Campaign Is One of New York Jewish Community’s Largest Voter Drives to Date
Across the New York City metropolitan region, Jewish community members are receiving texts, emails, phone calls, and even home visits urging them to vote in the August 23 New York State Primary Election in Teach NYS’ and one of the New York Jewish community’s largest Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns to date.
In the extensive door knocking and phone calling campaign, backed up by in-person events and a large print and online advertising buy, Jewish voters are being asked to ensure a strong voter turnout so that elected officials pay attention to the community’s needs.
“Elected officials pay attention to voters and what they want,” said Maury Litwack, founder of Teach Coalition and managing director of the Orthodox Union. “Just imagine if every community member votes. The impact of the parents and grandparents of more than 140,000 New York day school and yeshivah students voting would be tremendous.”
Since state primary elections historically have a significantly lower turnout rate than general elections, Teach NYS and the broader Teach Coalition have been actively pushing voters to the polls for years. In Florida, where Teach FL has been actively getting out the vote since 2018, the voter turnout rate of thousands of Jewish day school supporters is 10% greater than the general population. Teach NJ has experienced similar results since 2019, where local voter turnout in Jewish communities has increased by as much as 25% in primary elections.
An important element behind this increase is the organization’s work throughout the year to register new voters while also educating people about early voting, vote by mail, and more. This effort includes a voter hotline to help people with their voting questions, which typically peak on election days as people call looking for their polling stations and voting times.
“Schools, synagogues, and community leaders are active in helping get out our call to vote,” said Dan Mitzner, COO of Teach Coalition. “In the last week of the campaign, we will be knocking on more than 4,000 doors, calling 7,000 people, and reaching another 100,000 by text and emails with the help of our partners.”
For your questions about voting on August 23, or to get involved in Teach NYS’ campaign to increase voter turnout, contact the Teach NYS Voter Hotline at 646-459-5162.
