NAACP leaders say the “Fighting for Our Vote” campaign will target diverse cities in states that have passed restrictive voter laws such as Houston, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Miami. The campaign will include radio and digital promotions, phone banking and knocking on doors to urge people to register to vote and call their state senators to demand voter protections. Much of the focus will be in vulnerable Black and brown communities.
Partnering groups include the ACLU, National Education Association, AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFSCME.
The NAACP has led voter engagement campaigns ahead of previous elections, however, organization leaders say the current assault on voting rights creates an urgency to take action more than a year before the midterms.
“It is important to engage the public on what’s happening with voting rights now because it is a democracy literally at stake,” Whitehead said. “What Congress is doing, what certain state legislatures are doing across the country, they are retaliating against voters for what happened in 2020” when Democrats gained control of the White House and Congress, he said.
Whitehead said the NAACP and its partner groups plan to deploy volunteers and organizers across the country to promote the campaign, educate voters about the election process and help them get registered.
He said this effort is about Black and brown voters “taking the power back” despite Republican efforts to suppress their votes.
“For us it’s about one, letting folks know we are not giving up, and two letting folks know if we have the power if we act, if we organize, if we engage, and if we do the work together,” Whitehead said.
Source : CNN