Early Voting is a Whirlwind!

Every day is a combination of making the rounds of the Asheville early-voting locations and attending other organizing and civic events.

Yesterday, my day began at the Asheville Area Arts Council‘s “State of the Arts” brunch at The Orange Peel. It was a pleasure to be among so many people committed to supporting and promoting our city’s creative community. The photo shows us toasting the AAAC’s adoption of new branding: “Arts AVL.” I’m looking forward to seeing the relaunched website, with a directory of local creatives, and the inauguration of two shuttles that will connect Downtown and River Arts District—which will be great for residents and visitors alike! The rest of the day I spent at the early-voting four points of the compass: N AVL Library, W AVL Library, E AVL Library, and S Buncombe Library! Shout out to rockstar volunteers Rob Heskitt & Sophie Min Mullinax for their help today!

Rob Heskitt & Duke, wonderful poll-greeters! Over and over again, I’m impressed by the enthusiasm and diligence of both poll-greeters and voters—and reminded with every conversation how valuable it is to connect and find common ground. I’m humbled by the support I’ve received, and so grateful. In case you might not have noticed, Ashevilleans are pretty wonderful people!

[Pictured at left, marvelous poll-greeter Rob Heskitt and his fabulous sidekick Duke!]

What time is it? It’s early voting POLL-GREETING TIME!

EARLY VOTING IS HERE & YOU CAN HELP!

Poll-greeting is a powerful way to help your candidate connect with voters. Your presence can ensure that a voter looks all the way to the end of the ballot to find the name Nina Tovish, and fills that bubble!

Nina Tovish on the Ballot

Until I did it myself, I was deeply skeptical about the claim that poll-greeting is fun, but it really is!! It’s exciting to talk with people and help them make a good choice. It’s a thrill to give people information and watch them change their minds.

PLEASE SIGN UP FOR A SHIFT (OR MORE!) HERE. There are 7 early voting locations in Asheville, and lots of possible dates and times. We’ll make sure you have the hand-outs you need, offer some talking points for your conversations with voters, and brief you on how to stay on the right side of the legal line when campaigning at a polling place.

Early Voting Info

Campaign Activity Summary: September

We’re hurtling toward the start of early voting, only 18 days away!

The hustle continues. Here’s a selection of activities—not shown here are the many meetings with community members and campaign supporters.

Showing Up to All The Things

Amazing campaign day today!

Started at 8AM with breakfast with the Democratic Men’s Club.

Then at 11AM I was at “Sparking the Good Fire” at the Burton St. Community Center, an artistic and inspiring gathering to empower community members to take on the challenges of climate change.

By 1PM I was at Pride—fantastic crowd, amazing vibe, great connections.

From 2:30 to about 5PM I was fortunate to be invited to a house party in North Asheville for substantive conversations about the most challenging issues facing Asheville. (Thank you so much to the generous hosts and guests!)

Then it was back to Pride for a couple more hours. I was so immersed in meeting and talking with people that I did a miserable job of documenting any of it. So here’s a crap picture of me at Pride at the end of a long, full, deeply rewarding day.

Half of Nina's Face at Pridea