The NAACP announced that it has partnered with nonprofit organization Vote.org in an effort to mobilize and register eligible Black voters ahead of November’s midterm election.
Both organizations in a statement on Thursday said the partnership, which will launch later this month, will provide digital voting tools and training to the NAACP’s network of over 2 million activists and leaders across the U.S.
NAACP leaders will use these voting tools in their communities in an effort to simplify the voting process, lower the barriers to political participation and increase turnout among Black voters.
Vote.org’s online tools helped more than 39 million people register to vote, verify registration, request mail ballots, find their polling location and obtain detailed information on their state’s voting information in 2020, according to the statement.
Vote.org’s online tools also helped more than 4.2 million voters register to vote and reached minority and young voters more than 651 million times through its GOTV program, as well.
“Instead of celebrating 2020’s historic voter turnout, state lawmakers have spent the past two years passing laws to prevent young people and communities of color from casting their ballots,“ Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey said in a statement. “Our democracy is stronger when everyone can vote. Vote.org is proud to work with NAACP to defend voting rights and make sure that every eligible voter can make their voice heard in November and beyond.”
This comes as 19 U.S. states have either passed or enacted restrictive voting rights laws in the aftermath of President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
From November 2020 to July 2021, more than 8.6 million voters were purged from official registration lists nationwide, with three counties disproportionately purging minority voters’ from their official registration, according to data analysis from TargetSmart.
“Our lives are being taken from us and our democracy is being stolen from us. We have been gunned-down at the grocery store and silenced at the ballot box. Now, the Supreme Court is coming for our constitutional rights as well,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “One thing is clear, our rights and our political power are being targeted and gutted as we speak.”
“At this moment, our right to defend all rights – the right to vote – hangs in the balance. If we don’t organize and exercise our right to vote this November, we may very well lose our ability to participate in future elections,” Johnson concluded. “This is why we are partnering with Vote.org. We are partnering to defend democracy for all.”