Bay Area organization sends thousands of Kamala Harris advocates to swing states

( KRON ) – Despite Kamala Harris’ perceived success in Tuesday’s presidential debate, her supporters are leaving no stone unturned in hopes of electing her for president.

Seed the Vote, a grassroots organization based in Oakland that launched in 2019, is training volunteers to go to swing states, knock on doors, and, if undecided, convince people to vote for Kamala Harris for president.

Oakland resident Kiki is one of the thousands of volunteers being deployed across the nation. “Anytime I have a chance to talk to people directly, I will do it,” Kiki told KRON4.

She claims talking to people in person makes a significant difference compared to over the phone. “To make eye contact with a person, and develop a comfort level so that you can talk to them makes all the difference,” Kiki said.

Kiki just came back from a canvassing trip in Reno and plans to go to Detroit and Phoenix later this month. She says her door-knocking ventures are a way for her to show the things that unite us rather than separate us. “We need to be able to talk to people, and listen, and not argue,” she said.

The grassroots organization’s goal is to train and deploy “thousands” of door-knocking volunteers, otherwise known as canvassers, to advocate for Harris. Advocates will be sent to five swing states: Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

“This election will be won or lost on America’s doorsteps,” said Emily Lee, Executive Director of Seed the Vote. “The stakes are too high to sit this election out, so we’re calling on all Californians to sign up and volunteer on our website or donate to cover travel costs for volunteer canvassers knocking on doors in swing states this fall.”

In 2020, Lee helped organize Seed the Vote’s efforts in Arizona. She said volunteers talked with 12,000 registered voters– and President Biden ended up winning the state by just 10,000 votes.

Since Biden dropped out and Harris announced her candidacy, Lee said they’ve seen a sharp increase in interest from volunteers and donors— but it’s not enough to ensure Harris’ win at the ballot box.

“We saw what happened in 2016 when we all expected Hillary Clinton to win,” Lee said. “We learned from Trump’s victory that we can’t take any chances or expect anyone else to do the job. We have to be the ones to ‘do something’ and take action right now.”

Seed the Vote estimates they will support 3,000 volunteers who will knock on an estimated half a million doors before election day.

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