How two Black CEOs got corporate America to pay attention to voting rights

Todd C. Frankel

May 04, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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Response Location: United States, Georgia

A small group of prominent Black business leaders personally urged their corporate peers to oppose the restrictive voting laws being considered in dozens of states. Public statements framing voting rights as a moral, non-partisan issue led to hundreds of corporations - including Microsoft and Target – publicly opposing the bills, with some threatening to withhold investment and campaign donations in states that pass such laws. The Major League Baseball All-Star game was pulled from Georgia. Organizers believe White executives were more likely to listen to Black executives than Black grassroots activists.

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Beyond language: How to enfranchise voters who don't speak English

Emily Previti

March 03, 2021 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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Response Location: United States, Orange County, California

Orange County is a gold standard for supporting voters who aren’t fluent in English. All voting materials come in multiple languages and online databases and voting equipment are compatible with the multilingual system. The county works with community groups and hires native speakers to translate materials for increased accuracy. The county's bilingual workforce has steadily increased, with 30% of election workers now speaking the native language of the voters needing support. Due to the pandemic, language support was provided by video conference, an option that will continue to be available in the future.

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How a legacy of organizing among domestic workers helped turn Georgia blue

Becca Andrews

March 01, 2021 |

Mother Jones |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

The domestic worker advocacy group, Care in Action, fell short in their goal to elect Stacey Abrams in 2018, which motivated them to mobilize an effective GOTV campaign in 2020. Over 250 of their members canvassed local neighborhoods each day, knocking on over 1 million doors. Overall, the group contacted 5.85 million voters by phone, mail, or in person. The group prioritized making connections with people historically overlooked in the political process and the member organizers make meaningful connections as canvassers because they share similar challenges and concerns as the people whose homes they visit.

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American Democracy Is Only 55 Years Old—And Hanging by a Thread

Vann R. Newkirk II

February 11, 2021 |

The Atlantic |

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Response Location: United States, Mississippi

The federal Voting Rights Act required states to ensure access to the polls for Black voters and created federal enforcement mechanisms. The law worked well in the Jim Crow South, but it wasn't built to deal with racial disenfranchisement more broadly. Congress and the courts have stripped important provisions from the bill over time, like those ensuring enforcement. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling dismissed the need for preemptive measures to protect Black voters, which created an opening for states to pass more restrictive voting laws that have created unfair burdens for Black, Latino, and Indigenous voters.

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A GOP Governor and BLM Activists Agreed on Restoring Voting Rights to Felons. Will It Last?

Kaila Philo

February 04, 2021 |

Politico |

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Response Location: United States, Iowa

More than 3,000 Iowans voted in the 2020 presidential election thanks to an executive order signed by the Republican governor after a protest campaign by activists to erase Iowa's permanent ban on voting by people with felony records. But that number was just a fraction of those newly eligible to vote, due to limitations in the order and a lackluster effort to inform the public. Iowa has a disproportionately high number of disenfranchised Black citizens who could be helped by a more permanent constitutional fix. That fix has now been stalled by the choice to act by executive order.

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How grass-roots efforts by Georgia's Latinos helped tip the Senate races

Rachel Hatzipanagos

February 03, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Black and Latino organizers with the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) knocked on over 300,000 doors in between the general election and Senate runoffs. Canvassing in predominantly Latino neighborhoods, they also reached out to ineligible voters to encourage them to urge their U.S. born family members to vote in their family’s interests. Latino support of Democratic candidates increased in the Senate runoffs adding to narrow Democratic victories. GLAHR also helped elect the first Black sheriff of Gwinnett County, who quickly ended a program that allowed the county jail to collaborate with ICE.

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Is D.C. Finally on the Brink of Statehood?

Nora Caplan-Bricker

January 27, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

51 for 51 is an advocacy group fighting for DC statehood by educating people about DC residents’ taxation without representation and training advocates in other states, mostly young people, to lobby their senators to support a statehood bill. Organizers also bird-dogged democratic presidential candidates for a public pledge of support for statehood, which 18 did. The group has also gained new support for ending the filibuster, which is needed to pass a statehood bill in the Senate. Support for statehood is at its highest, with a bill passing the House of Representatives for the first time in June 2020.

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How US cities fixed violations to Asian Americans' voting rights in 2020

Amy Yee

December 22, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Malden, Massachusetts

Violations of the Voting Rights Act during primary and local elections led the city of Malden, where 23% of its 60,000 residents are of Asian descent, to provide voting materials and information - including mail-in ballots, voting instructions, official election websites, and precinct signs - in English and Chinese. The city also hired a trilingual city employee fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and collaborated with community advocacy groups on voter outreach and recruiting more bilingual poll workers. Advocates see Malden as a role model for other jurisdictions to remedy voter access issues.

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Biden victory in hand, Black church get-out-the-vote workers assess the future

Adelle M. Banks

November 25, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Faith leaders from communities of color mobilized voters to support candidates and policies that empower Black and Brown people. Events such as “Souls to the Polls” and the coalition-run Black Church 75 initiative, registered new voters and urged them to the polls around issues such as police brutality and racial injustices. Support from Black church members is credited with helping elect Democratic candidates, including Democratic senators in Georgia, as well as passing ballot initiatives, such as Measure J in Los Angeles that would decrease police funding in favor of mental health and housing resources.

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Youth advocacy groups kept voters safe and informed on Election Day

Lauren Hernandez

November 13, 2020 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Civic participation by youth advocacy groups registered tens of thousands of young voters and educated many more on election-related issues, including local and state ballot initiatives. Events held on zoom provided registration information and helped students connect with their peers, where they made pledges and plans to vote. Arizona PIRG Students New Voters Project educated 10,000 students this way, while CALPIRG Students' 500 volunteers registered 10,000 students, provided voter information to over 150,000 students, and made over 90,000 peer to peer Get Out the Vote contacts.

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