Last call proposal to funders interested in participating
There is an urgent need between now and November for nonpartisan, civic engagement groups to turnout Rising American Electorate voters and ensure their votes get counted. Minority, low-income, youth and women voters historically “drop-off” in non-Presidential elections, just when key decisions are made regarding issues that will directly impact their communities. The task of voter mobilization is always more challenging in midterm elections, but this year we have a perfect storm brewing: inequality is rising; more money is coming from post-Citizens’ United sources; and state and local structural barriers to voting are being implemented that had been blocked by the Department of Justice before the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by last summer’s Supreme’s Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Recent polling estimates that there will be an almost 30% decrease in voting between 2012 and 2014 (from 135 million voters to a projected 85 million voters). We recall from 2010 just how important it is for RAE voters to be civically engaged in non-presidential elections.
Every dollar invested in turnout in 2014 matters! We must ensure that all those who are eligible to vote get the chance to cast their ballots this November and in future elections!
