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About The 41 Million Strong Campaign
In the 2000 Presidential Elections, the U.S. Census reports that women of color participated at lower rates than Caucasian women with 56.8 % of African American women, 29.8 % of Latina women, 24.9 % of Asian and Pacific Islander women voting, compared to 57.7 % of Caucasian women.
Regarding Native American/American Indian women there the Census does not collect this information due to the low population numbers, even though in Western States Native American/American Indian women comprise between 3% and 20% of the voting population in some states, according to Native Vote’s Loren Birdrattler.
This campaign seeks to draw on Women of Color United’s vast grassroots network to mobilize the votes of women of color during the 2008 Election cycle.
The overarching goal of the 41 Million Strong campaign is to increase civic participation of women of color.
The four main pillars of the campaign are as follows:
1) Increase voter registration among women of color.
2) Increase voting among women of color.
3) Increase awareness of the general public, and specifically among women of color, about issues that are at stake in the coming elections and that disproportionately affect women of color globally.
4) Post-elections, we will hold elected officials accountable to the commitments they have made around issues that are important to us.
So far we have done this through a multi-faceted approach of direct action and providing information and materials to support the voter engagement and advocacy work of our constituents.
Early this year, we developed a side-by-side comparison chart of candidate positions on issues that are of interest to the Women of Color United constituency. We have also put together a Voter Registration and Get Out the Vote Toolkit focused on mobilizing the women of color vote.
We’ve conducted several activities over this past year including a delegation that went to the Democratic debates in Myrtle Beach South Carolina and shared information on the issues of violence against women and HIV&AIDS.
We also co-sponsored an event at the Democratic National Convention paying tribute to Shirley Chisolm, the first woman to run for the President of the United States.
Given the high stakes of the 2008 elections and the issues that are in peril particularly for women of color, in the final days leading up to the elections, the 41 Million Strong Campaign is taking our efforts on the road for 35 days on a high profile GOTV tour to key states to highlight the voter mobilization efforts of our sisters and communities of color across the country. The road tour is being conducted in partnership with the Women of Color Resource Center, www.coloredgirls.org and with funding support from the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, www.mkf.org.
The aim is strengthening the impact of the outreach in these pivotal states and extending the energy, messaging, and hype beyond those states through viral online, radio, and print media.
Download Our Voter Registration/Get Out the VoteToolkit Here
Voting allows us to play an important role in deciding the direction of our communities by voicing our opinion on issues that are important and relevant to our lives.
Currently, issues affecting women of color are being debated in U.S. Congress and in communities across the country. In order for our government to truly represent the people, we as women of color must vote to make our voices heard on myriad social ills disproportionately impacting our communities.
Each and every vote matters. With an estimated 41 million women of color living in the United States, the importance and power of our voices is massive. In order to ensure that the ballots cast at the polls are representative of our true needs and opinions, we need to make sure that as many women of color as possible are registered to vote, are educated on the issues that matter to them, and actually get to the polls on Election Day.
If we don’t vote for issues that matter to us, who will? This toolkit seeks to help improve the voter turnout of Women of Color across the nation. It is designed to provide ideas to help overcome the obstacles many women of color face that prevent them from becoming registered, active voters.
41 Million Strong Road Tour Blog
Pittsburgh
41 Million Strong Road Tour Blog
To read about the experiences of the WOCU members who are on the 35-day, 20 State Road Tour across the United States, please click here.
Share Your Voter Mobilization Stories
We invite you to share with our site visitors the great work you are doing to mobilize the vote in communities of color. To share your stories, please click here.
Who is Mobilizing the Vote?
To read about more Voter Engagement Initiatives click here.
The Presidential Candidates on Our Issues
To download a guide to the 2008 Presidential candidates’ positions on Violence Against Women & HIV&AIDS click here.
Guidelines for Non-Profits/501c3 Allowable Voter Engagement Activities
To learn more about activities around allowable voter engagement activities under IRS rules and regulations, click here.
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State By State Voter Regulations Here
For state by state information on voter registration deadlines, regulations around voting for ex-offenders, and other state specific voting information click below:
41 Million Strong in the Media
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