We’re one week out from Election Day, and I know that our members and staff across the country are working hard every day during this final push: phone banking and texting, organizing events and canvasses—doing everything you can to engage and inspire the infrequent voters who will make the difference in this election and spark the turnaround that working people deserve. For the next seven days, I’ll be sharing brief reports on the work our member leaders are doing in some of our battleground states, highlighting a member each day.
As of today, 88,861 (6.5%) of our members across the country have already cast their ballots in this election!
Today, the spotlight is on Florida, where SEIU members are in the streets and on the phones working hard to elect a pro-worker governor, Andrew Gillum, to re-elect Senator Bill Nelson, and to pass an amendment that would restore voting rights to 1.5 million people with past felony convictions. 18.6% of SEIU members in Florida have already voted early, a result of the hard work of leaders like Blanche Norwood.
Blanche is a certified nursing assistant, member political organizer with her union—1199 UHE—and a great grandmother. She’s been hard at work this election cycle, door-knocking every day, Monday through Saturday, and visiting worksites. Blanche estimates that she’s visited at least 20 hospitals and nursing homes in the last two months to talk to other SEIU members about the importance of the upcoming election.
Blanche started working at a nursing home in Miami in 1975. “The union difference was clear to me back then and it’s clear now,” she says. “It’s why I dedicate my time to help get out the vote so we can support candidates who will protect our right to a union.”
We have your back, Blanche. Let’s do this!
