ACLU Launches Campaign To Encourage Voting and Educate on Vote by Mail

With 50 days until Election Day, the American Civil Liberties Union today launched "Let People Vote," a campaign encouraging voters to make a plan to vote and empowering them to vote by mail. The new educational tool features states' access to vote by mail and other helpful information on how to exercise the right to vote this election. The organization will be asking its more than 1.8 million members to pledge to vote, which has proven to increase voter turnout.

The tool will be amplified through a six-figure digital ad spend, an expansive email and text program, and beyond the ACLU's network through its artists and celebrity partners with weekly content through Election Day. The organization's corporate partners--including Levi's, Ben & Jerry's, Everlane, Snap, NorthFace, Outdoor Voices, Seventh Generation, Lush, COS, Madewell, and Twitter, among others--will educate their customers, followers, employees, and the general public by sharing the tool in a concerted push. The ACLU will also release voting-themed face masks and "At The Polls," a weekly mini-series podcast on the top questions regarding the 2020 election, including what election night will look like and the state of the USPS.

In Michigan, the ACLU will launch a Get Out the Vote campaign to build on the success of last cycle's Proposition 3 Promote the Vote ballot initiative, which brought automatic and same day voter registration to the state, by ensuring newly registered voters--particularly Black Michiganders, young people, and populations most impacted by the ballot measure--are educated on their rights and options. The organization will run a parallel GOTV campaign in Wisconsin.

In addition to public education efforts, the ACLU has filed over 20 lawsuits and counting--in Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (twice), Pennsylvania (twice), Puerto Rico(twice), Rhode Island (twice)South Carolina, Tennessee,Texas,and Virginia--to ensure safe access to the ballot in November. The ACLU has also run advocacy campaigns in Delaware, Iowa, Nevada, Florida, and Georgia to encourage elected officials to expand access to vote by mail, drop boxes, and early vote.

Rebecca Lowell Edwards, chief communications officer for the ACLU, said:

"In an unprecedented election year, rife with misinformation flowing from the highest levels, voters must be educated on how, where, and when they can vote, and how to advocate for their constitutional right to cast a ballot when obstacles are thrown in their way. As politicians play politics with peoples' lives instead of enacting common sense measures--including expanded early voting periods and universal access to vote by mail--the ACLU has been at the frontlines to protect and expand the right to vote for all eligible voters. We're calling on voters to make a plan, request their ballot where they can, and to encourage their friends to do the same."

Visit the Let People Vote tool: aclu.org/voter