Issues

Our Mission

Our goal is simple: to build an electorate that accurately represents the diversity of America’s citizenry. Through advocacy, litigation, and technical assistance, Project Vote is fighting to make sure that every eligible citizen is able to register, vote, and cast a ballot that counts.

Voter Registration Policy

We know that most Americans will vote, once they get registered. That’s why Project Vote’s work is focused on promoting sensible laws, rules, and procedures that make it easier, not harder, for eligible citizens to become registered voters. Read more

Voting Policy

The way Americans vote is changing, and Project Vote works to make sure we're making the polls more, not less, accessible. Read more

List Maintenance

Voter registration is only the first step: we also have to make sure that registrants get on the rolls, and stay on the rolls. That’s why Project Vote works to protect eligible voters from wrongful purges, voter caging, and other dangerous efforts to “clean-up” the lists. Read more

Government Agency Registration

Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to ensure that state governments played a leading role in providing our most vulnerable citizens a chance to participate in American democracy. Project Vote and our partners are working to make sure they do, and to realize the full potential of this landmark law. Read more

Civic Engagement

Since the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, voter engagement efforts have played a vital role in our democratic process. Project Vote brings our 20 years of field experience to help community-organizations run efficient, effective voter registration drives and Get Out the Vote programs. Read more

Bill Tracking

Project Vote's bill tracking service provides up-to-the-minute information on election legislation—good and bad—that has been proposed in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. Read more

Most Recent / Relevant Items

Advanced Filters and Sorting

609 results returned

Gov. Schwarzenegger Approves Engaging Young CA Voters Early

Post See all

The future of voter registration and civic engagement may just stand a chance. California (a populous state of many voters-to-be) will soon allow all 17-year-old citizens to preregister to vote so that they will be automatically enrolled as legal voters once they turn 18. This newer trend in legislation, which boasts bipartisan support, has recently passed in North Carolina and has been successfully implemented in five other states, including Florida. Read more

How to Make Voter Registration Accessible to All Citizens

Post See all

After the 2008 election, voter registration has become a focal point for legislators and advocates from all ends of the spectrum. Whichever way it is sliced, the number of registered eligible voters has still declined since 2004. As multiple problems have been cited as the cause for lowered registration rates (including mobility issues, unequal access to registration opportunities, voter caging, and even so-called apathy), voting rights advocates as well as legislators have been vocal about their solutions. Read more

Arizona City Tries New “Voting Center” Model for City Elections

Post See all

Here's an interesting way one Arizona city is dealing with early voting and provisional ballot problems, at least in their city elections. The city council of Phoenix has approved an election plan that would essentially eliminate the need to designate polling places during local elections. The plan is currently being reviewed by the Department of Justice and is expected to go into effect with the next mayoral election in 2011. Read more

All Voters are Unequal: Voter ID Law Exposed as Unfair, States Still Follow Suit

Post See all

When an appellate court shut down Indiana’s unequal mandate for polling-place voter ID, it sent a clear signal that—partisan politics aside—election laws should be assessed on whether or not all voters are given equal access to the democratic process. Yet, despite violations of law and the fact that absentee voting is more susceptible to voter fraud activity than in-person voting, other states continue to emulate what was one of the country’s toughest voter ID laws. Read more

Indiana Voter ID Law Found Unconstitutional and Disenfranchising

Post See all

One of the country’s most contentious voting rights issues came back into the spotlight last Thursday when an Indiana court struck down the state’s strict photo voter ID law as unconstitutional. The law, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008, was found be in violation of the Indiana Constitution because it treated voters unequally. Read more

CA Measure to Improve Youth Voter Engagement Goes to Governor

Post See all

The California Legislature approved a bill last week to extend voter registration privileges to 17-year-olds. If signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill would help put California youth on the road to a lifetime of democratic participation. Read more

El Paso County, Colo. Exemplifies Voter Reg. Turnaround for Low Income Citizens

Post See all

More than fifteen years after the passage of the National Voter Registration Act, few states are complying with the law’s requirement that voter registration services are provided to those who apply for public assistance. Though highly successful in the first two years the NVRA was implemented, in 1995-1996, registrations through public assistance agencies have steadily declined, and had fallen by 79 percent nationwide in 2007-2008. Project Vote and other voting rights organizations have been working to bring several states into compliance with this key provision of the NVRA, and—as a last resort—have been forced to bring lawsuits in several states to ensure that low-income public assistance clients have access to voter registration services as required by law. Read more

Ga. Secretary of State Asks DOJ to OK Discriminatory Voter Verification Procedure

Post See all

A Georgia voter list maintenance procedure that the Department of Justice shut down as “discriminatory” in May is being brought... Read more

Legislative Efforts to Engage High School Students Move Quietly Forward

Post See all

With an estimated 23 million 18-29 year old citizens turning out to vote in the 2008 presidential election, it is easy to assume that young people today have overcome the stereotypical image of "apathetic youth." Yet, while the last few election cycles show an ever-growing interest in political engagement, young people are still underrepresented in the U.S. electorate--a problem that seems to have more to do with lack of access than lack of interest. Read more