Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign unveils tech tool to increase its voter database

CHICAGO — Sen. Bernie Sanders flaunted his ground operation Saturday with what he called the “largest distributed day of action ever in a presidential campaign” and announced a new online organizing tool called BERN.

“We need to put together the strongest grassroots movement in the history of politics,” Sanders said in a pre-recorded video played for more than 4,700 volunteer-driven organizing kickoff events nationwide. “And we’re off to a good start!”

The online tool allows everyday supporters to contribute to the campaign’s voter database by logging names and background information of anyone from a family member to a stranger met at a bus stop. It matches each name to a voter record before noting their level of support, priority issue and even union membership.

Sanders began the race with a strong field operation, largely thanks to his 2016 run and a supporter list that only grew in the subsequent years. The organizing kickoff highlighted what the Sanders campaign considers a significant priority and a major advantage in the crowded Democratic primary field.

“Many voices will attempt to diminish what we’re building here together and argue that our movement has run its course,” national organizing director Claire Sandberg told organizers in the campaign video. “But the reality is,” Sandberg continued, “we grow larger every day.”

Sanders says he has more than 1 million people signed up to be part of his campaign. In the first quarter of 2019, his campaign outpaced the field, earning 900,000 donations from 525,000 individual donors.

At each campaign rally, volunteers digitally and meticulously collect the email address and phone number of every attendee. The Sanders campaign said around 30 percent of rally attendees are new to the campaign data lists.

Supporters Saturday were trained on how use the online tool and were encouraged to immediately begin mobilizing and growing the organization.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

“Traditionally, it seems like to get this information to the campaign you need to either call voters or knock on their doors,” said Chris Wilson, a University of Chicago student who joined after a campus event.

Wilson’s first foray into politics was making calls for a young, little-known bartender named Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who was running a primary campaign in his home state of New York.

“Now we have all these people across the country distributed everywhere, and they can start putting people into the system,” Wilson said.

He said he “dragged” his friend Shannon Sheu, who is undecided, out on a snowy April afternoon to the organizing event.

“It significantly lowers the barrier to entry to actually help and make a difference,” Sheu said, impressed by its compatibility with people uncomfortable with political conversations. “You plug in people’s names and you let other people send the emails.”