IMPACT #VoteReady 2012 Year-End Report | 1

2012 Year-end report

IMPACT #VoteReady 2012 Year-End Report | 2

Introduction

IMPACT is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, founded by a group of young professionals to foster civic engagement, to increase knowledge of the political and legislative processes, and to enhance economic empowerment opportunities for young professionals ages 21 to 40.

IMPACT’s three core principles are as follows:CIVIC ENGAGEMENT | POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT | ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT activities identify and enable IMPACT leaders to use resources to ensure the preservation and advancement of our communities. Through POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT, IMPACT facilitates and supports the engagement of our peers in politics, policy development, and advocacy. Focusing on ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT provides unique opportunities for IMPACT leaders to accumulate and preserve wealth, while imparting the skills and experiences needed to enable others to do the same.

In accordance with those principles, IMPACT launched the #VoteReady campaign to educate and empower young professionals during the 2012 elections and beyond.

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Voter Suppression

Since the beginning of 2011, 176 restrictive bills regarding voting laws have been proposed in 41 states total, and as of November 2012, 14 states have already passed restrictive voting laws. At least 34 states have introduced laws that would require voters to show photo identification in order to vote, and seven states have already passed and signed into law legislation requiring some form of voter identification. Before the 2006 elections, no state had voter identification laws, either to register to vote or to vote at the polls on Election Day. Since then, at least 12 states had introduced laws that would require proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, to register to vote or to cast a ballot. Additionally, at least 13 states have introduced bills to end Election Day and same-day voter registration, limit voter registration mobilization efforts, and reduce other registration opportunities.

A primary challenge to voting rights is photo ID laws, which require that individuals registering to vote or attempting to cast a ballot, present some form of government-issued ID. Photo ID laws, like the ones that have been proposed in at least 34 states, are effective only in preventing individuals from impersonating other voters at the polls. However, cases of voter fraud is extremely rare. Election officials usually do a very good job of protecting against fraud. Voter disenfranchisement through outdated voting systems, system error, and improper management databases is a far greater problem than traditional forms of election fraud. Voter ID laws are further restrictive because most types of government-issued IDs cost money and require time to obtain.

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While 11% of all American citizens lack photo ID, a whopping 25% of African Americans lack photo ID. Moreover, 15% of those earning less than $35,000 per year, 18% of citizens over 65, and 20% of voters ages 18-29 do not have photo ID. For people on a fixed income, seniors, or those who work multiple jobs, financial and other requirements can create undue barriers to obtaining identification, and can thus restrict their right to vote. Laws that require government-issued identification to vote, not only come at an expense to voters, but they also come at an expense to the state. In many states that require photo ID, the state government incurs the cost of providing the identification to the voters.

Recognizing the potential for significant occurrences of voter suppression, IMPACT embarked on a campaign to inform and empower young professionals about their voting rights during the 2012 elections. #VoteReady campaign goals include:

• to register eligible voters 40 and under;• to re-register members of the 40 and under community to vote;• to encourage those who are able to vote early (where applicable);• to encourage those who are unable to physically go to the polls, to register to vote

absentee;• to inform voters about voter ID laws (where applicable); and• to utilize social media and other avenues to build awareness and educate voters.

Goals

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The #VoteReady movement, spearheaded by IMPACT and launched during the 2012 election cycle, sought to ensure that young professionals had the answers to three important questions:

1. Am I prepared to vote?2. Am I registered to vote?3. Where do I cast my vote?

IMPACT resolved to prepare, engage, and educate youth as well as young professionals that any American citizen we touch is equipped and prepared to go to the polls on Election Day.

#VoteReady was designed to increase voter education and engagement among those who are disproportionately affected by recently enacted voter identification laws in three ways:

1. Engage and leverage social media with Super Twitter Tuesday Town Halls;2. Empower students to advocate on issues of importance to them with the

IMPACT toolkit; and, 3. Use comprehensive research on the IMPACT of voter suppression laws and

it’s potential effects in the future to influence change.

#VoteReady: A Social Media Movement

Collaboration

As the spectre of voter suppression continued to gain prominence, IMPACT recognized that efforts to raise awareness missed a key part of the population: young people. According to the Pew Center, 92% of young people between the ages of 18-29 and another 73% of adults between the ages of 30-49 use social networking sites. Given the oversight, IMPACT saw an opportunity to fill the gap, providing information that young people could use and share with their peers and families; thereby empowering them to not only fight voter suppression, but make a difference in the 2012 and future elections.

WEEkLy STATS RE: #VOTEREADy HASHTAG RIGHT AfTER TOWN HALLS

WEEK # OF TWEETS# OF IMPRESSIONS

GENERATEDAUDIENCE REACH

WITHIN 24 HRS

Week 1 (PA, FL) 1, 500 2,694,775 499,406 followers

Week 3 (OH, SC, WI) 1,111 2,094,153 508,318 followers

Week 4 (VA, TX, IL) 1,031 2,139,266 528,770 followers

Week 5 (National Voter Registration Day)

1,500 3,977,476 1,509,831 followers

Week 6 (GA, MS) 936 2,530,020 699,325

Week 7 (Vote Registration Deadlines by State)

1,087 2,670,894 1,843,518

Week 8 (College Series) 611 1,150,859 386,676

Week 9 (College Series Part 2/Ab-sentee Ballots)

714 1,676,367 410,323

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IMPACT worked with a number of organizations, elected officials, bloggers, social media entities college campuses and celebrities over the course of the campaign. Prominent participants include in the Twitter town halls are as follows:

• The Congressional Black Caucus (7,900 Twitter followers) • The Coalition for Black Civic Participation (477 Twitter

followers) • The Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights (2,222 Twitter

followers) • AARP( 55, 900 Twitter followers)• SEIU (33,000 Twitter followers)

Celebrities and other notable figures who also used the hashtag include:

• Donna Brazile, Political Analyst, CNN ( 308, 600 Twitter followers)

• Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager, Obama For America ( 61,000 Twitter followers)

• Reagan Gomez, actress (112,00 Twitter followers)• Rev. Al Sharpton, activist, MSNBC commentator (243,000 Twitter followers)

Results

IMPACT TWITTER TOWN HALL STATS:

Over a 10 week period in 2012, IMPACT generated nearly 19 million impressions reaching an audience of almost 6 million followers.

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IMPACT COLLEGE SERIES

IMPACT partnered with BlackYouthVote, a subsidiary of the Coalition on Black Civic Participation, to help college students get #VoteReady. Working with the organization, we supported the efforts of six college campuses, along with an additional group of colleges in Alabama, bringing the total number of participating colleges to ten. IMPACT provided a toolkit for these campuses and hosted debate watch parties on college campuses in Washington, D.C., along the East Coast, as well as in the South. IMPACT also used Twitter as a platform to discuss issues of importance to young people and their interests in the 2012 elections with broader audiences both domestically and abroad.

IMPACT VOTER SuPPRESSION REPORT

Voter ID laws will impact future elections in states in which they have been enacted. Not possessing a photo ID coupled with the lack of access to a DMV are among the many barriers that can prevent citizens from being politically engaged and casting a ballot during elections.

To support this work, on November 5, 2012, IMPACT released a #VoteReady report on African American access to the polls.

Major findings from the report include:

• Approximately 367,000 African American voting age citizens will have their opportunity to vote reduced based on florida’s requirement that voters show photo identification or some other form of ID that displays a signature.

• If Pennsylvania’s voter ID law is enacted for future elections, 115,000 African American voting age citizens will have their opportunity to vote reduced based on the state’s voter ID law.

• In Pennsylvania and florida, there are 482,000 African American voting age citizens will have their opportunity to vote reduced.

• In florida, African American voter growth rates rose at almost twice the rate of their White counterparts between the 2000 and the 2004 Presidential election, i.e. 34% to 19%, compared to 2004 to 2008, which was twenty times that of their White counterparts, i.e. 21% to 1%, respectively.

…there is no clear method to determine the large potential impact on states’ introduction and enactment of voter ID laws. Therefore, IMPACT recommends that states continue to make voting easy, fair, and accessible.

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IMPACT will continue its efforts to educate and empower and to encourage civic engagement. In particular, IMPACT pledges to continue build on its work through social media, on college campuses, and use the findings from the 2012 #VoteReady report to advocate for voting rights for disenfranchised communities.

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

IMPACT will continue its Super Twitter Tuesday townhalls to showcase the implications of their votes through demonstrable action-- whether it’s providing contact information for elected officials or creating a space for valuable discussions on issues that affect the voting public and to increase awareness more generally.

COLLEGE ENGAGEMENT

IMPACT will target specific college campuses and share the #VoteReady Tool kit as a means for young people to not only discuss issues pertinent to young people in the 21st Century but provide ways in which they can act to change agents to address said issues. Some of those target efforts include:

• Addressing the high rates of HIV/AIDS in young people • Economic empowerment/Entrepreneurship• Increasing political influence and engagement

REPORT fINDINGS

IMPACT will continue to work in partnership with the Coalition on Black Civic Participation to monitor developments on voter ID laws in Pennsylvania and Florida and provide up-to-date information via a cross-posting partnership.

Additionally, IMPACT will work to maintain and build relationships with advocacy organizations to ensure that voting rights are protected and assured.

CONNECT WITH uS

Twitter: @TeamIMPACT

Instagram: IMPACTYourWorld

Facebook: TeamIMPACTWorld

www.IMPACT-DC.com

Next Steps