Following a spate of voter suppression laws that could prevent up to 5 million voters from heading to the voting booth for the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 6, the NAACP has launched a state-by-state campaign to register, educate, and turn out voters.
The effort is the organization’s largest and most-comprehensive electoral effort in recent memory and seeks to significantly boost participation among minority, young, and elderly voters.
“This year we are working smarter than past years because the hurdles are so high, including strict laws that require voters to show identification,” NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous told NewsOne. “America hasn’t seen a coordinated attack on voting rights of this scale in over 100 years, but we are seeking to overcome voter suppression and we are doing that by starting earlier voter registration drives and making greater use of technology, which allows us to target unregistered voters.”
Jealous announced the campaign last week at Clark-Atlanta University at the national launch of the NAACP’s “This Is My Vote!” campaign, with the goal being to register scores of new voters and coordinate with state and college NAACP chapters, voter advocacy groups, and other civil rights organizations to ensure voters are able to cast ballots.
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