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Why the Poor Don't Vote

While pollsters and pundits parse the electoral horse race, Project Vote worries about something else entirely: the actual voters. Since 1982, Project Vote has served as a think tank and number cruncher for a host of civic groups engaged in the cause of one citizen, one vote.

Its raison d'etre is straightforward, according to a mission statement on its website: "Despite recent upticks in voter participation, a significant portion of the electorate, concentrated in low-income and minority communities, is still alienated from the electoral process. This weakens our democracy by excluding from major public policy decisions the voices of the most vulnerable and least powerful."

The nonpartisan not-for-profit is run by a dedicated staff with longtime experience in labor and community organizing. They do everything from voter registration drives and voter education to advocating for states to change their registration and polling processes to make it easier for minority communities to access the vote. "It seems simple, but a lot of work goes into those things," says Project Vote deputy director Michael Slater.

The group, with offices in Arkansas and DC, claims it has helped register some 4 million voters and helped 2.3 million people vote, by working with local organizations (mainly ACORN) in a couple dozen states. "We've been the largest nonpartisan registration organization in the country the last couple of election cycles," Slater says. "We helped 1.1 million register in 2004, and 550,000 in 2006."

The goal this year: 1.3 million registrations. Project Vote and ACORN are working in a dozen cities as of now and expect to be in 65 cities by the end of March. The groups focus on areas with high concentrations of low-income African-American and Hispanic citizens, hitting them at bus stops, grocery stores, wherever they happen to be.

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