Night for knocking on doors picked to register new voters

Skeletons, many of them no more than 3 feet tall, skipped down one side of Chantilly Avenue on Wednesday night.

On the other side of the street, creatures with hatchets seemingly buried in bleeding skulls scuffed along.

lt was a great night to try to identify voters.

So say political operatives of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a nonprofit organization that promotes "progressive values."

"Halloween is a political organizer's dream," said A.J. McClure, Southern Nevada director of PLAN. "People are expecting folks to come to their doors, so we figured it would be a great time to try and register voters and inform them about the upcoming caucuses."

Sometimes the nonpartisan process actually worked the way McClure hoped it would.

As 44-year-old Albert Lemonds handed out candy to tiny skeletons who had yelled "Trick or Treat," PLAN volunteers Patrick Puckdee and Alexandria Montgomery, both 17-year-old seniors at Las Vegas Academy, waited to give the construction worker information about the presidential caucuses to be held in Nevada in January.

"Wow, education on Halloween, this is great," said Lemonds, who stood in front of a house that had a "God Bless The USA" sign on the garage. "I'm so glad these kids are out doing this. We need to get people involved in our political process or we're not going to make it as a nation. We can't give politicians a blank check to do whatever they want."

Puckdee and Montgomery, along with two retirees and about 20 other high school and college students, walked the streets around Stewart Place Park in east Las Vegas for about 90 minutes early Wednesday evening. Some wore costumes. Most didn't.

All of them were concerned that not enough Americans care enough about their country to vote. They became part of PLAN because they still believe problems can be solved through the ballot box.

"I think we can get people excited," said Travis Brewer, a Las Vegas Academy senior who wore a large sign that gave him the shape of Nevada. "People will get involved if they get the information."

Though using Halloween to get to voters was possibly a first for Las Vegas, McClure said the tactic has been used successfully in other areas.

"It was done in Seattle with great success," he said.

Another "Trick or Vote" mobilization will be done in Las Vegas just before the 2008 general election, McClure said.

PLAN volunteers dropped off information at about 350 houses. They registered around 50 voters. Other homeowners wanted to know how they could participate in the caucuses.

Heather Hendrix said she was "so happy" that Las Vegas Academy students Brewer and Chai Swadowski dropped off information.

"It's such a good idea to get young people involved in the political process," she said, holding her barking dog. "This is a way to make a difference."

At first, Brewer and Swadowski, dressed as a Greek goddess, were a tad concerned that their efforts would go for naught.

Many houses did not have lights on. Burglar bars made many doorways impenetrable. Dogs growled. At one point a woman came out of her house to shut a gate so the pair couldn't walk up to her door. She said nothing. She did stare.

"That's a little strange," Brewer said. "I hope it gets better."

Las Vegas Academy student Astrik Yepremyan, 15, didn't like some residents describing the volunteers as "dumbasses." She worried that a helicopter overhead might mean that police had uncovered trouble.

As volunteers began to fan out into the community, retiree Mae Bell warned everyone to give their cell phone numbers to McClure in case they were arrested.

"We had people working with voters not long ago and there was a drug raid at the house," she said. "The police arrested the volunteers because they were at the house. They tried to explain that they were trying to get voters involved and the police said, 'Yeah, right.' "

McClure said that except for the one incident, people were nice to the volunteers Wednesday.

Brothers Jose and Pedro Gonzalez stood in front of their house on Kolmar Court and talked about why it was important the volunteers came out.

"If you don't vote, you have no reason to complain," Jose said. "Too many of my people don't vote. Maybe this will get more people voting."

Alex Soto was moved that volunteers came to his house.

"I think I'm going to be a citizen next year," he said. "I want to vote. These young people are doing the right thing. I wish more people would care about America."

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2908.