On National Voter Registration Day, Over 400 Students Will Make 10,000 Calls And Send Over 100,000 Text Messages to Help Young People Register to Vote
Everytown and Students Demand Action Are Committed to Registering 100,000 Young Voters Ahead of the November Election
NEW YORK — Today is National Voter Registration Day and Students Demand Action volunteers, a grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, and survivors of gun violence across the country, are working together for a national day of action where they’ll text and call young voters to highlight the importance of voting in the upcoming election. Throughout the pandemic, Students Demand Action volunteer leaders have been recruiting new volunteers and training existing volunteers in their networks in effective digital voter registration tools and tactics.
In the last two months alone, more than 400 Students Demand Action volunteers across the country have made nearly 90,000 calls. With just over 40 days to go until the election, volunteers have spent over 40 days — or nearly 1,100 hours — worth of time on the phone, registering tens of thousands of voters.
“Our gun violence crisis is a preventable tragedy, but for far too long, many of our so-called leaders have only offered thoughts and prayers,” said Alanna Miller, a volunteer leader with Duke University Students Demand Action and a member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board. “This National Voter Registration Day, Students Demand Action volunteers are making thousands of calls across the country to register young voters for the upcoming election to vote for gun sense champions up and down the ballot.”
“Even though I’m too young to vote this cycle, I’m working around the clock to register young voters to vote for gun sense champions up and down the ballot,” said Makayla Jordan, a volunteer leader with Birmingham Students Demand Action. “2020 will be a pivotal election year — that’s why I am spending National Voter Registration Day raising awareness about the importance of registering young voters who have the power to decide the election this November.”
Everytown has committed at least $1.5 million to the voter registration program, which included more than a dozen paid organizers to help lead efforts across battleground states. Since April, organizers have utilized digital tactics for voter registration efforts on high school and college campuses, where they have recruited new Students Demand Action volunteers and trained volunteers in effective voter registration tools and tactics.
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund will spend at least $60 million on the 2020 elections — double what they spent in the 2018 midterms, and more than the gun lobby reported spending in the 2016 election.
Students Demand Action volunteers are available for interviews to discuss the importance of young voters in the upcoming election and how Students Demand Action volunteers are organizing on the ground to turn out votes for gun sense candidates up and down the ballot. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to reach out.