Working People "Hustle" to Get Out the Vote in North Carolina
New tech rolled out in Charlotte is a game-changer for turnout
With Early Voting now underway in North Carolina, we're ramping up what already has been Labor's largest electoral campaign in state history with a powerful new technology that will increase, exponentially, the ability of people working together in unions to get out the vote for Hillary Clinton, Deborah Ross, Roy Cooper, and other endorsed candidates.
In Charlotte on Thursday, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) rolled out Hustle, a peer-to-peer text messaging mobile app popularized by the Bernie Sanders Campaign. The app allows volunteers to have hundreds of text conversations with voters in a fraction of the time possible via doors or phones. In fact, in just one evening of hustling, CWA reached over 36,000 voters in North Carolina!
“As technology workers, we understand first-hand why more people than ever rely on their smartphones for information, especially the convenience and speed of text messaging," said Cesar Leyva, North Carolina Senior Campaign Lead, CWA.
"Hustle is a game-changer that will let us engage hundreds of thousands of low-propensity voters via text to gain a turnout advantage that will help Ross, Cooper, and Clinton win tough races in North Carolina."
We're hustling to #GOTV for @DeborahRossNC, @RoyCooperNC, and a better life after the election! @CWAUnion@Hustle_App#1uVote#ncpolpic.twitter.com/nIQotqhfSY
— NC State AFL-CIO (@NCStateAFLCIO) October 21, 2016
Members of CWA will use Hustle to send over 2.4 million personalized text message to elect, in particular, Deborah Ross to the US Senate. The rollout of Hustle in North Carolina is a part of a broader national effort by the CWA to elect a Democratic majority in the US Senate and to take back the House of Representatives.