Voter Engagement Campaign

Registering to vote is one of the first steps toward becoming a full participant in American democracy and a citizen who can influence change in a community.  ACORN submitted more than 1.68 million applications to register to vote in voter registration drives leading up to the 2004 and 2006 elections. 

In 2008, we saw unprecedented interest in the Presidential election.  We are proud that we have been able to capture the excitement by submitting 1.3 million voter registration applications from low- to moderate-income communities. We helped hundreds of thousands of Americans to either register to vote for the first time or update their voter registrations.  Please see our news section to read updates about our voter engagement work.

ACORN helps the people register who most need to make their voices heard in this election: African Americans, Latinos, low-income citizens, and youth. These new voters are getting involved in the election process because they want to see changes in health care, the economy, mortgage lending practices, and public schools.

ACORN encourages continued civic engagement by asking newly registered voters to move beyond simply being added to voter rolls.  We follow up with registrants and motivate them to get to the polls on election day.

We also encourage residents from under-served communities to talk about issues that are important to them so they can articulate their passion to improve their own streets, housing conditions, schools, parks, and economy.  ACORN shows its constituents how to move elected officials to serve low- and moderate-income communities better.  We grow leaders and make community improvement a reality.

ACORN members have:

• Backed ballot initiatives that voters overwhelmingly approved to raise the state minimum wage in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Ohio by $1.35 or more, delivering raises to 1.5 million workers. To pass the measures, more than 1,600 ACORN members, canvassers, and volunteers contacted 380,000 voters in low and moderate income and minority neighborhoods.
• Worked with voting rights advocacy groups like Project Vote and Demos to make sure public agencies follow requirements of the National Voter Registration Act to offer public assistance applicants the opportunity to register to vote.

ACORN is proud of the work it does to help balance the American electorate and educate people from underrepresented communities to use their voting voices.