SEIU Turns Out Voters in Indiana

SEIU Turns Out Voters in Indiana

SEIU members and staff spent May 6 making sure Indiana voters got to the polls for the presidential primary. Over 250 members and staff took to the streets in Gary and Indianapolis to knock on doors, hand out fliers and make sure that no one missed their opportunity to vote for the country’s next president. Our efforts contributed to the highest voter turnout in Indiana in years.

“Knocking on doors for the primary
    was such a positive experience,”
    explained home care provider and
    SEIU member Norene Brown who
    spent the day in Gary. “I felt it was
    important to go because this is the
    year for real change. I think people
    really recognize that we need
    health care, better wages and
    someone in the White House who
    will listen to the working people.
    Everyone I spoke to was supportive
    and excited about history in
    the making.”

Tuesday’s turnout success followed a three-week effort by SEIU to talk with voters about our endorsement of Barack Obama for president. The three days prior to the primary, we covered half of the city of Gary, knocking on the doors of over 23,000 voters to spread the word about Obama’s commitment to working families and encourage early voting. In Indianapolis, we knocked on 3,000 voter doors the week before the primary. For three weekends straight, members and staff gave up their Saturdays to educate Hoosier voters and show their support for the Illinois senator.

All the hard work paid off as Obama saw big victories in the counties we targeted. He won 56% of the vote in Lake County to Clinton’s 44%, following the hard work of members throughout the city of Gary. Marion County, home of Indianapolis, saw the highest turnout and victory margin in the whole state – 67% of the votes cast in the county were for Obama compared to 33% for Clinton.

In the end, Obama lost the Indiana primary 49% to Clinton’s 51%, but our efforts significantly reduced the margin of victory and further propelled Obama toward the Democratic nomination. We are confident he is the change working families need for the future and will continue to turn our support into action.