Ensuring Everyone Counts in Every Election
Who You Are
This initiative is designed for city leaders and others who are on the front lines and fully committed to ensuring fair and safe elections.
Leaders who join Cities Vote are aware that both community-based organizations and civic engagement leaders have been laying the groundwork to grow voter turnout for years.They’re also aware that as the most trusted level of government, they are powerful conveners in increasing voter participation rates nationwide by starting locally.
Cities Vote is a network of city and municipal leaders and their staff who are interested in taking action to grow voter engagement and are fully committed to ensuring fair and safe elections.
Cities Vote will work to ensure that everyone counts in every election.
Leaders who commit to Cities Vote appreciate the relationship between an engaged citizenry and a thriving local economy and culture; understand that their residents are not only constituents, but also neighbors; and serve as role models to other city leaders, strengthening the platform of municipal leadership.
Commit to fair and safe elections
Sign up for Cities Vote Peer-to-Peer Network and join a dedicated group of leaders committed to fare and safe elections.
How Cities Vote Works
We support elected officials in committing to and executing high quality voter engagement plans. We also facilitate learning between municipal leaders, steering cities towards strengthened local democracy.
Cities Vote 101: Interventions
Here is a list of twenty interventions that can have high impact in increasing voter turnout in your city. Examples of interventions for city leaders include making voting more accessible, convenient and meaningful.
Explore our full list of interventions and choose a few to enact and include in your Cities Vote Action Plan! Check back for updates that reflect insights from the latest elections.
Cities Vote Action Plan
Use this Voter Action Plan template to build your city’s unique plan to take action.
Try using it alongside our COVID Resource Library and Cities Vote 101: Interventions guide to identify at least three strategies your city will commit to this year.
COVID 19 Resource Library
Many cities are facing challenges on how to continue voter engagement while also navigating the realities of a pandemic. Challenges in assuring safe and fair elections include:
- Assuring equity in voting & elections—during this pandemic and beyond
- Converting to vote by mail and managing absentee voting
- Ensuring voter and poll-worker safety at live polling locations
- Protecting vulnerable voting and volunteer populations and managing the count
- Increasing voter engagement and registration despite social distancing
- Working with county, state and community partners in new ways
The Cities Vote team has gathered resources we hope will benefit you as you think through voter engagement, turnout, and protection strategies in the face of COVID-19.
Voting Engagement Resources for Local Governments
- ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
- apolitical
- campus vote project
- Common Cause
- Early Vote Project / Project Vote
- Filer Voter Project
- Get In the Game
- iCivics
- League of Conservation Voters
- League of Women Voters
- National Voter Registration Day
- Non Profit Vote
- Souls to the Polls/ The Equity Alliance/ Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship
- Rejoice the Vote
- When We all vote
- VotER
- #Votetogether
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
The All IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national awards program. By recognizing colleges and universities for their commitment to increasing student voting rates, the Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, make democratic participation a core value on their campus, and cultivate generations of engaged citizens who are essential to a healthy democracy.
apolitical
apolitical equips public servants to do their jobs through free access to courses, events, connections and news. Apolitical is codesigned and funded by governments and used by public servants in 160+ countries.
Campus Vote project
Campus Vote Project works with universities, community colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting. Campus vote project works with over 2 million students across 150 universities in 30 states.
Common Cause
Our Constitution demands that every citizen have an equal voice and vote in determining the future for our families, communities, and country. Common Cause works to ensure that every eligible citizen has the freedom to vote and that their votes are accurately counted.
Early Vote Project / Project Vote
“Project Vote is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded on the belief that an organized, diverse electorate is the key to a better America. Project Vote’s mission is to build an electorate that accurately represents the diversity of this nation’s citizenry, and to ensure that every eligible citizen can register, vote, and cast a ballot that counts.
In recent years, Project Vote has mostly focused on improving voter registration. Our goals are to:
- eliminate disparities in registration rates between minorities and majorities;
- see state governments play a leading role in registering Americans to vote; and,
- ensure that constituency-based organizations can run effective voter registration drives.”
Filer Voter Project
Voter registration at tax time has the potential to not only increase the voter pool, but to make the voting population more closely mirror the citizenry as a whole. Tax time may be an especially effective time to encourage lower-income citizens to register.
Get In the Game
Get In the Game is a nonpartisan voter development initiative. This project is designed to encourage all sports fans to register to vote and participate in the electoral process.
iCivics
Founded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor iCivics works to ensure every student in America receives a quality and engaging civic education and graduates from high school well prepared and enthusiastic for citizenship.
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national, state and local priorities. LCV, as part of the Conservation Voter Movement along with state LCV partners, advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environment candidates who will champion our priority issues.
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) works to register voters, provide voters with election information through voter guides as well as candidate forums and debates.
National Voter Registration Day
National Voter Registration Day is a national holiday celebrating our democracy. It was first observed in 2012 and has been growing in popularity every year since. Held on the fourth Tuesday of September, National Voter Registration Day will take place on September 22, 2020.
Non Profit Vote
Nonprofit VOTE partners with America’s nonprofits to help the people they serve participate and vote.
Souls to the Polls/The Equity Alliance/Interdemoninational Ministers Fellowship
Faith-based community organizing has been a tried-and-true strategy to reach black voters since the Civil Rights Movement. In an effort to get Souls to the Polls, The Equity Alliance partners with the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship (IMF) to conduct voter registration drives at African-American churches in Nashville.
Rejoice the Vote
The Vote’s three-pronged approach is geared to honor the past, celebrate the present, and challenge the future. It is aimed at changing the culture of voting from a chore to a joyful celebration.
When We All Vote
When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is on a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.
VotER
Working with Hospitals across the country to provide convenient nonpartisan voter registration platforms for patients while they wait.
#VoteTogether
#VoteTogether is a national campaign to increase voter participation by making voting fun and celebratory. At thousands of nonpartisan events hosted at and near polling places across the country, #VoteTogether partners bring together families, friends and neighbors in a celebration of civic engagement and the act of voting.
Questions?
Reach out to us any time by emailing citiesvote@nlc.org.