Our Recent Accomplishments

Since our founding in 1982, Project Vote has helped more than four million Americans from low-income and minority neighborhoods register to vote. Over the years, our reach has grown and our work intensified so that, today, we are in the midst of a 2005-2006 program that will help hundreds of thousands of Americans in 24 states register to vote. We have the experience and the track record to do it:

Our 2004 Success

In 2004, Project Vote worked in 102 metropolitan areas in 26 states to help over one million Americans register to vote. And we reached out to more than 2 million Americans to educate them about the importance of voting.

Our 2002 Success

In 2002, Project Vote ran a nonpartisan voter education program in 38 cities that contacted several hundred thousand occasional and new voters in low and moderate income, mostly minority, neighborhoods. Our voter education program came on the heels of a successful national voter registration campaign. Project Vote helped over 127,000 low-income and minority Americans register to vote in 2002, for a total of 209,836 registrations in 2001-2002.

In the past two years, Project Vote has worked in over a dozen states to identify and dismantle barriers to voter registration and voting, often in cooperation with state and county election officials.

• In North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, we provided technical assistance to advocates and policymakers in order to strengthen voter protections in election legislation.

• In Florida, working with advocates and Design for Democracy, we helped bring about an improved voter registration application.

• In Maryland, successfully brought suit against the state for a prohibition on paid voter registration activities after we were unable to reach an accord with election officials.

• In Florida, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio and Washington, Project Vote and our community partners worked to help voter registration applicants resolve incomplete or rejected applications in time to vote.

• In Louisiana, we helped develop poll worker training materials and recruit poll workers. In addition, we provided support to community advocates’ election day protection program.

Project Vote is working with ACORN and Demos to help states better implement voter registration programs at public assistance agencies, which is required by the National Voter Registration Act. Our work includes research, technical assistance to government officials and, when necessary, litigation. The Project’s recent accomplishments include:

• Providing technical assistance to Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington;

• Releasing a detailed report, “Ten Years Later: A Promise Unfulfilled: The National Voter Registration Act in Public Assistance Agencies, 1995-2005,” on the implementation of public agency registration in the states; and,

• Encouraging the US Election Assistance Commission to help states better comply with the NVRA, and take enforcement activity when necessary.