For centuries of recorded history, the African American vote has been suppressed and the African American voter disenfranchised. In 2022, that incursion on rights continues: 19 states have laws on the books restricting voting rights, largely believed to be aimed at people of color. 

Now, the NAACP, in conjunction with Vote.org, is aiming to help Blacks and other minorities get themselves registered and to the polls via a new initiative. 

Marchers in Phoenix, Arizona, make their way across the 16th Street Bridge in an effort to bring awareness to voter suppression during the Deliver For Voting Rights rally in January. (Photo: Zac BonDurant/Special to The Arizona Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK)

“Our lives are being taken from us and our democracy is being stolen from us. We have been gunned down at the grocery store and silenced at the ballot box,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, in a statement announcing the joint venture. “Now, the Supreme Court is coming for our constitutional rights as well. One thing is clear, our rights and our political power are being targeted and gutted as we speak.”

From November 2020 through July 2021, over 8.6 million names were cleared from official voter registration rosters around the country, and 63 counties purged people of color disproportionately after the election in November 2020, the NAACP asserts. 

The initiative will provide digital tools and training for the NAACP’s network of over 2 million activists nationwide, both organizations maintain.

In 2020, the nonpartisan Vote.org says it registered more than 4.2 million voters. The organization’s staff will train NAACP organizers to use their digital assets to check polling locations and voter registrations, assist prospective voters with registration and send reminders to young people to register once they turn 18. Vote.org’s get-out-the-vote efforts have reached young voters and voters of color more than 651 million times, the statement said. 

The initiative begins this month.

“Instead of celebrating 2020’s historic voter turnout, state lawmakers have spent the past two years passing laws to prevent young people and communities of color from casting their ballots,“ said Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org. “Our democracy is stronger when everyone can vote. Vote.org is proud to work with NAACP to defend voting rights and make sure that every eligible voter can make their voice heard in November and beyond.”

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post NAACP and Vote.org team up to assist voters  appeared first on TheGrio.