蜜桃传媒 Announces up to $30 Million Investment in Voter Registration and Mobilization in Deep South States
The Vote Your Voice campaign seeks to: empower communities of color by aiding them in their fight against voter suppression; support Black- and brown-led voter outreach organizations often ignored by traditional funders; support and prototype effective voter engagement strategies; and re-enfranchise returning citizens despite intentional bureaucratic challenges
MONTGOMERY, Ala. 鈥� The Southern Poverty Law Center (蜜桃传媒) today announced it is investing up to $30 million from its endowment in voter outreach organizations in the Deep South to increase voter registration and participation among people of color with a lower propensity to vote.听
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The initiative, called Vote Your Voice, is focused on increasing voter participation specifically in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, beginning in 2020 and running through 2022.听
鈥淭his initiative is especially important right now, as millions of people across the country feel the urgency to make our voices heard this fall after the continued silence from our leaders on the many Black people being killed by police,鈥� said 蜜桃传媒 President and Chief Executive Office Margaret Huang. 鈥淰oting won鈥檛 solve this problem the day after the election but in order to begin dismantling white supremacy, we need to ensure that every voter of color is able to cast their ballot without interference or hardship.鈥�
Huang continued: 鈥淭he work ahead of us will not be easy. The COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on democratic participation for communities of color who have been harmed most deeply by the health and economic crisis and who will encounter greater barriers to voter participation given the new risks of voting in person on Election Day.鈥�
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Numerous organizations across the five states are working to promote voter participation and reach communities of color, returning citizens and young people, but they are struggling to secure resources to further their outreach amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an era of social distancing, and major economic recession.
Vote Your Voice, a partnership with the (Community Foundation), will administer grants up to a total of $30 million available for nonprofit-nonpartisan activities through 2022 as organizations navigate reaching their constituents amidst the pandemic and other obstacles.听
鈥淲e are proud to partner with Southern Poverty Law Center to target education and mobilization efforts that support a robust, and fair, election process,鈥� said Community Foundation Vice President of Community Lita Pardi. 鈥淲e must all work to end systemic barriers that deny our citizens their right to vote, especially in Black communities across the South.鈥�
Other Vote Your Voice goals include:
鈼徧� 听Reconnecting with constituencies that historically and currently face barriers to voting, focusing on returning citizens, voters of color, and those who have been purged from voter rolls.听
鈼徧� 听Engaging voters who are often ignored by outreach programs, including low-propensity voters of color and voters of color who live outside of major metro areas.听
鈼徧� 听Building greater capacity for voter outreach work to combat voter suppression by providing multi-year support through the 2022 election cycle.
鈼徧� 听Funding and supporting organizations that are led by people of color.
The 蜜桃传媒 and the Community Foundation will award their first round of grants in early July and a second round later in the summer. Organizations that work with communities of color have been invited to submit grant applications as part of the first round. The second round will be conducted through an open Request for Proposals process.听
Vote Your Voice builds on the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 ongoing voting rights work to enable every citizen in the Deep South the opportunity to have their voice heard at the ballot box. In the past two years, the 蜜桃传媒 invested a combined $2 million to help pass the and increase voter registration and turn-out in Louisiana and Mississippi state elections. Meanwhile, in federal courts, the 蜜桃传媒 has successfully sued Florida on its unconstitutional poll tax and has ongoing litigation challenging Mississippi鈥檚 lifetime voting ban for citizens with certain felony convictions. Since May of this year, the 蜜桃传媒 has filed litigation in Alabama and Louisiana to challenge election laws that force voters to choose between participating in democracy and protecting their health.听
Information regarding Vote Your Voice is available here: /vote-your-voice
