Volunteers hit the streets with political messages

With an incredibly contentious primary season just barely wrapped up, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is an election year.

However, just in case residents have overlooked the more local elections, at least two different groups are showing up on Danville doorsteps to get eligible voters registered and to remind those already registered to be involved in their political community.

While a common aim of the two teams of college students foot-soldiering under the beating sun is to register voters, one is directly campaigning for a candidate and one is strictly non-partisan.

Campaigners for Democratic House of Representatives nominee Tom Perriello, who is challenging 5th District incumbent Virgil Goode, are just starting their rounds of Danville.

On Monday, they were making their way through the northern part of the city, knocking on doors, distributing material about the candidate along with voter-registration material.

The other group, the Virginia Organizing Project, is a statewide grassroots organization whose goal is to get people involved in their community and the political process. Though the project has been in operation for a number of years, this is the first year they’ve had volunteers knocking on Southside doors.

This is the “civic engagement summer,” Danville coordinator Tommy Roberts said Tuesday.

VOP operatives are completely non-partisan, and won’t even discuss their personal candidate preferences.

Across the state, the VOP has deployed 50 interns to 10

different sites. Their goal is to knock on 300,000 doors to “distribute voter guides and encourage people to get involved in the political process,” Roberts said.

Along with general voter-registration, the group also is trying to help ex-felons register and get back in the political process in time for voting season in November.

In addition to the current voter-registration campaign, interns are talking to people about issues that affect them personally.

The organization has identified health care and the environment as two important issues; in Danville, it’s focusing on health care.

Volunteers are gathering information on the public’s perception and concern about the current health care system as they pass out voter-registration materials. They’re encouraging people to contact their local representatives about issues important to them.

“We try to develop leadership within the communities rather than being an external force that comes in,” said Roberts, a rising senior at the University of Virginia.

When in doubt, residents can check to make sure the campaigners are wearing T-shirts or buttons.

• Contact Sarah Arkin at (434) 791-7983 or .