Political Awareness and Involvement

Of the 188,000 eligible African American voters in Arizona, only 91,000 are registered voters. In the last 3 presidential elections, an average of 25,000 African Americans actually voted and in the last 3 mid-term elections, only an average of 15,000 showed up to the polls. With these numbers, the African American community could be a deciding factor in any statewide election so we are encouraging everyone to register and VOTE! For this election cycle we are focusing on three key areas:

• Voter Registration
• Voter Mobilization
• Voter Protection

The first step in participating in the democratic process is registering to vote in your local county. In Arizona, you must be registered 29 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote. State law requires Arizona residents meet the following criteria to register:

• A citizen of the United States.
• An Arizona resident at least 29 days prior to an election.
• 18 years of age or more by the next regular General Election.
• Not have been convicted of a felony or treason, unless your civil rights have been restored.

Registration is easy and can be done online. Voters registered to vote in Maricopa Count will even get an online voter account, called your voter dashboard, where you can check your contact information, ballot status, and party affiliation. The registration deadline has been extended to October 23, 2020. Don't delay; register today!

With the looming pandemic and concerns about social distancing, we encourage all voters to vote early by getting on the PEVL (Permanent Early Voting List). This way your ballot for every election you are eligible for will be automatically mailed to you. All you have to then do is get those ballots in the mail at least a week before the election to make sure they arrive on time or you can drop your ballot envelope off at a vote location.  As a registered voter in Maricopa County, you can log into your voter profile to see if your ballot has been received and counted. Click the button below for more information. 

From voter suppression laws to mysterious anomalies at the polls, there are forces afoot that want to silence your voice. We cannot let that happen and we are partnering with Election Protection to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote count. Election Protection helps voters make sure their vote is counted through a number of resources.

A suite of voter helplines administered by coalition members are available for you to report voter suppression of any kind:

• English: 866-OUR-VOTE – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Spanish/English: 888-VE-Y-VOTA – NALEO Educational Fund
• Arabic/English: 844-YALLA-US – Arab American Institute (AAI)
• Asian Languages/English: 888-API-VOTE – APIAVote & Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC)

There are voter protection field programs focused on legal issues managed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and grassroots organizing managed by Common Cause. 

The principal reason for the Census is to determine how many members of the House of Representatives each state will receive for the next decade (called reapportionment). Each state’s number of Representatives plus their two Senators equals the state’s Electoral College used to elect the President. Additionally, most states use Census numbers to draw their state and local electoral district lines through a process called redistricting. Census data is also used to distribute over $700 Billion in federal funds to states for roads, bridges, Title 1 School Funding,

Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, and more. Federal funding to states for hundreds of programs is directly linked to the decennial Census count. If our communities do not complete the decennial Census, our communities will be underfunded and underrepresented for the ensuing 10 years.

Census Day is April 1, 2020. Every residential unit in the United States will receive correspondence in March of 2020 with instructions on how to complete the Census. Residents of the country have until October 31, 2020 to submit the questionnaire online, by phone, or by mail.