Voting tool will help thousands of returning citizens with felony convictions determine if they are eligible to vote
Washington, D.C. (September 20, 2024) – Hip Hop Caucus, announced today the launch of their national nonpartisan award-winning Respect My Vote! Campaign for the 2024 presidential election. This year’s campaign will focus on economic, civil rights, climate change, and environmental issues that disproportionately affect Black and brown communities. The core of Respect My Vote!’s campaign is using voting as a means of addressing the problems that plague communities of color.
For more than 15 years, Hip Hop Caucus has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people of color to vote. As part of Hip Hop Caucus’ Respect My Vote! campaign, they aim to collect 50,000 voter pledges and register 25,000 voters across target states. These markets include Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Alabama, and Wisconsin. This will be accomplished through relational, digital, and influencer organizing, events, and more.
“For the past 16 years, Respect My Vote! has been dedicated to educating and mobilizing voters of color,” Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus said. “We will continue to do this crucial work, and help our communities decipher the evolving voter laws across the country. This election cycle is one of the most pivotal our country has ever faced, and we will do all we can to make voting accessible for all.”
Hip Hop Caucus is a voter engagement partner for BET Media Group’s ‘We VOTE’ campaign which will mobilize voters across digital, social, and streaming platforms. This partnership further amplifies Hip Hop Caucus’ Respect My Vote! Campaign to innovatively reach target voters across the nation.
Established in 2008, the multifaceted and integrated voting campaign provides voter education, voter registration, get-out-the-vote activities, voter protection, and issue advocacy, with a special focus on returning citizens. Returning citizens — those who have previously been incarcerated or convicted of a felony — is a key demographic for this year’s campaign.
Currently, there are a number of Americans who believe they have lost their right to vote due to the fact that they have a felony conviction, when in fact that is not the case. Having previous convictions does not always result in voting ineligibility and returning citizens have a right to vote in some states. As a part of the Respect My Vote! Campaign, Hip Hop Caucus’ voting tool is geared toward helping returning citizens determine if they are eligible to vote.
The voting tool is designed to inform returning citizens about voting rights for all states, walks each user through their potential eligibility, and provides resources to register. If the user is not in fact eligible to vote, the tool outlines and explains exactly why.
This year, the Hip Hop Caucus kicked off the Respect My Vote! Tour in New Orleans on August 31. The tour is aimed at bringing communities together and help with voter education and registration. Respect My Vote! Tour will make the following stops with others to still be added:
- September 5: Atlanta, GA
- September 11: Washington, DC
- September 20: Greensboro, NC
- September 21: Atlanta, GA
- September 23: New York City, NY
- October 1: Houston, TX
- October 1: Milwaukee, WI
- October 3: Norfolk, VA
- October 8: Detroit, MI
- October 10: Houston, TX
- November 1: Durham, NC
About Hip Hop Caucus
Formed in 2004, the Hip Hop Caucus is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that leverages Hip Hop culture to encourage young people to participate in the democratic process. Through a collaborative leadership network, Hip Hop Caucus addresses core issues affecting underserved communities. Hip Hop Caucus programs and campaigns support solution-driven community organizing led by today’s young leaders.
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