Voter Registration Campaign 2007-2008

Earth Day Network and its partners are once again joining forces in 2007 and 2008 to reprise their successful civic participation work focusing on environmental issues in low income, youth, and politically lethargic communities, selected college campuses and communities of color in at least eight targeted states: Ohio, Florida, Michigan, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Texas. EDN and its Campaign for Communities partners work through the belief that the only way to build a broader and more effective democracy is to help citizens, especially those in traditionally overlooked demographics, develop democracy skills that are viral and long lasting.

EDN’s Campaign for Communities (C4C), the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project (SVREP), the NAACP National Voter Fund (NVF), the Hip Hop Caucus 2008 Voter Registration and Education Campaign (VREC), and other partners are collaborating to register and turnout 350,000 and 1,000,000 voters respectively.

The partnership will also establish a nationwide voter file with voters identified based on issues that will be accessible to targeted communities. In carrying out its work on the 2007-2008 campaign, the collaboration will utilize new technologies to mobilize communities, such as on-line advocacy and suitable media vehicles.

Youth Leadership

The campaign will also aim to create teams of African-American and Latino youth and community and campus leaders with the skills and knowledge to empower themselves and their communities through civic participation. During the PowerShift conference, taking place on the University of Maryland College Park campus from November 2nd through the 5th, EDN will be collaborating with Wellstone Action!, an organization dedicated to leadership training and development for the progressive movement, to conduct voter registration and mobilization training specifically tailored for energizing the youth vote. Hundreds of student activists will attend the trainings during the course of Power Shift.