Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Ismaili, Ahmadi Muslims push national voter registration efforts

    Muslim civic advocacy groups Emgage and Ismailis Rise Up have partnered to engage a more diverse Muslim population in the 2020 election. They added thousands of contacts among new Muslim voters in six states, trained volunteers in electoral organizing and countering voter suppression, use personal connections to encourage people to vote, and will staff the Election Protection Hotline, where voters can get help in their native language. They also published videos about voter registration and mail-in voting in languages commonly spoken by Ismaili families and held virtual events aimed at mobilizing seniors.

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  • Ballots Behind Bars

    Chicago Votes works to ensure access to voting for people awaiting trial in jail. In addition to registering thousands of voters, they helped pass a Cook County law designating the nation’s largest single-site detention facility as a polling place. This access enabled 1,850 people to cast their votes and about 600 people were able to take advantage of same-day registration and voting, which isn’t possible with traditional absentee ballot voting. Addressing jail-based disenfranchisement, which disproportionately impacts communities of color, gives people a voice in policies that directly impact them.

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  • Youth Vote Goes Virtual

    California Students Vote Project, a public-private partnership, encourages college students to vote. Covid-19-adjusted strategies include sending out multiple emails, using social media, and encouraging peer-to-peer contacts to inform students about how to register to vote and the ways they can actually cast their ballots. Group representatives also visit Zoom classrooms to share information and some students have organized virtual events, such as political trivia night, to foster student engagement. Over 65,000 California students have registered to vote since August, triple the number from all of 2016.

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  • Latinos the targets of election disinformation – but activists are fighting back

    Civic and advocacy groups fight disinformation targeted at Latinx voters and conduct voter registration and education outreach. Voto Latino encourages young people to help older relatives spot disinformation and trained its staff to spot and report it to the watchdog group, Disinfo Defense League. Social media posts then flag the information as false. Personal relationships are an effective way to counter disinformation and also help encourage people to vote. Voto Latino alone has registered over 500,000 voters since mid-2019, more than the total amount since the organization began in 2004.

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  • Midwestern Youth of Color Are Using Art and Culture to Build Their Political Power

    The Midwest Culture Lab consists of three organizations working to increase voter turnout among young people, especially young people of color. The partners work with artists, musicians, and other creative people to create messaging and campaigns that are culturally relevant and engage young people in civic participation. One partner, the Ohio Student Association, had artists create an ad that used relatable messaging about a criminal justice reform ballot measure to appeal to young people to vote. The ad brought in over 150 volunteers and contributed to doubling Ohio’s youth voter turnout from 2014 to 2018.

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  • Their App Sends Free Mail to Incarcerated People. Now They're Helping Prisoners Register to Vote

    Ameelio is a technology startup launched by Yale students to facilitate free communication between people who are incarcerated and loved ones. In their first six months, the group went from sending 300 to over 4,000 letters a week to facilities in the United States. Their initial goal was to provide a not-for-profit alternative to the oftentimes predatory prison telecommunications industry. Recently they began a voter registration initiative where they send registration instructions, a blank voter registration application, and ballot request form to people who are incarcerated and eligible to vote.

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  • How Colorado became the model for running an election by mail Audio icon

    Colorado is a successful model for voting by mail. Anti-hacking security measures, results audits, and frequent updating of the voter database using multiple sources increases confidence in the system. Voting by mail increased turnout, making the state among the top in the country. It also decreased election-related costs by 40%. Ballot rejections remain low (less than 1%) because the state relies on voters’ honesty and does not require a witness’ signature. Voters can also track their ballot and resolve any issues over the phone. Voters can return ballots by mail or at one of the many official drop boxes.

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  • San Juan County expands in-person voting on the Navajo Nation during the pandemic

    A legal settlement in Utah expanded access to voting on Navajo Nations and influenced similar settlements in Arizona. All registered voters receive a mail-in ballot, but counties also offer early voting and election-day polling locations, where Navajo translators are available. Counties run bilingual radio, print, and social media ads to inform residents about their voting options. The hybrid in-person and mail-in system boosted turnout of active voters in San Juan County’s 2018 election by 10 percentage points from 2014, when the lawsuit was filed because the county closed in-person polling places.

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  • In San Diego, Black Muslims are working to expand voting access in jails

    Pillars of the Community hires people incarcerated in local California jails to register new incarcerated voters and conduct civic engagement education behind bars. Pillars, a faith-based criminal justice advocacy group led by Black Muslims, registers hundreds every year, many of whom did not know they were eligible to vote and did not know how to register on their own. Those voting in 2020 will be able to vote on state referenda concerning expanding voting rights for people with felony convictions and on ending cash bail.

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  • Doctor Offices In Wisconsin Step In To Help Register Voters

    VotERdoctors partners with doctors, clinics, community centers, and hospitals to register voters. Staff can wear badges with a QR code that patients can scan with their cellphone, which takes them to a webpage that offers information about how to register to vote, including a live help line if the patient gets stuck. Some facilities, such as Progressive Community Health Centers in Milwaukee, send monthly text messages to their patients to remind them to register. VotER is being used by more than 300 U.S. hospitals and about 40,000 patients have gotten help registering or requesting ballots.

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