Now that 2014 has come to a close, we’re looking back at what an eventful year it was! From our work to empower individuals and organizations on the ground, to important voting rights victories in the courts, we celebrate the accomplishments of Project Vote and our allies in 2014, and we’re ready to keep up the fight in 2015.
Project Vote On the Ground
- Recent Article Confirms In-Person Contact Boosts Voter Turnout: During the 2014 midterm season, Project Vote was on the ground leading cost-effective, data-driven, multi-state voter registration and get out the vote field experiments to determine the best, most effective way to reach voters.
- Get Out the Vote: Project Vote and our team of canvassers were on the ground with groups in New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Get Out the Vote in the 2014 midterm elections. Check out our photo album on Facebook.
- Election Protection: Project Vote staff volunteered with the Election Protection coalition, taking calls and answering questions on voting from citizens all over the country on Election Day. Learn more about Election Protection at www.866ourvote.org.
Voting Rights Victories
- Victory in Proof-of-Citizenship Case: In a major victory for voting rights, on November 7 the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned an earlier decision in Kobach v. EAC, and rejected the effort by Arizona and Kansas to add documentary proof-of-citizenship to the federal voter registration.
- Florida Purge Program Was Illegal, Rules Federal Court: In April, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that Florida’s 2012 voter purge program targeting suspected non-citizens was in violation of federal law. In a 2-1 decision, the court found that Gov. Rick Scott’s purge was illegal under the National Voter Registration Act, which forbids such programs within 90 days of a federal election.
- In Landmark Settlement, Calif. Health Exchange Agrees to Comply with Voter Registration Law: In March, we announced our first major victory in the nationwide fight to ensure that Americans seeking health benefits under the Affordable Care Act are also provided the opportunity to register to vote, as guaranteed by the National Voter Registration Act.
Trainings and Assistance
- ACA Voter Registration Webinars: Health benefit enrollment assisters from all over the country attended Project Vote’s voter registration trainings and webinars this summer and fall to learn about helping clients register to vote.
- Training Prepares Community Groups to Help Citizens Register to Vote: This summer, Project vote helped state and national groups get their communities registered to vote by hosting trainings on the best practices of running community-based voter registration drives.
- New Guides to Helping Citizens Register to Vote: Project Vote updated several guides to voter registration laws for several states. The voter registration guides cover rules on voter eligibility, deadlines, and state laws that govern voter registration drives.
- New Toolkit to Help Public Agencies Implement Voter Registration: Project Vote is committed to ensuring that public assistance agencies are providing their clients with voter registration services, as required by the National Voter Registration Act. In September, we released a new tool to help them do just that.
New Releases
- Election Legislation Threats and Opportunities: Project Vote monitored hundreds of voting rights proposals in 2014, releasing weekly email updates and two reports in May and October. Many states did introduced legislation to improve voting, but few made it through partisan roadblocks. Meanwhile, 20 states proposed restrictive policies, some affecting Americans who went to the polls in November. (Sign up today to monitor 2015 election legislation with us.)
- Issues in Election Administration: Project Vote released six new or updated policy papers on election administration issues, including youth voting, felon voting rights, voter registration transparency, voter registration drives, public assistance agency voter registration, and voter ID.
- Political Participation of LGBT Americans: Until recently, little has been known about the political participation of LGBT individuals. In this research memo, Project Vote Political Scientist Vanessa M. Perez reviews and summarizes the findings of recent research, and identifies important gaps in our knowledge about LGBT participation.
Join Us Going Forward
The New Year is a chance to reflect and look ahead.
For 20 years now, Project Vote has been on the front lines of voter engagement: working hard to bring voter registration assistance to those who need it most. And for the last 10 years, Project Vote has been working to make sure that all registered voters can actually vote, and cast a ballot that counts.
But we still have work to do.
In 2014, voters across the country were met with prohibitive voter ID laws, limited early voting, cuts to same day registration, voter and poll worker confusion, and voter roll purges. It’s too early to quantify the effect these laws had on turnout, but we do know that turnout was the lowest it’s been in 72 years. And in a number of races, the margin of victory was close to the margin of disenfranchisement.
In 2015, Project Vote’s efforts will center on protecting the right to register to vote, upholding the right for eligible voters to remain on the voter rolls, and making voter registration more enduringly accessible to all citizens.
The victories of the past 20 years wouldn’t have been possible without support from you, and now we’re looking to the fights ahead. Your gift made by midnight will be tax-deductible for 2014 and will help us hit the ground running in the New Year.
