Dear John,
VoteRiders turns 12 this month. Our team, our tools, and our services are tested and proven. So we're ready — just in time — to achieve our biggest, most ambitious, highest-stakes election year effort yet.
I founded VoteRiders in 2012 because I saw the exceptional need to help voters obtain IDs and to empower them with accurate, up-to-date knowledge about complicated and confusing voter ID laws.
Before long, more (and stricter) voter ID laws were passing in statehouses across the country at a rate that even I had not imagined just a few years prior. Suddenly, many more millions of eligible voters — who had been voting for years without incident — faced a new, disenfranchising barrier they needed to overcome if they wanted to cast a ballot that counts.
I also saw a lot of confusion stemming from these laws. Many states had them, some didn’t. The list of acceptable IDs changed from state to state. Studies showed that millions of Americans would likely stay at home rather than risk being embarrassed in front of their neighbors and turned away for not having the right form of ID.
There were thousands of organizations focused on voter registration and thousands more focused on getting out the vote. But there weren’t any solely focused on the often difficult and time-consuming process of helping people get the IDs they needed to successfully cast their ballot.
I founded VoteRiders to do that critical work that was being overlooked.
One question I’m asked all the time is “doesn’t everyone already have an ID?” The answer is not the ID likely needed to vote: Our most recent research reveals that 34.5+ million eligible voters nationwide lack an unexpired driver’s license or state ID with a current address and name.
And it’s oftentimes far from simple or inexpensive to get one. VoteRiders helps citizens to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate, or to apply for a Social Security card to replace one that was lost or destroyed. We help people to update records that reflect a name change. Many times these voters can’t pay the fees for replacing missing documents or obtaining a new ID, so we cover those expenses. Of course, since these folks don’t always have a driver’s license, we arrange and pay for transportation to and from an ID-issuing office.
Through it all, I’m incredibly grateful to all our supporters for contributing to our work, volunteering their time, sharing our resources on social media, and referring friends and loved ones to us for help with an ID. Your dedicated commitment to this organization has allowed us to grow our work to meet this high-stakes moment.
Having directly reached over 6.1 million voters in 2023, we’re on track to exceed our goal of 10 million voters during the 2024 election cycle. It’s by far our biggest and most ambitious goal in 12 years, but our democracy can’t afford to leave anyone out if they want to make their voice heard during this consequential election year.
And we can’t waste a minute as we work to educate and assist these millions of voters. If I’ve learned anything from 12 years of VoteRiders’ work, it’s that it can take a long time — sometimes six months or more — for governmental agencies to issue a certified copy of a birth certificate or a marriage license that’s needed to prove a name change. That’s why we work urgently to identify and help these voters. Time is of the essence — so voters can get what they need in time!
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in 12 years but there are still so many voters who need our help. I thank you profusely for your continued support of our mission and our democracy. It’s all hands on deck in 2024 and beyond — and I am deeply grateful that you’re a part of this critical work.
