One Million New Voters Registered: A Good Start …
More than one million Americans registered to vote last Tuesday as a result of National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), according to an early report from Nonprofit VOTE. This progress occurred thanks in large part to proactive, nonpartisan efforts by more than 4,000 nonprofit organizations across the country, with lively assistance from multiple other partners.
The preliminary results of the on-going voter registration efforts are quite impressive, but this important work is not done.
Helping that many individuals get registered to exercise their constitutional right to vote is worth celebrating, but we all still need to focus on helping others register to vote before the final deadlines expire. Registration deadlines vary significantly between states, from 30 days before the election to same-day registration. For details about your state, visit this USA.gov website: Voter Registration Deadlines for the General Election by State.
And of course, none of this matters if people don’t then use their right to vote. As Donna Murray-Brown of the Michigan Nonprofit Association said so well, “Supporting voter engagement is an essential part of our work, because it helps to empower the people and communities we serve.” Jatrice Martel Gaiter of Volunteers of America eloquently urged nonprofits to “aggressively encourage the people who trust and know us to vote." Research shows that nonprofits are more effective at reaching disenfranchised communities, and that voters engaged by nonprofit groups turn out to vote at higher rates than other registered voters across all demographic groups.
Learn more about how to conduct nonpartisan get out the vote (GOTV) efforts by joining the October 13 webinar by Nonprofit VOTE or check out the Nonprofit VOTE GOTV resources.
