Grantee Highlight: When We All Vote is fighting for equal access to the ballot box

Note from the CREDO team: This March, When We All Vote is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the generous support of CREDO members will help the group change the culture around voting, increase voter participation, and close the race and age voting gap ahead of the 2022 election.

Read this important blog post written by Stephanie L. Young, Executive Director of When We All Vote and then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this March.

When We All Vote is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Created by Michelle Obama, When We All Vote brings together individuals, institutions, brands, and organizations to register new voters across the country and advance civic education for voters of every age to build an informed and engaged electorate. We empower our supporters and volunteers to take action through voting, advocating for their rights, and holding their elected officials accountable.

In 2020, When We All Vote ran a robust, multifaceted campaign and reached more than 100 million people to educate them about the voting process and get them registered and ready to vote. The initiative also led in voter education, registration, and volunteer engagement. As a result, over 512,000 people checked their voter registration or newly registered, and nearly 500 media, corporate, and nonprofit partners joined our efforts.

Following unprecedented voter turnout in 2020, especially among young people and communities of color, over 500 voter suppression bills aimed at these voters have now been introduced in state legislatures across the country and dozens have already become law. These new laws – including strict voter ID rules, restrictions on Sunday voting, and polling place consolidation – will disproportionately harm voters of color. As we look ahead to the midterm elections, voters will have to navigate disinformation campaigns and a barrage of new hurdles to voting that threaten to reverse momentum towards a more inclusive and participatory democracy.

When We All Vote remains committed to changing the culture around voting, countering attacks on voting rights, increasing voter participation, and closing the race and age voting gap by doubling down on voter registration, education, and turnout heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

In 2021, we launched our Advocacy & Campaigns program to educate and mobilize our community to take more than 20,000 actions via our civic engagement tools in support of federal voting rights legislation. While we will continue these efforts, we will focus the majority of our work on building national energy and momentum around the midterms with innovative and tested strategies to reach voters where they are and inspire them to get registered and out to vote.

In today’s climate, we know people want to engage— we give them the tools and resources to do so efficiently, effectively, and collectively. We have developed a tested strategy with proven results. This year, we will continue to leverage this model and our existing infrastructure to build our national movement towards civic education and engagement.

We’re helping to bring even more people into the voting process because our country is strongest when everyone has a say. It is our responsibility to protect our democracy, and every vote matters.

Learn more and join the fight to protect our freedom to vote.