Project Vote and ACORN Announce Completion of Historic Voter Registration DriveLacy MacAuley and Charles Jacksonbyline‚ Oct. 08‚ 2008Yesterday, as voter registration deadlines passed in most states, Project Vote, the nation’s leading nonpartisan voter participation organization, and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the country’s largest community organization, held a news conference to announce the completion of a joint nonpartisan voter registration drive, which has succeeded in helping over 1.3 million Americans register to vote. The joint effort, which Project Vote Executive Director Michael Slater described as “the largest and most comprehensive drive in the history of our two organizations,” was conducted in a total of 21 states, with the largest efforts focusing on 16 states, including AZ, CA, CO, CT, Fl, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NM, OH, PA, TX, and WI. While final numbers were still being tallied, Slater said that the largest state-by state successes included over 148,000 in Pennsylvania, 152,000 registrations in Florida, over 217,000 in Michigan, and over 238,000 in Ohio. The goal of the nonpartisan voter registration drive, estimated to cost $18 million, was to help close the existing gaps in the American electorate, particularly among low-income Americans, minorities, and youth, all of whom have historically been underrepresented at the polls. |