Sept. 25 will be the first National Voter Registration Day. Nonpartisan, nonprofit group Voto Latino “seeks to do for participation in democracy what Earth Day did for the environment,” said Dan McSwain, vice president of digital campaigns for Voto Latino, at a press teleconference sponsored by New America Media. He hopes the event will grow and last and come to be regarded as a special holiday.
“Election Day is a time when all Americans are equal, whether young or old, rich or poor … we join our friends and neighbors to make our democracy more robust,” said Myrna Pérez, senior counsel of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Yet 50 million eligible voters are not registered. Latinos and Asians have lower levels of voter participation than most other groups. According to Voto Latino’s website, “American Latinos aged 18–25 are the least registered to vote for any demographic.”
Voto Latino has registered more than 120,000 young Latinos to vote.
America is unique among democracies because it has a patchwork of different state voter registration rules, time frames, and voter ID laws, according to Pérez. People can become confused by the various rules and deadlines.
Voto Latino chose Sept. 25 for the holiday because it is far enough ahead of state registration deadlines and close enough to voting day to pique interest.
Pérez said, “All voters need to understand the rules of their state, register on time, and show up at the right polling place.” A nonpartisan hotline, 1-866-OurVote, can answer questions on voting day about voting and voter registration.
The group has a vibrant social media and technological presence. Its Facebook page sports a picture of two cupcakes, one with the Democratic donkey and one with the Republican elephant, with the caption, “50 days from Election Day. Who will you choose?”
Celebrities including actresses Rosario Dawson and America Ferrera and musician Taboo of the Black-Eyed Peas have supported the nonprofit. According to McSwain, the most popular promotion Apple ever did with a nonprofit was its 2008 iTunes redemption code for Voto Latino.
This year Apple offers free iTunes downloads of 35 songs by “major artists,” he said. He was careful to specify that the download codes or iTunes cards are not an incentive to register to vote, but a promotional gift for those who chose to sign up for Voto Latino emails or to volunteer.
McSwain said that the day already has over 1,000 partners and hundreds of events planned for Sept. 25. “A partner must be a nonpartisan organization and be willing to promote it in a nonpartisan way,” said McSwain.
Partners and volunteers are carefully screened and trained to be sure they understand the rules and principles of voter registration, and so many have been signing up that the staff have been nearly overwhelmed.
“The organizers in charge are very happy to be flooded with partners signing up,” said McSwain. The window to become a partner organization is about to close for next Tuesday’s event, he said.
The National Association of Secretaries of State declared Sept. 25 National Voter Registration Day in a resolution adopted at their summer meeting.
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