CROSS PLAINS, Wis. – At this stage votediscussions were had, feeds were flooded with ads, inboxes and doorsteps were filled with flyers. what remains vote for.

This is a crucial step that can make or break campaigns by turning Americans into voters by directing them to the polls or drop box or ballot drop box. by their choices.

Democrats are relying on the traditional strategy of targeted phone calls, text messages and door knocking from the party and its allies to encourage the participation of Vice President Kamala Harris this year. Former President Donald Trump Republicans outsourced much of the operation to groups like America PAC, the billionaire-backed organization Elon Musktook the unorthodox and possibly illegal step of distributing $1 million a day as prize money.

Now the two sides are going head-to-head to get voters out of battleground states:

Wisconsin

Kathy Moran never thought she’d be standing on the street at sunset, slinging political signs over her shoulder, going door to door convincing people to vote.

But on a cold night in late October, Moran, a 64-year-old retired labor lawyer, said he couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer.

“With its overthrow Roe v. wadeI couldn’t even imagine it, I just had to get involved,” he said as he toured the streets of Cross Plains, a village of about 4,000 people on the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin’s liberal capital.

It’s volunteers like Moran who Democrats hope will make a difference oscillation states Like Wisconsin, where four of the last six presidential elections were decided by 21,000 votes or fewer.

The Democrats’ approach to getting votes is clear: They are expanding across the country, drawing on a vast network of activists, volunteers, Democratic Party supporters and others to get their voters to the polls.

What America is making a PAC For Trump, the situation is less clear.

America PAC targets infrequent voters in Wisconsin by canvassing precincts, sending mailers and sending digital and text ads, said Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for the organization.

But America PAC declined a request from The Associated Press to observe the study in person.

Republicans have privately expressed concern about whether America PAC is doing enough to win votes for Trump in the crucial election. battleground states. Whatever their methods, More Republicans are voting early This is another sign of high enthusiasm compared to past elections.

“A get-out-the-vote operation can’t turn a jump ball into a landslide,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said, “but it could certainly turn a 50-50 race into a 49.5-50.5 race.”

Moran said he makes between 8,000 and 14,000 steps on a typical poll night, encountering mostly Harris voters as he knocks on doors of homes adorned with skeletons, grave markers and a few political signs.

A woman refuses to meet Moran, saying from behind a closed glass door that it’s “none of her business.” Another man says he already voted but didn’t tell who.

Another notices her “Harris/Walz” and “, la” buttons, smiles and says, “I see you’re with Harris.” he says. He reassures everyone in his house that they will vote for him.

Moran is entering notes into an app to ensure Harris-affiliated voters won’t be harassed again.

GEORGIA

The Harris campaign has more than 40,000 volunteers, as well as 220 staff members working in 32 field offices across the state. The campaign says its volunteers and staff have knocked on more than a million doors and made two million phone calls, including more than 100,000 last weekend alone.

“The field game is very, very intense,” said State Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, a Dawson Democrat. “We knock on doors every day, but the communities are huge. “There’s a long way to go, but we have incredibly hard-working volunteers who are participating in this race and giving it their all.”

Sims said he isn’t sure who will win Georgia because he sees similar enthusiasm from Republicans on the ground.

The Trump campaign says it has nearly 25,000 volunteers working in Georgia and hosted more than 2,000 events there in the past three months.

At one event, eight women wearing matching pink Trump jackets with ’47’ embroidered on the sleeves and personalized engravings of their names marched to a sprawling farm in southern South Korea. of Atlanta As part of Team Trump’s Women’s Tour.

Attendance in South Fulton was small, but RNC co-chairman Lara Trump and former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler urged her supporters to rally their friends to vote for Trump.

Kim Burnette phone banked the Trump campaign this year and infrequently called registered Republican voters.

“A lot of people say they’re going to vote,” Burnette said. “Looks good.”

Candace Duvall drove about 30 miles to the event and was decked out in gold Trump merchandise; She spread sparkly letters with her name on her T-shirt and wore earrings that displayed her mugshot. She went to the polls to vote for Trump on the first day of early voting, but she’s still receiving a flood of messages, calls and paper flyers about his campaign.

“He’s our only chance,” Duvall said. “I really think he was chosen by God, and I think it was good versus evil.”

Camilla Moore and Lisa Babbage, president and vice president of the Georgia Black Republican Council, also took to the stage to support the women on Trump’s behalf.

The duo has been mobilizing Black voters in South Fulton through events over the past few months.

“This time it was easier than ever,” Moore said.

Moore said people are less hesitant to support Trump now than they were in 2020. They are more open to speaking out when defending the former president’s case.

NORTH CAROLINA

Charles Benson, 68, of Kinston North CarolinaHe said he is contacted several times a week, mostly via text, about the election and voting.

Retired Benson joins Trump’s rally near Greenville in late October, two days after voting early in person. Still, prospective mailers continue to fill his mailbox.

“I’m ready to be done,” Benson said. “I’m tired of getting this stuff in the mail every day.”

Emma Macomber, 76, of New Bern, another Trump supporter at the Greenville rally, said she was contacted regularly, mostly by text, asking for political donations and making sure she voted.

Macomber said he had already cast his ballot and made some contributions.

“I want it to end, but I’m afraid it won’t end,” he said. “Because I don’t know what will happen in the future, and I think everyone is afraid of the unknown.”

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Kramon reported from Atlanta, Robertson from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Mascaro from Washington.