 community members
o Minkwon Center for Community Action worked hard to activate the Korean, and shook up the established
Chinese, and South Asian communities in Queens. Minkwon capitalized on power structure by showing that
the possibility of electing the first Asian American woman in New York to the immigrant community was
Congress by hosting a well attended candidate forum and connecting their changing and becoming more
voter education efforts to possible electoral impact. They were also involved active.
in tracking redistricting efforts and advocating for fair districts. All this on top
of leading the NYIC’s voter registration efforts in 2012. Minkwon Center’s Candidate Forum
17. lesson two
UNIFIED EFFORT IS EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
The clearest benefit of the Immigrants Vote! Campaign
is that a unified effort among immigrant community
serving organizations helps all partners move up
the civic engagement pipeline. A coordinated effort
removes duplication in work and outreach targets,
quickly scales best practices, allows for vigorous
knowledge exchange, and generates greater effort
among members to engage in civic education work,
community building, and leadership development.
lesson three
In partner evaluations, the most consistent theme that
emerged was that uniting under the banner of the INNOVATION AND COORDINATION THROUGH ONLINE
lesson one
Immigrants Vote! Campaign and the NYIC created a ENGAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY
magnified voice for each partner, while at the same
TRUSTED COMMUNITY-BASED time getting out an important unified message. This By using online reporting, communication, and
ORGANIZATIONS ARE THE BEST campaign theme is maintained through branding and scheduling tools, Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign
VEHICLES FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT message guidance, but also through a flexible structure partners and staff were able to schedule meetings,
which encourages groups to experiment with materials review materials, draft public statements, accumulate
New York remains a vibrant tapestry of applicable to their own communities while using information, make quick decisions, and collect
blending and overlapping immigrant larger campaign branding to maintain continuity in weekly reports in a smooth and efficient manner. The
communities, all in various states of communications stretching across the New York metro structure allowed NYIC staff and consultants to stay
becoming civically engaged. Immigrant- area. connected to the field, monitor possible issues, direct
led and immigrant-serving groups remain resources effectively, and show full, real-time impact
the first line of engagement with these During this campaign cycle the Campaign was able to of partner efforts to National coordinators and allies
changing neighborhoods, first as service work on the overarching Immigrants Vote! Campaign on a weekly basis.
providers, and then as educators and links brand that provided groups with a common identity
to the larger civic life of New York and the and unified partner organizations into a cohesive The online coordination structure also allowed NYIC
nation. campaign. Coordinated message development led staff to track and provide needed support in a timely
to deeper integration among partners and created a manner from a variety of locations. The technology
By working with trusted community civic engagement program that increased visibility and allowed each group to maximize its own efficiency
groups, who primarily rely on volunteers strengthened the image of immigrant communities as a by taking time consuming tasks and condensing them
or stipended long-time supporters from voting bloc. down to a few weekly actions. The online tools are
the community, the NYIC is able to put continuing to improve and the NYIC is planning
resources and expertise exactly at the The unified effort went beyond just branding, to focus on to implement a few new tools in 2013, including
point of impact and have the strongest capacity building, strategy, messaging, voter education, building a Nationbuilder framework for integrating
possible long-term effects. The long-term and public awareness activities. The framework and all online, social media, and mobile outreach into a
commitment from the NYIC network resources developed during the electoral cycle will be single campaign interface.
continues to show in the growth and adapted for use in the 2013 Campaign.
vibrancy of organizations across the civic
engagement pipeline.
LESSONS
18. “Connecting with a real person who
cares about their right to vote can
make all the difference, especially
to someone who has never voted
before.”
Betsy Palmieri, Executive Director
Hudson Valley Community Coalition
CONCLUSIONS
Past surveys show that new citizen voters made up nearly NYIC members are ready to parlay their experience and power building
half of all first-time voters in New York—an indication of into activating more of their communities, and running campaigns that
their continuing growing electoral power and central role create strength, inform voters, and hold elected officials accountable
in revitalizing our democracy. Immigrant voters bring to promises made in the electoral cycle. The NYIC plans to lead the
new energy into the country’s electoral life, and there’s no efforts again in 2013, and will be focusing on NYC Metro areas, Long
denying the growing power of the New American voting Island, Westchester County, Putnam County, and Dutchess County. The
bloc. goal in 2013 is to increase the immigrant voter share and to continue
building the power and capacity of the immigrant community serving
The NYIC has been at the forefront of engaging immigrant organizations in our network.
communities in the civic life of New York City and New
York State for 25 years, leading the way in policy advocacy, The Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign has been a tremendous success
power/capacity building, and critical community response. as it has helped create momentum to keep immigrant issues at the
The Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign brought years of forefront of policy debates,
investment in developing community leaders into sharp served as a platform for
relief, as the NYIC network came together to create a continued advocacy, and will be
powerful, coordinated, and effective outreach effort in a springboard for 2013 election
a short time with limited resources, and braved a natural efforts. None of this would have
disaster to educate, connect, and pave the way for thousands been possible without the long-
of New American voters to cast their ballots. term vision of our members,
funders, and supporters, whom
Partners are now gearing up to maximize their impact in we thank for their commitment
the 2013 municipal elections, where New York immigrant to long-term engagement of the
communities tend to play an outsized role. With 19 city shifting, vibrant, and diverse
council seats up for election, and citywide offices for immigrant communities of New
Mayor, Comptroller, and Public Advocate up for grabs, York.
19. The 2012 Campaign would not have been possible without the
support of our committed funders and national partners:
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Four Freedoms Fund
Center for Community Change
Solidago Foundation
And all other NYIC supporters without whom we would not exist.
Biggest Thanks to Dedicated Electoral Staff at Partner Groups:
Eva Lewis, Valeria Treves, and Anna Dioguardi - NICE/QCH, Shanna
Goldman and Lucia Gomez-Jimenez - La Fuente, Sabrina Fong and
Immigrants Vote! 2012 Campaign leaders at 10,000 regis-
tered voter mark press conference. Photo courtesy of NYIC. James Hong - Minkwon, Almirca Santiago - NMCIR, Linda Sarsour and
Faisa Ali - AAANY, Vladimir Epshteyn - RAVEL, Gonzalo Mercado and
Terry Troia - El Centro and Project Hospitality, Betsy Palmieri and Jonathan
Stribling-Uss - HVCC, Graciela Heymann - WHC; and an extra thank you
to the 650 volunteers and staffers who worked through rain and storm to
engage their communities.
This Campaign benefited from technical support provided by:
Ben Hanna, Center for Community Change
Sonya Reynolds, State Voices / ISSI
Maurice Mitchell, New York State C3 Roundtable
Special Thanks to PILOBOLUS and Esther Fuchs at whosontheballot.org
NYIC Campaign Staff:
Alan Kaplan, Campaign Director
Manny Castro, Electoral Consultant
Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director
Karen Kaminsky, Deputy Executive Director
20. The Immigrants Vote Campaign is a non-partisan (501 c3) effort to inform voters about the electoral process,
coordinated by the New York Immigration Coalition (www.thenyic.org).
The collaborative consists of Minkwon Center for Community Action, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, Northern Manhattan
Coalition for Immigrant Rights, El Centro del Inmigrante, Arab American Association of New York, Hudson Valley Community Coalition, La
Fuente, Russian American Voter Education League, Queens Community House, and the Westchester Hispanic Coalition.
nyic www.thenyic.org
212.627.2227
