NAACP Civic Engagement – 2020 Black Battleground States – Call to Action

The Civic Engagement Team at National has put together a presentation to provide information and assistance for voter drives as we move towards the 2020 elections. The presentation provides lots of data and recommendations for engaging with Black voters.

PRESENTATION LINK: 

Also

The Civic Engagement Team is fighting forward on the advocacy front in the following ways:

DC STATEHOOD:

  • Despite the fact that the citizens of Washington, D.C. pay federal taxes, serve on juries and defend our Nation in times of war like most other Americans, the residents of the District of Columbia are barred from having voting representation on the floor of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.  This classic example of “taxation without representation” is contrary to everything that this nation is founded on.  
  • To begin to correct this gross injustice, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) has introduced H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This bill will make the District of Columbia the 51st state in the Union.  On February 11, 2020, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform passed H.R. 51 out of committee and to the full House of Representatives with a positive recommendation.  The full House of Representatives is expected to consider the bill on Friday, 6/26/2020.
  • Call to Action – The NAACP strongly supports HR 51 and we urge you to contact your Representatives to support the bill on the House floor.  For more information please see the attached action alert from the Washington Bureau.

COVID-19 VOTING IMPROVEMENTS:

  • Full voter participation is essential to ensuring elected leaders and their ensuing policy decisions meet the needs of the community. The United States already struggles with voter participation. Significant percentages of eligible voters are not registered, many registered voters do not consistently show up at the polls, and large numbers of would-be voters—particularly people of color, low-income people, the young, and the elderly—are deterred by state laws and local procedures designed to suppress the vote.
  • In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local election administrators are faced with the additional burden of balancing the health and safety of voters and their families with a fair and inclusive election process. Our robust democracy must meet this challenge through adopting a set of reforms designed to promote safe and accessible elections. States and local communities have different voting rules but they all need funding to ensure voting is both safe and secure. We need you to call your Senators and the White House to ensure this funding is made available now!
  • Call to Action – Call your Senators now to ask them to:
  • Pass the current Coronavirus relief package that includes a minimum of $3.6 billion in safe election funding.
  • Require states to invest in expanded vote by mail and early voting.
  • Ensure that in-person polling locations have the resources they need to operate safely and efficiently.