|
(view pdf version)
-
USAEF had one goal in 2004: to hold America to her promise of democracy for all Americans. We were driven by the historical disenfranchisement and under representation of specific groups of voters—primarily people of color and single women.
-
We helped make democracy work by registering new voters and turning out single women, gay men and lesbians, African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos.
-
USAEF's Civic Engagement project was one of the most successful non-partisan programs in 2004; adding 591,000 new voters to the rolls and making more than 10 million contacts to new and infrequent voters.
-
A large part of our success was due to an incredible volunteer effort. We recruited 10,000 volunteers and canvassers. In the weekend before the election, our national phone volunteer program alone called almost 60,000 new and infrequent voters.
-
In Florida, we had 2500 volunteers knocking on 700,000 doors.
-
We printed and distributed 4.3 million pieces of literature, including 1.7 million doorhangers which informed voters about the location of their polling places.
-
Many of our state partners recruited field staff from their local communities. Some of this staff, many of whom were new to political organizing, will continue to work for our state partners beyond the election.
-
The USAEF civic engagement program has allowed many of our state partners to build permanent infrastructures in local areas, so they can continue their civic engagement and social justice work, and expand this work to new communities – such as the Bootheel of Missouri, the Navajo nation in Arizona and gay men and lesbians in Florida. In each of those places, and many others, our partners registered thousands of new voters, and worked with local institutions to help increase voter turnout.
-
Many USAEF partners grew well beyond their previous size in staff and volunteer leaders, and increased their sphere of influence within local communities and state politics. We will use this expanded power to press for our issue agenda – quality, affordable health care and public schools for all, protection of consumer and worker rights from corporate abuse, and restoring fairness to our tax system.
|