Over 7 million people who voted in 2020 did not vote 2024.
We work to engage voters who feel left out of the process and don't have a voice.
It is estimated that close to 90 million Americans, roughly 36% of the eligible voting age population, did not vote in the 2024 presidential election.
A combination of voter suppression, lack of voter education, ineffective voter engagement, failed community investment, poor messaging and disinformation contributed to these numbers.
Between 2012 and 2018,there were 1,688 polling place closures enacted by Republican election officials in red states.
Voter Supression
13 states have passed 50 new election bills that make it harder to vote after the 2020 election.
At least 250 new laws have passed have been proposed in 43 states to limit mail early in person and election day voting.
•“The real story is that the Democrats left votes on the table with a lack of clear messaging, or any messaging,” says Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman, a political science professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Lack of messaging
•You can’t put the Latino vote in one box,” Salas says. From Phoenix to Miami to the Rio Grande Valley, differences and nuanced communication should be reflected in campaign materials, she says. “Just because things are translated in Spanish doesn’t mean they will be culturally accepted.”
About 73% of U.S. adults reported seeing inaccurate or misleading news coverage about the 2024 election.
Disinformation
An estimated 126 million Americans—roughly half of the adult U.S. population—were exposed to Russian-backed content on Facebook during and after the 2016 election.
According to a Tufts survey, 50% of young Latinos reported that they were not contacted by any political party, campaign, or local or national organization.
Failing to invest in communities
•When you don’t allow for deep investment into your communities, with enough time—I’m not talking two months, I’m not talking an election cycle, I’m talking long-term investment—when you don’t do that for areas like us, full of marginalized people, there’s no reason for us to trust them,” says Salas, a McAllen native. “And I’m not speaking as a political person, I’m speaking as a community member.”
A pew research poll indicates that 10% of Democratic voters explicitly cite a lack of a cohesive message or agenda as their main reason for frustration with the party.
Lack of voter education
Voter education was a big problem for my generation going to the polls.
Sarah Ramirez, 27 Phoenix, AZ
