black grassroots organizers embarked on a multi-state bus tour and raised millions of dollars for voter engagement and mobilization efforts in key battleground states, hoping to help secure the vice president. Kamala Harris‘ White House offer before the president November .
Reuters spoke with more than a dozen groups that are ramping up get-out-vote efforts through managing digital, door-knocking, and targeting low-propensity voters in swing states.
Black voters will play a pivotal role in the election, with both Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump vying for support, which can help sway the outcome of the election in a country expected to have razor thin margins.
the black community has historically been considered the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc. But black voter support for President Joe Biden has declined earlier this year, largely driven by pockets of trouble, such as high inflation and the rising cost of living, as well as a lack of progress on racial justice efforts.
Harris, who would become the first black and South Asian woman to become president, currently leads Trump 42% to 37%, according to an August Reuters/Ipsos poll, but experts and supporters say the challenge will turn excitement into voters. .
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, said grassroots organizing will be crucial in turning out Black voters in Georgia, a southern belt state and a swing state. Brown’s organization is embarking on a 20-state vote bus tour now through Nov. 5. The organization plans to fill two charter buses and 20 bus vans with volunteers.
“Some of my friends that I’m trying to get involved in this election, they’re going to say ‘oh yeah, I’m going to vote’,” Brown said. “Now, they go beyond saying ‘I’m going to vote’ but ‘make me work.'”
Organizers in Georgia, a state that helped win the 2020 presidential bid for Biden and two key US Senate Democratic seats, are planning to galvanize a coalition of multiracial voters.
Black Voters Matter Fund has collaborated with more than 100 local community groups in Georgia and other countries to increase their get-out-the-vote efforts which Brown believes will help reach approximately 10 million voters.
Makiah Reeves, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia plans to join hundreds of volunteers in a bus tour to energize young Black voters, who he believes remain apathetic. He will participate in a youth-focused campaign that includes a historically Black campus outreach event.
“To hear so many young people say they just don’t want to vote, that needs to change,” Reeves said.
The NAACP announced earlier this year the launch of the Building Community Voice Fund, a non-partisan, multi-million dollar fund established to provide grants to non-profit voter registration and voter initiatives and organizations, including complementary voter education and voter protection programs.
Last week, nine advocacy groups formed the Black Power Voters Alliance to mobilize 1.6 million black voters in seven states.
Groups like BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee, shell out millions for voter outreach efforts. BlackPAC says it is spending $30 million on black voter outreach in battleground states.
Grassroots leaders have also implemented security measures to protect volunteers amid concerns about political violence.
“Where we do field work, we always have security now,” said Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.
Elijah Grace, Director of Field Operations for the New Georgia Project Action Fund said they are currently training door-knocking canvassers on de-escalation techniques.
Challenges ahead for Harris’ campaign
Despite the high enthusiasm for Harris, a significant disparity remains between the possibility of voting between young and old Black voters, said Terrance Woodbury, chief executive of the public opinion research company HIT Strategies.
“Black voters under 50 make up more than half of the electorate and remain the least likely voters,” Woodbury said, adding that researchers are continuing to look into why. “It’s a gap in voting options and it’s a gap in the decision to vote or not to vote at all.”
With less than 80 days until the election, the Harris campaign is hoping to re-engage disaffected voters and lure undecided moderates.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign and a former mayor of Atlanta, said trusted local community members should be deployed to communicate Harris’ platform and accomplishments.
“There’s a very strong record to follow from the Biden Harris administration,” Bottoms said. The campaign has yet to unveil a specific policy platform aimed at the Black community.
However, they still face the challenge of attracting undecided voters. Many pro-Palestinian activists say they won’t vote for Harris without a commitment to change U.S. policy toward Israel. Thousands are expected to protest Biden’s administration outside the Democratic National Convention this week.
Republican strategist Jon Fleischman said that while Harris and Trump can count on deep support from their respective bases, they just won’t be able to win the election.
“Both have an identity that they feel will appeal to their base, and at the same time, they need to figure out how to reach undecided voters,” he said.
Reuters spoke with more than a dozen groups that are ramping up get-out-vote efforts through managing digital, door-knocking, and targeting low-propensity voters in swing states.
Black voters will play a pivotal role in the election, with both Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump vying for support, which can help sway the outcome of the election in a country expected to have razor thin margins.
the black community has historically been considered the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc. But black voter support for President Joe Biden has declined earlier this year, largely driven by pockets of trouble, such as high inflation and the rising cost of living, as well as a lack of progress on racial justice efforts.
Harris, who would become the first black and South Asian woman to become president, currently leads Trump 42% to 37%, according to an August Reuters/Ipsos poll, but experts and supporters say the challenge will turn excitement into voters. .
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, said grassroots organizing will be crucial in turning out Black voters in Georgia, a southern belt state and a swing state. Brown’s organization is embarking on a 20-state vote bus tour now through Nov. 5. The organization plans to fill two charter buses and 20 bus vans with volunteers.
“Some of my friends that I’m trying to get involved in this election, they’re going to say ‘oh yeah, I’m going to vote’,” Brown said. “Now, they go beyond saying ‘I’m going to vote’ but ‘make me work.'”
Organizers in Georgia, a state that helped win the 2020 presidential bid for Biden and two key US Senate Democratic seats, are planning to galvanize a coalition of multiracial voters.
Black Voters Matter Fund has collaborated with more than 100 local community groups in Georgia and other countries to increase their get-out-the-vote efforts which Brown believes will help reach approximately 10 million voters.
Makiah Reeves, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia plans to join hundreds of volunteers in a bus tour to energize young Black voters, who he believes remain apathetic. He will participate in a youth-focused campaign that includes a historically Black campus outreach event.
“To hear so many young people say they just don’t want to vote, that needs to change,” Reeves said.
The NAACP announced earlier this year the launch of the Building Community Voice Fund, a non-partisan, multi-million dollar fund established to provide grants to non-profit voter registration and voter initiatives and organizations, including complementary voter education and voter protection programs.
Last week, nine advocacy groups formed the Black Power Voters Alliance to mobilize 1.6 million black voters in seven states.
Groups like BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee, shell out millions for voter outreach efforts. BlackPAC says it is spending $30 million on black voter outreach in battleground states.
Grassroots leaders have also implemented security measures to protect volunteers amid concerns about political violence.
“Where we do field work, we always have security now,” said Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.
Elijah Grace, Director of Field Operations for the New Georgia Project Action Fund said they are currently training door-knocking canvassers on de-escalation techniques.
Challenges ahead for Harris’ campaign
Despite the high enthusiasm for Harris, a significant disparity remains between the possibility of voting between young and old Black voters, said Terrance Woodbury, chief executive of the public opinion research company HIT Strategies.
“Black voters under 50 make up more than half of the electorate and remain the least likely voters,” Woodbury said, adding that researchers are continuing to look into why. “It’s a gap in voting options and it’s a gap in the decision to vote or not to vote at all.”
With less than 80 days until the election, the Harris campaign is hoping to re-engage disaffected voters and lure undecided moderates.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign and a former mayor of Atlanta, said trusted local community members should be deployed to communicate Harris’ platform and accomplishments.
“There’s a very strong record to follow from the Biden Harris administration,” Bottoms said. The campaign has yet to unveil a specific policy platform aimed at the Black community.
However, they still face the challenge of attracting undecided voters. Many pro-Palestinian activists say they won’t vote for Harris without a commitment to change U.S. policy toward Israel. Thousands are expected to protest Biden’s administration outside the Democratic National Convention this week.
Republican strategist Jon Fleischman said that while Harris and Trump can count on deep support from their respective bases, they just won’t be able to win the election.
“Both have an identity that they feel will appeal to their base, and at the same time, they need to figure out how to reach undecided voters,” he said.
