The Mission to Chase Down Mail-In Ballots In NJ 11
WNYC News | Nov 4, 2018
In the past three weeks, Caren Aardema has tracked down hundreds of voters in her hometown of Denville, N.J., and asked them to fill out their mail-in ballots.
"It's like, who you gonna call? Vote chasers," she joked. "I ain't afraid of no vote."
Aardema lives in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District where Democrat Mikie Sherill is running for Congress against Republican Jay Weber. The district has traditionally been Republican, but Democrats are hoping to flip it. Fourteen thousand people who are likely to vote for Sherill have gotten mail-in ballots, but lots of them haven't filled them out. For Sherill supporters, like Aardema, going after every single one of those votes is crucial.
She and other volunteers for the group NJ 11th for Change are armed with lists of would-be voters throughout the district. Aardema, who is 58, spends hours every week looking for them on social media. If she can't find them online, she goes to their house.
Aardema says she's had her fair share of encounters with less-than-friendly dogs. But she says she's pleased with how it's gone so far. Out of the approximately 500 likely-Sherill voters in Denville who received mail-in ballots, 300 had returned them, as of last Tuesday.
"It's like, who you gonna call? Vote chasers," she joked. "I ain't afraid of no vote."
Aardema lives in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District where Democrat Mikie Sherill is running for Congress against Republican Jay Weber. The district has traditionally been Republican, but Democrats are hoping to flip it. Fourteen thousand people who are likely to vote for Sherill have gotten mail-in ballots, but lots of them haven't filled them out. For Sherill supporters, like Aardema, going after every single one of those votes is crucial.
She and other volunteers for the group NJ 11th for Change are armed with lists of would-be voters throughout the district. Aardema, who is 58, spends hours every week looking for them on social media. If she can't find them online, she goes to their house.
Aardema says she's had her fair share of encounters with less-than-friendly dogs. But she says she's pleased with how it's gone so far. Out of the approximately 500 likely-Sherill voters in Denville who received mail-in ballots, 300 had returned them, as of last Tuesday.
"Whether or not I'm totally responsible for them, I know I've encouraged them," Aardema says.
Katherine Fung
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