Press Release: New National ‘Vote Early Day’ Announced To Drive Voter Turnout

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 10, 2020
PRESS CONTACTS:
Lauren Nowell Lauren.Nowell@viacom.com
Jo Flattery Jo.Flattery@viacom.com  
Susana Flores susana@communicationsshop.us

New National ‘Vote Early Day’ Announced To Drive Voter Turnout

MTV, US Conference of Mayors, Twitter, Secretaries of State, Snap Inc., NAACP, PayPal, and over 65 major brands and nonprofits come together to plan inaugural Vote Early Day on Saturday, October 24

Vote Early Day set for the weekend before Halloween to ignite an early voting push across the country
*Hi-res logo here.
voteearlyday.org

NEW YORK – March 10 (embargoed for 9 am ET) – A national group of partners representing media companies, nonprofits, technology platforms, election administrators, foundations, influencers, and other businesses is collaborating to create Vote Early Day, the first holiday designed to help all eligible voters learn about their voting options and celebrate the act of voting early. 

The national event is set for Saturday, October 24 when the majority of states have in-person early voting options and most voters will still have enough time to request absentee ballots for Election Day. 

Vote Early Day is a collaborative, open-source model – similar to Giving Tuesday and National Voter Registration Day – which will help ensure that millions more Americans take advantage of their options to vote early. Over 200 million Americans can now vote early in some way. While nearly all Americans can vote early there is some confusion about options, especially as election laws continue to change.
 
Voting early simplifies processes for election administrators, makes it easier for people juggling family and work responsibilities to participate and keeps lines shorter on Election Day. Celebrating Vote Early Day will make it easier for voters to understand their options and could create a tipping point in how Americans vote.

SUPPORTING STATEMENTS
“Every rite of passage is celebrated in order to mark its importance and that is why we are proud to bring together over 70 world-class brands, NGOs and public officials to create a new national holiday to help voters celebrate and ritualize the act of voting early,” said Chris McCarthy, President of MTV and ViacomCBS Youth & Entertainment Brands.

“Depending on the state you live in, you may be able to vote-by-mail or vote in-person several days prior to Election Day. In California, voters have both options. As a member of the Vote Early Day Elections Administrator Advisory Board, I look forward to encouraging and educating voters throughout the country about their voting options,” said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
 
“Seven million Georgia voters are currently casting their votes early on the Peach State’s new verifiable, paper-ballot voting system. Georgia voter registration has surged thanks to what has been described as the gold standard in ballot access policy, including automatic voter registration and no-excuse absentee balloting. Now, a record number of Georgians are able to enjoy the state’s three-week early voting period. I look forward to working with MTV, the Democracy Fund, and the National Disability Rights Network as well as other partners in government and the private sector to support the Vote Early Day effort,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
 
“The opportunity to participate in early voting is essential to our community. Many working families have jobs where they can’t take off, or arrive late in order to go vote,” said Yadira Sanchez,  Co-Executive Director for Poder Latinx. “That is why to have this national, concerted effort from all these influential organizations is key to driving up participation among low-propensity voters.”
 
"The 2020 election is already seeing record levels of interest. Voting early this year is a way to be sure your own ballot counts and it helps keep lines short for everyone else on Election Day. Vote Early Day is exactly the kind of collaborative approach to educating voters we champion,” said Najma Roberts, Director of Communications, Democracy Fund.
 
"Our election processes can be intimidating to any voter, but especially first-time voters. We are excited to serve on the Vote Early Day Steering Committee to help invite all voters, particularly first-time voters and student voters, into our democratic process by ensuring they know what voting options are available to them and feel comfortable and confident exercising their right," said Clarissa Unger, Director, Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.
 
PARTNERS
A group of over 65 premier partners is committed to activating their constituents and employees on Vote Early Day, including ViacomCBS and Snap, Inc. as well as The League of Women Voters and National League of Cities (full list detailed below). The holiday also includes an Election Administrator Advisory Board, which is helmed by Sec. Brad Raffensperger (R-GA) and Sec. Alex Padilla (D-CA), and a Steering Committee of brands and nonprofits that are driving the strategy and planning. Companies and organizations can inquire about participating in Vote Early Day at voteearlyday.org.

  • The Ad Council 

  • Alliance for Youth Organizing 

  • ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge

  • Andrew Goodman Foundation 

  • Anonymous Content 

  • APIA Vote

  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC 

  • BallotReady 

  • Ben & Jerry’s  

  • BET  

  • BuzzFeed

  • CAA Foundation*

  • Campus Election Engagement Project

  • Campus Vote Project 

  • Campus YMCA 

  • Center for Tech & Civic Life*

  • Civic Alliance* 

  • Country Music Television (CMT)

  • Comedy Central

  • Defending Democracy Together

  • Democracy Fund

  • DoSomething.org 

  • The Feminist Majority Foundation

  • Harness 

  • HeadCount 

  • Hillel International 

  • Hispanic Heritage Foundation

  • Hispanics in Philanthropy

  • IMAX 

  • Kenneth Cole Productions

  • LeadMN 

  • League of Women Voters

  • League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

  • Levi Strauss & Co.

  • LogoTV

  • Lush 

  • March For Our Lives 

  • MOVE Texas 

  • MTV*

  • NAACP 

  • National Disability Rights Network

  • National League of Cities 

  • Nonprofit VOTE 

  • Paramount Network 

  • Patagonia 

  • PayPal 

  • Phone2Action

  • Poder Latinx* 

  • Reddit 

  • Refinery29 

  • REI Co-op

  • Rise

  • SB Projects

  • Snap, Inc*

  • StudentPIRGs

  • Students Learn Students Vote Coalition*

  • sweetgreen

  • Twitter* 

  • TV Land 

  • Univision*

  • USA Today 

  • US Conference of Mayors

  • UnidosUS 

  • United Way

  • VH1

  • ViacomCBS*

  • Vote at Home 

  • #VoteTogether 

  • When We All Vote

  • WME

* Steering Committee Member 

###

Poder Latinx is a civic and social justice organization where the Latinx community plays a key role in the transformation of our country.  We work to create a space where immigrants, Latinx and other people of color are decision-makers of our political process.  We are a project of Tides Advocacy, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization.

Yadira SanchezLatinos, Elections, Bernie, Biden, Vote, Vota, Voting