"Very few of Georgia’s more than 100,000 voting-age Native Americans cast ballots in November. Even a small increase could make a difference in the Senate runoffs."
Nearly 150,000 Native Americans still live in Georgia. They receive few government services and tend not to participate in non-tribal elections, both because they face structural barriers — like hard-to-reach polling places and lack of voter ID — and because of the mistrust built by brutality and broken promises. Of the estimated 100,000 who are of voting age, only about 15,000 are registered to vote." - NYT
Four Directions Native Vote and tribal leaders held a Town Hall on the Impact of the Native Vote on the Georgia Senate Runoff Election. The Town Hall conducte on Zoom and Big Stage featured action buttons that participants could click on while watching the panelists.
Four Directions Vote
Four Directions Vote works on native voting rights, voter empowerment, voter protection, and voter engagement. Its approach lets native voters can swing elections, accumulate power, take their rightful place in the political landscape, thus protecting their treaties, Tribal sovereignty, and way of life. Their town hall panelists included:
- Oliver “OJ” Semans, Sr., Co-Executive Director, Four Directions
- President Holsey, Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians
- Congresswoman Debra Haaland (NM01)
- Principal Chief Marian (Vonnie) McCormick, Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe
- Chairman David Sickey, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
- Donna Semans, Grassroots Director, Four Directions
“Congresswoman Haaland represents the first Congressional District of New Mexico. She is an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, and a 35th generation New Mexican. I am more proud to call her a friend, and a reliable ally for all of us across Indian Country who dream big and fight hard for environmental, economic, and racial justice,” said O.J. Semans, Co-Executive Director of Four Directions.
Big Stage
Zoom (and YouTube, Facebook Live and Twitch) sessions are more effective when audience members can immediately act on the issues being discussed. Presenters can do this by adding action buttons to their Zoom presentation using the Big Stage app. The buttons appear as a panel in a separate browser window which participants can click on. Four Directions Vote created buttons featuring Congresswoman Deb Haaland, a donation link and details on the Georgia Runoff election.
- Big Stage action buttons are configured through a simple dashboard without any programming.
- This generates a link like https://zoom.bigstage.online/index.php?event=29 which is shared by email, Twitter or Facebook.
- Two browser windows appear when the link is clicked - one with the ZOOM session and another with the Big Stage panel of interactive buttons.
- The Action Buttons lead directly to the organizer's donation page such as Act Blue or PayPal so they get 100% of a donation.
Big Stage adds action buttons to both live Zoom events and recordings of the events to watch later. Four Directions recorded a segment of Congresswoman Deb Haaland's comments and saved them on YouTube. This video recording was added to a Big Stage event with the Action Buttons for people to watch later and also click on the Action Buttons.
Take Away
Virtual events are a cost-effective way to mobilize supporters, get out the vote and fundraise. Make the most of your Zoom events with BigStage as Four Directions did with their Native Town Hall. Get more mileage from your virtual events by recording them and sharing them afterwards as an interactive event complete with action buttons. Big Stage is currently free for groups working on voter enablement and social justice issues. Apply for your free account here.