Every Waking Moment Counts on Election Day

In our “winner-take-all” system of government, election results matter a great deal because they affect who will make the crucial decisions over the next two years. Even if a candidate barely wins or barely loses, nobody will remember what the margin was years later – which is why getting out the vote on the very last day is so important. In 2000, Supervisor Mabel Teng was so sure that she was going to win re-election that on Election Day she got her nails and hair done, went to the annual Election Day luncheon sponsored by Bob McCarthy, and went to Starbucks. She did spend part of the day shaking hands with constituents and passing out literature – but clearly that was not enough. She lost to Tony Hall by 39 votes. If Teng had spent the whole day talking to voters, or targeting identified supporters and making sure that they made it to the polling place, she could have possibly reached at least 40 more people.

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