In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote because they missed a registration deadline or didn’t know how to register. In 2016, we wanted to make sure no one is left out. On September 27, 2016, volunteers, celebrities, and organizations from all over the country “hit the streets” for National Voter Registration Day. This single day of coordinated field, technology and media efforts created a pervasive awareness of voter registration opportunities–allowing us to reach tens of thousands of voters who we could not reach otherwise.
The response to the One Million Voters Drive USCMO proclaimed in December 2015 and Get Out The Vote campaign across the nation had been overwhelmingly successful. Volunteers, member organizations, and local communities had responded by organizing voter registration booths at more than 2500 mosques, 500 schools, and many community centers nationwide, and during special holidays such as our National Muslim Voter Registration Day on Eid al-Adha, September 12, 2016.
Reports from various cities across the United States indicated that thousands of new Muslim voters had registered, surpassing any previous year in the history of the community. We believe there are two factors that have contributed to the success of this campaign and the high turnout of newly registered voters. One is due to the hard work of many Muslim organizations, activists, Imams, and local community leaders. The second is largely due to the highly charged political environment, the attack on the Muslim community and other minorities, and the serious concern over the sharp increase of hate crimes on the Muslim community.
According to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), there were an estimated 500,000 Muslim voters in 2012. Based on the strong response compared to previous years, we believe we have reached our target goal of 1 million voters. Moreover, according to CAIR’s October election survey, 86 percent of registered Muslim voters intend to vote in this year’s presidential election.
We continue these efforts through our promotion of registering to vote for all elections whether presidential elections, midterms, or local elections.
Some of the ways we encourage voter registration are through:
- Email campaigns to remind our community members to register
- Providing links to register in all States on our website, Facebook and in emails
- Posters and flyers distributed locally and nationally to encourage voter registration
- Promotional videos on our Facebook, website and YouTube channel to spread voter awareness
- National voter registration day where we have booths and volunteers available to register people to vote at mosques and during Eid prayer gatherings across the country
We believe it is of utmost importance for everyone to take the opportunity to have their voice heard!
ELECTION DAY: NOVEMBER 6TH, 2018
