NAACP - Civic Engagement

Goals

Increase African American participation in the democratic process by removing roadblocks and disincentives.

Target Area:	Ensuring voter empowerment	Ensuring voters' constitutional rights are protected	Monitoring redistricting and census	Promoting ballot initiatives to address social justice issues
Definition:	Provide awareness, training, and programmatic support to ensure registration, education, election protection	Constitutional right to vote and have it counted, protected	Fair and proportional elected representation	Ensure ballot initiatives advance progressive civil rights agenda
Size of Gap:	In 204, 67.9% of whites were registered compared to 64.4% of blacks In 2004, 60.3% of whites voted compared to 56.3% of blacks	In 2000 and 2004, percentage of uncounted votes was higher in minority and neighborhoods with high poverty	Undercounted in Census: whites (0.7%), blacks (4.4%), Latinos (5%)	Ballot initiatives are underutilized as a method of promoting equity
Advocacy and Services:	Voter registration, education; GOTV workshops (S)	Call for Action in Election Protection (A) Election Administration Workshops (S)	Developing state redistricting teams	Living Wages Campaigns (A) Education Equity Campaign (A)
Partnerships:	W.K. Kellogg Foundation Labor Unions People for the American Way African American Ministers Leadership Council U.S. Actions	Congressional Black Caucus Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights National Urban League Rainbow/PUSH Coalition	NAACP LDF U.S. Census Bureau Common Cause	Ballot Initiative Coalition Labor Unions