In Fall of 2020, people across the country were anticipating one of the most important election seasons of our lives. Having dealt with the COVID-19 crisis for months, and emerging from a summer of mass protest and civil unrest in response to racial injustice, people across the United States and San Diego were now faced with another historic moment on the horizon. At Alliance San Diego, we met that moment with all our strength and effort to ensure our democracy works for ALL of us.

Here’s a look at the work Alliance San Diego completed through our civic engagement program as well as our “WE VOTE” campaign, during this unprecedented election season.

On the ground, our civic engagement team reached out to community members to ensure they had all the information on how to vote and what was at stake this election. However, we were faced with some new challenges. First, our civic engagement program traditionally would send canvassers to knock door-to-door and talk to neighbors face-to-face about the election in low-income, immigrant and communities of color. But this year, because of COVID-19 we couldn’t do that safely anymore. Another challenge was that California and San Diego County changed the way voting would be conducted in order to be safer during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that all active registered voters received a ballot in the mail.

Alliance San Diego had to make sure San Diegans knew about the upcoming changes in the election, while also working remotely without face-to-face contact with potential voters. For over two months, with the help of over 30 dedicated canvassers, hundreds of volunteer shifts, and our full-time staff, we reached voters through the following ways:

Not only did we contact voters through calls, texts, and door hangers, but we also created a social media campaign, “WE VOTE” to inform and remind our communities of the importance of voting. Our WE VOTE campaign created content for the same communities we talked to on the phone, as another supplement to our civic engagement program.

Now looking back on our work, we want to share it with you. It is not only part of our story as Alliance San Diego, but it’s also part of our shared story as San Diegans. Together we achieved historic levels of voter turn-out, and made historic changes in the way we vote. For us, these are signs that our democracy in San Diego is changing for the better. We know when more people participate, we make better decisions. That’s why Alliance San Diego is committed to building an inclusive democracy for ALL of us.

Thank you for your support throughout 2020. It has been a historic year and our work would not be possible without supporters like you. We invite you to attend our annual All Peoples Celebration which will be held virtually on Monday January 18th 2021, where we will celebrate the life & legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Proceeds from this event will benefit Alliance San Diego's work to promote justice and social change. Click here to register.