Voter Engagement

Do Good Roseville was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2021 Community Engagement Program offered by Ramsey County Elections.  We believe there is a significant need for voter outreach in our community, especially to reach those who are under-represented. 

We hosted or participated in ten events throughout Roseville.  More than half the events were held in Southeast Roseville (Rice/Larpenteur and McCarrons) where there is a concentration of immigrants and refugees. 

At every event we offered voter registration applications. Once available, we also provided absentee ballot applications.  We talked with event attendees about the importance of the upcoming election and answered any questions they had on when and where to vote (e.g., using precinct finder). 

We had a spin wheel with questions related to voting which tested people’s knowledge and more importantly, provided an opportunity to discuss and educate on a wide range of voting topics for both adults and children.  Our questions were not limited to the current election.  Free giveaways attracted attention to the spin wheel and to our table.   For any events where we expected a larger number of immigrant attendees, we had interpreters from the community available.  At each event we had some people complete registration forms or absentee ballot applications which were turned into the County.  Some of the applications were for new voters, but others were for people who had moved or changed names.  Several people mentioned that they were glad we were there since they had wanted to sign up or update their information.

This is a list of the events we participated in:

Date and time	Event	Description
7/4/2021 10am-12pm	Pop-up at Lake McCarron’s County Park	We set up a canopy and had registration materials in a county park in Southeast Roseville on the 4th of July.
8/3/2021 5pm-7pm	Galilee Blow-out	We participated in an annual back to school event for community members with free haircuts and school supplies, etc. at Galilee Lutheran Church.
8/16/2021 11am-3pm	Rice and Larpenteur Block Party	This was an outdoor community event where there were a variety of exhibitors on the four street corners.  This is an event held by the Rice and Larpenteur Alliance.
9/18/2021 10am-4pm	Wild Rice Festival	This is an annual event held by the City of Roseville which focuses on Indigenous people and education.
9/19/2021 12pm-3pm	Community of Nation Festival	Community of Nations Baptist Church hosted this Community of Nations Festival featuring people from sixteen countries.
9/25/2021 3pm-5pm	Party in the Park	A Do Good Roseville sponsored event at a local park located by apartments with high immigrant population.  Bhutanese Community of Minnesota (BCOM), Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM), and Ramsey County representatives for MNsure participated.  Roseville Police and Fire Departments also came and interacted with everyone.
9/30/2021 12pm-2pm	Pop Up — Noble Laundry	We set up a table outside a local laundromat.
10/5/2021 4:30pm-7pm	Aŋpétu Téča Education Center	Open house for new Education Center in Roseville.
10/9/2021 11pm-1pm	Rice Street Gardens	Harvest event for gardeners of local community garden.
10/11/2021 4:30pm-6:30pm	RAHS Open House	Open House of new science wing of Roseville Area High School

• These are annual events:
  • Galilee Blow-out
  • Wild Rice Festival
  • Rice and Larpenteur Block Party
  • Community of Nations Festival (first time)
  • Rice Street Gardens Harvest Festival
• These were one-time events:
  • ATEC Open House
  • RAHS Open House
• Special event for this grant:
  • Party in Unity Park
• Informal pop-up events – not associated with any formal events
  • Pop-up at Lake McCarron’s
  • Pop-up at Noble Laundry

Description of your successes in these activities.

• Strong community support for voter engagement.  No one ever told us no when we asked for space or to participate in events.
  • The Roseville Mayor, Dan Roe, Thomas Brooks, the Roseville Director of Inclusion and Diversity, and multiple members of the ISD623 School Board expressed their appreciation for our efforts and participation at many of the events they attended.
• Relationship building. 
  • The goal of the Unity Park Event was outreach to build relationships with the immigrant and refugee residents that live in apartment buildings in Rice and Larpenteur/McCarrons area of SE Roseville while providing voter education.  This was primarily Karen and Bhutanese people. 
    • We provided food purchased from local ethnic restaurants that they would frequent.  This included samosas, momos and eggrolls, instead of traditional American foods like hot dogs and cookies. 
    • Karen of Minnesota (KOM) and Bhutanese Community of Minnesota (BCOM) also participated and invited Ramsey County to participate with MNSure information. 
    • The Roseville Police Department came and engaged with everyone, and the Roseville Fire Department came with a fire truck, and interacted with everyone. 
    • We had a local balloon artist, a face painter, and someone leading sing-alongs to engage the kids.   We also engaged a face painter for the Rice Street Gardens Harvest Festival.
  • Many of our volunteers came from the League of Women Voters Roseville Area.
• Community Connections.  We were able to make or strengthen connections with local churches, apartment buildings, and local businesses.
  • For the Party at Unity Park, rather than purchase food from one restaurant, we purchased one food item from three different local ethic restaurants.  This allowed us to support multiple restaurants.  We also purchased samosas from Nepali Kitchen for the Rice Street Gardens Harvest Festival.
    • Nepali Kitchen
    • Shwe Karen Market
    • Taste of Nepali
  • Two Roseville churches have deep connections to immigrant populations.  We participated in events at both of those churches:
    • Galilee Lutheran Church – Blow-out Back to School Event and Party in Unity Park
    • Community of Nations Church – Community of Nations Festival
  • We thought laundromats would be a place to reach people in an informal setting, where they would not be rushed, so we arranged to setup a table at a local laundromat. We also contacted a second laundromat and local pharmacy for approval of pop-up tables but were unable to schedule these events due to the Oct. 12 voter registration deadline for paperwork.
    • Noble Laundry
    • North End Laundromat
    • Setzer Pharmacy
• Educational opportunities.  Asking questions with the spin wheel provided the opportunity to educate current (adult) and future voters (kids and adults) on a wide variety of topics related to voting.
• Spin Wheel with prizes.  This was a major draw to our table.  It drew kids in, and with kids came parents, and both were then engaged.

• Signs and invites in multiple languages.  For our Party in Unity Park, we asked BCOM and KOM to translate our signs and invites.  (See all invites at end).  There are twelve apartments near this park, and we received permission to put invitations on all the doors at the entrances to all of the buildings.  We also had yard signs at the streets leading to the apartments and at the park entrance.  For this we used a sign with information in English, Karen, and Nepali.  We also included the logos for BCOM and KOM which are known to the residents.

• Partnership with City of Roseville.
  • The Roseville Parks and Rec waived fees and other event requirements for us to use this City Park which is amid twelve apartment buildings.
  • Many officers of the Roseville Police Department came and interacted with the kids.
  • The Roseville Fire Department came with a fire truck and interacted with attendees which was another way to attract attention to the event.
• Senior Housing.  We learned that at least one senior housing facility in Roseville does not provide voter registration forms to residents when they move in.  We planned to do a pop-up session there but then realized it was after the registration deadline.  As an alternative, e did give them forms to use in the future.