Project Vote
{{Short description|US nonprofit organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Project Vote
| image = Project Vote logo.jpg
| size = 250px
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| formation = 1994
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| type = 501(c)(3) non-profit
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| purpose = Voting rights
| headquarters =
| location = Washington, D.C.
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| website = {{URL|http://projectvote.org}}
| former name = Voting for America
}}
Project Vote (and Voting for America, Inc.){{cite web | title =GuideStar database of charities and nonprofits | publisher = JustGive.org | url =http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?npoId=296316&partner=justgive | accessdate = 2008-07-16 }} was a national nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) 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 and the provision of training, management, evaluation, and technical services.[http://projectvote.org/index.php?id=39 "Our Mission" ProjectVote.org]Law and Election Politics: The Rules of the Game; Matthew Justin Streb; Routledge Publishing; pg. 118 Its last executive director was Michael Slater, who had worked for Project Vote since 2004.[http://projectvote.org/index.php?id=36 "Our Staff" ProjectVote.org] In May 2017, the staff announced that Project Vote would suspend operations indefinitely due to difficulties maintaining funding.{{cite web |title=Project Vote to Close Its Doors on May 31st |url=http://www.projectvote.org/blog/project-vote-close-doors-may-31st/ |work=ProjectVote.org |date=May 25, 2017 |accessdate=June 2, 2017}}
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 in 1992.{{cite web | url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/ | title=Vote of Confidence | first=Gretchen | last=Reynolds | publisher=Chicago Magazine | date=January 1993 | accessdate=2008-07-20}}Social Change Philanthropy in America; Alan Rabinowitz; Greenwood Publishing Group; 1990; pg. 198
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.Corporations Database. Louisiana Secretary of State's Web Site. https://coraweb.sos.la.gov/CommercialSearch/CommercialSearchDetails.aspx?CharterID=427113_RK73
Between 1994 and 2008,{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/797/ | title=Project Vote not 'an arm of ACORN' | date=2008-10-10 | work=PolitiFact.com | publisher=St. Petersburg Times/CQ | accessdate=2008-10-24}} Project Vote often coordinated voter registration campaigns with local chapters of ACORN,{{cite news | last=Fessenden | first=Ford | title=A Big Increase of New Voters in Swing States | date=2004-09-26 | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/26/politics/campaign/26vote.html}}{{cite web | title=Fighting For Every Last Vote | date=2004-10-18 | publisher=TIME magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995417-5,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309220102/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995417-5,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 9, 2008}}{{cite web | last=Slater | first=Michael | title=Voter Fraud? | publisher=National Voter | date=September 2007 | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MLB/is_1_57/ai_n21053581/pg_2}} and Project Vote's board members also had membership in ACORN before the summer of 2008.Stephanie Strom (22 October 2008), [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/22acorn.html Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality] The New York Times Project Vote has also worked with organizations such as Demos,{{Cite web|title=Demos, Project Vote Criticize DOJ After Meeting About NVRA Enforcement|url=https://www.demos.org/press-release/demos-project-vote-criticize-doj-after-meeting-about-nvra-enforcement|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Demos|date=28 September 2004 |language=en}} National Voting Rights Institute, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, 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.[http://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/voting-america-v-andrade Voting for America v. Steen]; Brennan Center for Justice; November 21, 2012
References
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External links
- [http://projectvote.org/ Official Project Vote website]
Category:Advocacy groups in the United States
Category:Election and voting-related organizations based in the United States