How One VW Vanagon Westfalia Helps Thousands of Philadelphians Get Out the Vote

Across the country, civic groups are looking for unique and creative ways to reach prospective voters amidst the pandemic, which has disrupted the traditional means of voter registration and election participation. “People don’t vote every day, they vote twice a year – if that – so it’s really important for us to help them understand the rules, their options and how they can make their votes count,” said David Thornburgh, president of the Philadelphia-based Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan, good government group founded in 1904.

Enter the Committee of Seventy’s Vanagon Westfalia, a patriotically wrapped 1991 van that recently played a crucial role in Philadelphia’s recent primary election, where it helped collect over 5,000 mail-in ballots from local voters.

Read more…