Contact
Laila Hirschfeld
(202) 624-1739
lhirschfeld@usaction.org

(Tampa, FL)—In an effort to help make voting easier and more accessible to all voters, USAction Education Fund (USAEF) and partner organizations Women's Voices. Women Vote (WVWV) and Florida Consumer Action Network Foundation (FCANF) are teaming with local daycare centers to offer free child care on Election Day.

Voters can call 877-VOTE-MOM in Tampa and 866-MOM-VOTE in Orlando to drop their children off at a licensed daycare center, and get a free ride to the polls.  The participating centers are located in communities with high concentrations of single mothers—women who are often infrequent voters.

“We want single mothers to recognize that their voices matter, too,” said USAEF Program Associate Rhonda Russell, who is working to mobilize this constituency in Orlando.  “Their votes can and will make a difference in their lives and the lives of their children.”

In the final weeks before Election Day, USAEF, WVWV and FCANF are waging an intense non-partisan campaign to increase voter turnout among Florida’s ‘women on their own’—that is, women who have never married or are divorced, separated or widowed.  The effort to mobilize this constituency is unprecedented. 

So far the organizations have contacted nearly two million unmarried women in Florida through direct mail, door-to-door canvasses, volunteer phone banks and pre-recorded phone calls. 

“These women have busy lives and complicated schedules,” said WVWV co-director Page Gardner.  “We are doing everything we can to take the process to them."  

Daycare centers will begin accepting children at 7 am, and will stay open until all participating parents have had an opportunity to vote.  Polls close at 7 pm.  This service is available to all voters regardless of their candidate preference or affiliation with a particular political party.  For more information, reporters can contact Poppy Alexander at 813-877-6712 or Rhonda Russell at 407-893-6424.

# # #

USAction Education Fund is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education concerning issues of racial, social and economic justice.  The organization works with partners in 24 states to help increase civic participation and advocate for consumers.  Members of the media who wish to interview Executive Director Jeff Blum and President William McNary, should contact Laila Hirschfeld at (202) 624-1739.