Project Vote (and Voting for America, Inc.) was a national nonpartisan, nonprofit

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

organization that worked to mobilize marginalized and under-represented voters until it ceased operations on May 31, 2017. Project Vote's efforts to engage low income and minority voters in the civic process included voting rights

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and the provision of training, management, evaluation, and technical services."Our Mission" ''ProjectVote.org''
/ref> Its last

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

was Michael Slater, who had worked for Project Vote since 2004. In May 2017, the staff announced that Project Vote would suspend operations indefinitely due to difficulties maintaining funding.

History

A national organization known as Project VOTE!, originally a project of Americans for Civic Participation, was active between 1982 and 1993, and after reorganizing formed the foundation of Project Vote. Project VOTE! is best remembered for a highly successful Chicago voter registration drive run by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in 1992. Project Vote in its present form was incorporated in 1994 as Voting for America, Inc., and in 1997 it began registering as Project Vote/Voting for America. In 2010, the organization dropped Voting for America from its registered name. Between 1994 and 2008, Project Vote often coordinated voter registration campaigns with local chapters of

ACORN The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

, and Project Vote's board members also had membership in ACORN before the summer of 2008. Project Vote has also worked with organizations such as

Demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

, National Voting Rights Institute,

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...

Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Generally considered Modern liberalism in th ...

NYU School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, and the Fair Elections Legal Network regarding election administration policy and voting rights, including enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act through research, litigation, and technical assistance. In February 2012, Voting for America/Project Vote filed a federal lawsuit suit on behalf of organizations dedicated to registering citizens to vote challenging Texas' burdensome restrictions on voter registration drives.Voting for America v. Steen
Brennan Center for Justice; November 21, 2012

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Project Vote website
Advocacy groups in the United States Election and voting-related organizations based in the United States