Statement: The Voter Participation Center Responds to Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson

In response to a statement released by the Mississippi Secretary of State, the Voter Participation Center (VPC) wishes to clarify the nature of our work and assure eligible Mississippians that any mail you receive from us can be used to register to vote. 

This month, VPC will send more than 68,000 voter registration applications to citizens of Mississippi making it easy for them to register to vote. The mailing is part of a nationwide push by VPC and its partner organization, the Center for Voter Information (CVI), to reach more than 4.7 million people in August and September to help increase voter registration among eligible Americans. The mailings target communities that are historically underrepresented in elections—people of color, young people, and unmarried women.

Eligible Mississippians can use the enclosed state voter-registration form, sign it, and mail in their voter-registration application. VPC uses the very same voter-registration forms used by county election officials. In fact, we provide samples of our mail packages to state election officials months before the mailers go out. If an individual receives our mailer and is already registered to vote, they can simply discard it. We make this clear in the letter that voters receive from our organization.

Our hope is that all election officials will support our efforts to help underrepresented, eligible Americans participate in elections, rather than alarming voters about our effective and non-partisan voter registration programs with misinformation.

The Voter Participation Center (VPC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing civic engagement and closing voter registration and turnout gaps. Since 2003, VPC and its partner organization, the Center for Voter Information (CVI), have helped register millions of voters—particularly among historically underrepresented communities—and continue to run the nation’s largest mail-based and digital voter engagement programs.