In the days after the November election, with most of the networks declaring the result still too close to call, Minato and her team worked on vital vote-curing efforts, following up with people whose ballots were at risk of being discarded because they had filled out a line incorrectly or had a signature on the form that didn’t quite match the one in the county’s files. Gomez says that he helped 10 voters cure their ballots. With hundreds of Unite Here canvassers helping to cure several ballots each, a whole heap of votes ended up being counted that would have been discarded otherwise, in a state ultimately decided by 10,457 votes.

On November 10, when it became clear that her work in Arizona was done, Minato, along with hundreds of other LA organizers, left. Largely under the radar, courting a minimum of publicity, they had helped craft one of 2020’s most extraordinary political stories. They had developed a template for how, with the right kind of organizing and outreach, solidly red states around the country—even those with a long history of voter suppression efforts—could be turned blue.

After a brief spell back in Los Angeles, many of these canvassers headed east again, this time to Georgia. As the Senate run-off races there intensified, the canvasser-activists once again played a crucial, albeit out-of-the-spotlight, role.

Democrats and advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters have sued to change or institute "cure" processes in at least 10 states this year. New York’s state Legislature passed a law creating a cure process in July, while Georgia settled a suit with state Democrats to update their cure process after their primary. A North Carolina judge also ordered a cure process for ballots in November.

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Unite Here: 2015-04-26 Thousands Take To The Streets For Freddie Gray Rally
Unite Here: 2014-03-11 300,000-Member Union Drops Bombshell Obamacare Report
Unite Here: 2005-07-26 Four ex-labor organizers sue union over pay