Voter Empowerment Campaigns are a critical tool in our organizing strategy. By doing voter registration, education, and get-out-the-vote work, we dramatically increase voter turnout, uphold voters’ civil rights at the ballot box, make critical changes in the election system, show politicians the quantitative power of our communities, and elect representatives from our low-income communities to public office.

We register people to vote in low-income neighborhoods while we go door-to-door around specific issues important to working families. If people register because they care deeply about the issues that affect their lives, they are more likely to vote, and to continue voting.

We educate people about policy issues, talk about why it’s important that they vote, help them overcome their fears about voting, and address practical obstacles they face in voting – child care, transportation, language barriers, etc.

We ask every voter to fill out a "pledge" to vote in the upcoming elections. On Election Day, volunteers at the polling stations check off who has voted. Then, we get in touch with people who haven’t voted and make sure they can get to the polls.

We continue to see voting rights violations at polling stations. Many new voters are sometimes not included on official lists. Poll workers also harass and intimidate election day volunteers and voters who are new to the process. We work with state and local officials to make sure that translation services are available, and that poll workers understand the rights of every voter.