Civic Engagement & Community Organizing

CPC Supports the 2010 Census:

The Census is a head count of everyone residing in the United States. It has been mandated by the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 2) since 1790 and it occurs every 10 years. The Census counts people of all ages, race, ethnic groups, citizens and noncitizens. Population totals from the decennial Census determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives; the totals are also used to redraw legislative districts. The Census is also used to help determine the appropriation of federally funded programs. Census data is safe. The constitution protects Census information from being shared with the Department of Homeland Security or any other federal agency.

Recent Victory: Defeat the Denver Impound Initiative

In November of 2009 Denver was faced with an unnecessary, vague and dangerous ordinance that would have force police officers to impound the cars of anyone driving without a state issued driver’s license. Dan Hayes, an anti-immigrant Arvada resident, petitioned to put this issue on the ballot to target immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants in Denver. This initiative immediately caught the attention of the progressive community in Denver. The hateful and racist intent of I 300 was poorly masked with a weak public safety argument. This issue would not only target immigrants and people of color, but would also inflict unnecessarily harsh consequences to anyone who made a simple and common mistake. Further, I 300 would have required a $2700 bond to retrieve an impounded car, making this an economic justice issue where clearly the punishment did not fit the crime.

Coloradans for Safe Communities (CFSC) was formed as a broad-based coalition (which included Colorado Progressive Coalition) to defeat these harmful initiatives. CFSC and CPC understood that this issue had statewide and national importance, as Colorado has continued to be a testing ground for right-wing ballot measures. Not only did CFSC and CPC defeat this harmful initiative, but we won with a 70% margin.  

Results:

Vehicle Impound turned out voters:

While Denver had a lower turnout than expected, only 20%, I 300 had the largest turnout of any of the items on the Denver 2009 ballot with only 1% drop off. 

CPC and CFSC made a difference:

Turnout: While only 20 % of Denver voters turned out, 35 % of the people contacted by CFSC cast their ballots.  

Mail: As a coalition, CFSC sent three rounds of mail to 46,300 targeted voters, 84% of which voted.

CPC Voter Outreach: CPC worked along side 9to5 National Association of Working women, Colorado ACORN, Mi Familia Vota, and others to knock on over 58,000 doors. CPC alone knocked on 5000 doors and made nearly 2500 phone calls. 

Vote “No” Message: Of the voters CPC contacted, an astounding 87% committed to voting no on I 300 proving that if we could reach people with our message, they would support our position.

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Recognized nationally as a leader in connecting community organizing issues to civic engagement participation, CPC has been a lead organization on several remarkable victories in Colorado through our get out the vote efforts. CPC works in communities often overlooked by mainstream political campaigns. In 2006, CPC was one of the lead groups working to increase the state's minimum wage. Of all the partner groups, CPC collected the most signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. Most recently, CPC led a coalition of individuals and community-based organizations in defeating a deceptively worded anti-equal opportunity measure run by California businessman Ward Connerly. Our coalition turned around a 50-point deficit in the polls to become the first state to ever defeat this deceitful measure!

During and in between elections, CPC registers new voters, educates thousands about ballot initiatives, and conducts non-partisan voter education drives so that low- and middle-income people, people of color, young people, and GLBT-identified people fully participate in our democracy. In 2004, CPC conducted the largest civic engagement drive in Colorado history, registering 27,061 new voters and conducting an intensive door-to-door campaign to engage and inspire 145,000 infrequent voters to vote.

In 2008, CPC built a large-scale, community rooted civic engagement campaign in five cities statewide that engaged 120,000 Coloradoans. In addition to our victory defeating an anti-affirmative action initiative, we also supported partners and helped defeat other attacks on women's and workers' rights. We are building off this momentum by conducting post-election surveys, and launching a permanent, yearround base-building and leadership development program to build membership, create rapid response capacity, maintain a pulse on key issues in the communities in which we work, and build new leaders to take on more issues in more communities.

Most importantly, civic engagement isn't only about voting. We seek to build community participation and education yearround on issues at the state legislature, with local City Councils and commissions, and after elections to ensure politicians remain accountable to all Coloradoans. We are also a leader in developing innovative tactics to raise the voices of people who can't vote because of citizenship status, prior criminal records, or age.

JOIN OUR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT STREET TEAMS!
Get involved today by contacting Shannon Masden, CPC's Lead Civic Engagement Organizer, at 303.866.0908 or shannon@progressivecoalition.org. Thank you!

CPC is a grassroots membership organization and we depend on your support to help us build power across the state. Please become a member today. Your contribution to CPC is tax-deductible. Thank you!