QUARTERLY DISPATCH

We've rounded up the latest news on voter ID laws and VoteRiders' major initiatives, challenges, and victories. Thanks for being so supportive of our work — and American democracy!

–Team VoteRiders

VoteRiders is Making a Difference

🤝 VoteRiders Reached Upwards of 5.3 Million Voters With ID Info & Free Help Offers in 2023

In response to confusing, complicated, and costly restrictions to the ballot box, VoteRiders is fighting back with free, direct voter ID help to all voters. And our impact this year has been tremendous. The VoteRiders team — including our staff in eight states, partner organizations, volunteers, donors, and supporters — helped us reach 5.3 MILLION voters and counting in 2023 alone. Learn more ➡️ 

💪 Empowering Voters Ahead of November Elections 

At VoteRiders, we don’t believe in “off years” — every election decides important issues and leaders for local communities. That’s why in order to have the greatest possible impact in pivotal elections like the 2024 presidential race, we work year-round and in every single year with voters who don’t yet have the ID they need to make their voices heard. 

On Nov. 7, 2023, many critical state and local elections took place across the country, and many of them were in states with voter ID laws. To give our audience a better understanding of what was at stake — and how VoteRiders is making a difference — we asked some of our state-based team members to highlight key races and ballot initiatives to look out for this election season. Learn more ➡️

VoteRiders on the Ground

Here are just a few of some of the impactful ways our dedicated outreach team collaborated with our ever-growing community of partner organizations this quarter to make sure voters have the ID information and assistance they need to make their voices heard. 

🤠 TEXAS: Ahead of Houston elections in November and a runoff in December, we texted over 250,000 young voters of color with just-in-time ID reminders and free help offers. VoteRiders’ Texas team also launched their very own Texas-based Instagram account to share up-to-date information on what Texans need to vote, how to receive free voter ID support from VoteRiders, and how audiences can help us protect the freedom to vote.

🍑 GEORGIA: At the Georgia Student Voting Summit hosted by our friends at Campus Vote Project, our Georgia Voter ID Coalition Coordinator presented the disproportionate impact voter ID laws have on students, young people, and marginalized communities.

🏳️‍🌈 FLORIDA: VoteRiders joined Impulse Group Orlando to celebrate Orlando Pride and spread the word about how VoteRiders can help trans and nonbinary folks vote with pride.

VoteRiders in the News

Forbes: Young People Are Fighting Back Against Voter ID Restrictions

Newsweek: Election Warning Issued Over Voter ID

Augusta Free Press: 'Stakes are too high to sit out': VoteRiders works to remove barriers to voting

Voter ID Laws Across America

ARIZONA: Two new Arizona laws would create regular checks on voter citizenship. Will a judge let them stand? / AZ Mirror

A federal trial is currently underway to decide whether to allow two new Arizona laws to go into effect. These laws would require election officials to investigate the citizenship status of all voters who haven’t yet provided ID to confirm their US citizenship and to regularly check the voter rolls for noncitizens. 

OHIO: Nearly a third of provisional ballots in Ohio's August special election were tossed for lack of ID / The Statehouse News Bureau

Due to the new strict photo ID law provisional ballot rates in Ohio have skyrocketed and of all rejected provisional ballots nearly a third were from voters who lacked accepted ID. Voters having expired IDs made up the majority of them. 

NEBRASKA: What students should know about Nebraska’s new voter ID law / Daily Nebraskan

A new photo ID law will go into effect in Nebraska for the first time in 2024. At least 3% of Nebraskans are believed to not have an ID that will be accepted for voting. 

IDAHO: New state laws affect what documents Idaho voters can use to register / KREM

As of July 2023, voters in Idaho must now show an accepted ID to prove their identity and Idaho residency at the time of registration. If a voter’s residence address does not match the record on their driver’s license, their voter registration application will not be complete until this requirement is satisfied.

NATIONAL: Voter ID Laws Are Disenfranchising Transgender and Nonbinary People as Anti-Trans Legislation Reaches Record Levels / The Good Men Project

Out of the roughly 414,000 voting-eligible transgender Americans living in states with both a voter ID law and mostly in-person voting, nearly half do not have an ID that matches both their name and gender.

Voter Story

In one fell swoop, fifty-one-year-old Fandrea Nazir lost her Social Security card and birth certificate — as well as the birth certificates of her two daughters and two grandchildren — when the folder in which they were stored was mistakenly thrown away by someone at a Houston shelter where Fandrea and her family were temporarily living.

She knew she was in trouble. Fandrea needed a job, but with an expired driver’s license, no birth certificate, and no Social Security card, most employers would not hire her.

Luckily, Fandrea learned about VoteRiders at Career & Resources Recovery (CRR), a VoteRiders partner organization that helps people reach financial stability through free wellness, education, workforce development, and affordable housing resources. When Fandrea explained to a CRR rep that she was struggling to find a job due to her expired identification and lack of underlying documents, they told her to come back next week and someone from VoteRiders would be there to help. The following week, Fandrea returned, and VoteRiders’ Houston Regional Coordinator, Jessica Hulett, assured her that she would help get her the license and underlying documents she needed. 

Read Fandrea’s story ➡️

VoteRiders is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organization registered in the US under EIN 45-5081831. 

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