The AP report matches previous surveys by VPC, which have found that African Americans, Hispanics, young people and unmarried women—voters we describe as the Rising American Electorate—helped President Obama win both the popular vote and an Electoral College landslide in 2012. Immediately after the election, the VPC and its partners reported that the Rising American Electorate “not only delivered huge margins to the incumbent—nearly matching 2008 totals among unmarried women and African Americans, exceeding 2008 among Hispanics—but also turned out in ever greater numbers. Collectively, these voters made up nearly half (48 percent) of the 2012 electorate according to national exit poll estimates, up four points from 2008, with the biggest gain coming among unmarried.”

We are pleased that there is growing recognition that–as the Rising American Electorate proved in 2012–the demographic changes in the electoral landscape are permanent, decisive, and growing.

“The Voter Participation Center is saddened by the death of our good friend Bob Edgar, President of Common Cause. Bob was a gracious and brave man who was committed to strengthening our democracy. Just last year, when a campaign was launched that would have denied many Virginians the right to vote, Bob rose to our defense. He worked to protect the right of all Americans to vote, and lived by his ideals. We extend our sympathy to Bob’s family, his friends and all his colleagues at Common Cause.”

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
12:00PM – 5:00PM
(Lunch will be served at 11:45AM)

AFL-CIO
815 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006

12:00pm – Welcoming Remarks
Page Gardner (President & CEO, The Voter Participation Center)

12:05pm – Organizing the New Majority
Arlene Holt-Baker (Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO)

12:15pm – Civic Engagement: Investing in Our Values
John Podesta (Chair, Center for American Progress)
 
PART ONE:
12:35pm – The Rising American Electorate: Defining Demographic Changes
Matt Barreto (Latino Decisions) & Cate Gormley (Lake Research Partners)

PART TWO:
1:00pm – Measuring the Impact of Civic Engagement
Ethan Roeder (New Organizing Institute)

1:15pm –Evaluating VPC Programs & Increasing ROI
Chris Kennedy & Angela Morgan (The Voter Participation Center)

1:55pm – Partnering with VPC: Maximizing Results through Shared Infrastructure
Moderator: Cristobal Alex (Ford Foundation)
Panelists: Leslie Martes (The Voter Participation Center) Ed Zuckerman (LCVEF), Marvin Randolph (NAACP), & Clarissa Martinez (NCLR)

PART THREE:
3:00pm – Looking towards 2014: New Technologies in Civic Engagement
Panelist: Maren Hesla (Mission Control), Adam Ruben (Bigify), & Toby Fallsgraff (Organizing for Action)

3:30pm – Closing Remarks
Page Gardner (President & CEO, The Voter Participation Center)

WVWVAF Summit Program

3:35pm – Opening Remarks
Gail Leftwich Kitch (Chief Operating Officer, WVWVAF)

VIDEO- Highlighting RAE turnout in 2012

3:45pm – Unmarried Women & the RAE: Important in 2012, Critical for the Midterms
Congresswoman Donna Edwards (Democrat representative for Maryland’s 4th District)

3:55pm – Looking Ahead to 2014: A Discussion on the Current Political Landscape & What to Expect
Amy Walter (National Editor, The Cook Political Report)

4:20pm — Using New Tools for Persuasion
Kevin Collins (Analyst Institute)

4:35pm — Closing Remarks
Gail Leftwich Kitch (Chief Operating Officer, WVWVAF)

As a point of comparison, 67% of all Americans who are active online use social networks regularly—which is a strong number. But the RAE specifically is much more active in their use of social media than the overall population.

Voters of Color On Social Networks

According to a poll from Pew’s Internet and American Life Project conducted in November and December 2012, African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans are more active on social media than non-Hispanic whites, and particularly on Twitter and Instagram. That’s one of the reasons VPC is very active on Twitter, with encouragement to get registered and get to the polls, research data about how the RAE is engaging with the issues, and links to articles about some of the threats to Americans’ voting rights.

Women on social networks

Though polls on internet usage don’t usually break down the difference between married and unmarried women on social networks, we do know a lot about how women generally are using them. According to the same Pew poll we mentioned above, women are about 9% more likely to be social-network users than men. When a 2011 Harris Interactive study polled young Americans and asked them what method of communication they’d choose if they were only allowed one, women were 50% more likely to choose social media than men. As for which networks women are using, they’re about 10% more likely to have a Facebook account than men—and about 500% as likely to have an account on Pinterest. While VPC hasn’t rolled out a Pinterest page (yet!), we’re really active on our Facebook page, in posting information about how unmarried women are viewing our current political debate, links to articles about the importance of the Rising American Electorate, and encouragement to get registered and make their voices heard.

Millennials

Young voters—also known as the Millennial Generation (roughly 18-29)—are much more active on social networks than voters from previous generations. According to the Pew study, almost nine out of ten 18-29 year old Americans have a Facebook account (compared to two-thirds in the overall population), and 18-29 year olds are also about 50% more likely to be Twitter users and 33% more likely to be Pinterest users than the overall population. Overall, some 83% of millennials are social network users—compared to 67% of the general population. No wonder Pew regularly refers to Millennials as “digital natives.”

As we mentioned earlier, we’ve been on top of all of these trends through our accounts on Twitter and Facebook… make sure you follow us for the latest information about the Rising American Electorate and our efforts to keep that crucial part of the American voting public engaged and active on the issues that we face in the coming years.

But nearly 50 years later, the Voting Rights Act is under assault. Just today, the Supreme Court of the United States is hearing oral arguments in the case of Shelby County v Holder, which challenges the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling, expected before the current court term ends in late June, could have a serious impact on future elections. If Section 5 gets removed, it could have a devastating effect on voter protections for people of color, the elderly and young voters.

Section 5 requires certain jurisdictions that have a history of discriminatory voting practices to get advance approval from the Justice Department or federal judges before changing their election laws. Many constitutional experts worry that, if Section 5 is removed, voter suppression and discrimination could continue to undermine our democracy.

“The Voting Rights Act protects our most fundamental human right, and we need to do everything in our power to ensure that millions of minority voters do not face barriers at the voting booth,” said Page Gardner, President of the Voter Participation Center. “We strongly hope that the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of this crucial civil rights law.”

For the 2012 CREDO funding initiative, as in years past, they’re taking votes for which organizations should receive more funding from them… everyone who votes gets 40 points to spread around to the various organizations on the ballot. You can find us in the “Voting Rights & Participation” category.

So please go to CREDO’s ballot site and vote for us! The more votes we get, the more funding CREDO will be giving to us—which translates into more voters registered and more people participating in our democracy. (If you’re not a CREDO subscriber or CREDO Action member, click the “New to CREDO” link at the bottom of the voting page to find out how to join. It’s free to become a CREDO Action member.)

Go vote right now for VPC… and let us know about it by connecting with us on Facebook or tweeting @VoterCenter.