Wake County volunteers spend Election Day eve scrambling for every last vote

Monday, November 2, 2020
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Brian Roth and his team of Democratic volunteers were pounding the pavement in northwest Raleigh on the eve of Election Day. But they aren't from Wake County. Roth flew here from Seattle, Washington -- fed up with President Trump and inspired to help turn North Carolina by talking to as many voters as they can.

"We decided we're tired of saying we should do something and we actually decided to do something," Roth said. "We decided that since Washington is all mail-in-ballot state, that we'd send our ballots in early and fly to North Carolina and help get out the vote here."

Wake Democratic Party Chair Rebecca Llewellyn said volunteers have come to the county from all over to push this battleground into Joe Biden's win column -- Not just from Washington State; she says from Texas too, even a volunteer who paid their own way here from London.

"Our people are fired up," Llewellyn said. "They want to see change. And they know that Wake County is a pivotal county. We have the votes to make a difference here in North Carolina. And North Carolina is able to make a difference nationwide."



In this north Raleigh living room tonight, it might be the closest thing you see to a campaign war room during a pandemic, masked volunteers from Republican Alan Swain's Congressional District 2 race were scouring Wake County voter rolls looking for anyone who hasn't voted yet.

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"What we're doing today is we've been out texting (voters) to try and get out the vote. Just push the numbers out so more people can do it," Swain said.

NC GOP District Vice-Chair Charles Hellwig was spending his Election Day eve pitching voters on four more years of President Trump.

"Everyone on both sides is as working hard as they can for every last vote. We can't leave it on the table," Hellwig said.

He's even convinced his young twin sons to spend their off-hours on a half-day from school sending peer to peer text messages to voters still on the fence. Hellwig using allowance money and chicken nuggets to keep his young volunteers on task.

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"If it's a (voter) we know is gonna vote our way, we gotta make sure they remember to vote. Most people know about it. But there's a hesitant few that you have to drag over the finish line," he said.
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