Dear NAACP Family & Friends,

This is an historic time. Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States.

No matter your party affiliation, a person of color elected for a second term as President is a game changer. This is a significant victory for all who believe that no matter their color, economic status or background, they too can make history.

We will continue working with the President and building relationships with Congress and other newly elected officials to improve the lives of all Americans. In the months ahead, Congress must pass a jobs bill and not impede the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. We know that bipartisan leadership going forward is the only way to achieve that. Everything we care about — health care, economic justice, education, criminal justice reform, and voting rights — will be on the agenda, and the NAACP will be in the fight.

Now the real work begins. You've been a strong supporter of ours in the past, so we need your input on where we should focus our efforts moving forward.

As we look ahead to 2013, tell us which issue is most important to you:

http://action.naacp.org/most-important-issue

The Presidential election was not the only race we watched closely last night. We advocated for abolishing the death penalty in California, educational access for DREAM students in Maryland, and marriage equality for all families. Our polling has reaffirmed what we've known — that jobs, the economy, and health care are important issues for communities of color.

The NAACP will fight for people of color, workers, women and most importantly, to safeguard our right to vote. As we move forward from Election Day, we want to hear from you.

What other issues are important to you as the NAACP prepares for 2013 and beyond? Share your thoughts — we want to know what you think:

http://action.naacp.org/most-important-issue

Let us continue to work together to make real the promise of the American dream.

Thank you!

Roslyn M. Brock

Chairman, NAACP National Board of Directors

Benjamin Todd Jealous

NAACP National President and CEO

Yvonne M. White

President, Michigan State Conference NAACP

September 25, 2012

Event encourages young people to register to vote, be part of the process

DETROIT – Michigan State Conference NAACP, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and HOT 107.5 radio station personality 'Kontact' called on Wayne State University students to register to vote today in one of several official Rock the Vote events held around the country.

"Make a difference, make a decision to be a part of democracy," Johnson told the students during the outdoor event. "Be heard on Election Day. America works best when America votes."

Banners, balloons and music from a live broadcast by radio station HOT 107.5 greeted students at Wayne State's Fountain Court. The event, held as part of National Voter Registration Day, also marked one of the stops on Johnson's 3,000-mile ExpressSOS Voter Registration Drive. This fall, her mobile office is visiting more than 20 college campuses and community centers – including every public university – to encourage Michiganians to register to vote.

Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 6 election.

Toine Murphy, director of voter empowerment and civic engagement with the Michigan State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said NAACP members were excited to be out at Tuesday's event encouraging voter registration and voting.

"We're very excited to partner with the Secretary of State's office to ensure all citizens have an opportunity to vote," Murphy said. "This relationship is important. Using our resources together helps us reach more folks in a concerted effort. We want to inspire and motivate people to get out to the polls, to understand the rules and regulations and know their voter rights so on Nov. 6 they'll feel comfortable and confident. We want them to feel empowered and know the process."

Murphy said Yvonne White, NAACP Michigan State Conference president, wants to ensure all citizens have unfettered access to registration and casting their ballot, and is also encouraged by this partnership with the Secretary of State's office to provide the resources to have that happen.

Amanda Brown, of the Washington D.C.-based Rock the Vote, said they were pleased to be a part of the Detroit event. Rock the Vote events were held in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

"Our goal is to engage young people in our country's electoral process and make sure no one is left out," Brown said. "We're psyched to be working with Secretary Johnson and the Michigan Secretary of State's office to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, especially in Detroit."

Wayne State University was pleased to host the Rock the Vote event, said Greg Bird, WSU's director of state relations.

"With the critical issues facing us today, Wayne State University actively supports our campus community's participation in the democratic process," said Bird. "We encourage students to register to vote, educate themselves about the issues and become involved in this fundamental process."

Individuals wishing to vote may register at any NAACP branch office, the Secretary of State branch office or at their local clerk's office.

For additional information, visit the NAACP's website at www.ThisIsMyVote.org, call 1-866-MY-VOTE-1 (1-866-698-6831) or text the word VOTE to 62227 (NAACP).

Your POWER, Your DECISION - VOTE! on November 6.

Millions of Michiganders Are Not Registered to Vote As Oct. 9 Registration Deadline Looms

DETROIT, MI and WASHINGTON, DC (Sept. 12, 2012) – Nonpartisan, nonprofit groups dedicated to increasing participation in elections are using mailings, new digital tools and other efforts to reduce the massive number of Michiganders who are not registered to vote. The deadline for citizens to register in Michigan for the fall election is October 9.

More than 2 million eligible Michigan residents are not registered to vote, according to US Census data. Nationwide more than one-in three eligible Americans -- 73 million people -- are not on the voting rolls. Leaders of organizations including the NAACP and the Voter Participation Center (VPC) today briefed reporters on efforts to increase the number of registered voters in Michigan.

“The right to vote is sacred, as Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us,” said Yvonne M. White, president of the Michigan State Conference NAACP. “Dr. King said, ‘So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind -- it is made up for me. I can only submit to the edict of others.’“

Groups including the NAACP and VPC are mailing more than 280,000 voter registration applications, to arrive in Michigan mailboxes soon. Information and instructions on the mailers have been reviewed by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office. Eligible voters can fill in, sign the applications and mail them straight to election registrars’ offices in pre-addressed envelopes to then be certified by government officials.

“Mailing registration application forms to unregistered voters has already helped nearly 20,000 people in Michigan submit applications to election registrars, just since last September,” said Page Gardner, VPC president.

Election officials often have neither the time nor the resources to conduct widespread voter registration outreach. In addition to helping voters, the non-profit-sponsored mailings also conserve government resources by cutting costs to print voter application forms and by helping reduce the last minute crush of new applications that come into registrars’ offices just before a Presidential election.

“We believe in the bedrock principle of our nation: elections should be free, fair and accessible to all, ” Gardner said.

“We want everyone in Michigan, regardless of color, to be able to exercise that sacred right to vote,” White added. “Voting rights and voter registration are a central focus of the NAACP this year. At the NAACP state convention this weekend, we’ll be training volunteers from around Michigan on ways to protect voters’ rights at the polls.”

The NAACP interactive website, This Is My Vote, provides not only information on registering to vote but also materials and other digital tools to assist volunteers interested in holding their own voter registration drives.

Defending Democracy:  Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America

On December 5, 2011, the NAACP released a new report revealing direct connections between the trend of increasing, unprecedented African American and Latino voter turnout and an onslaught of restrictive measures across the country designed to stem electoral strength among communities of color.

The report, Defending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America, details a plethora of voter suppression initiatives, most of them pushed in states with large African-American populations and where voting turnout has surged. The joint report by the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund examines scores of legislative proposals, ballot initiatives and voting laws enacted or proposed since the 2008 election.

Copies of the report will be sent to the federal and state agencies that monitor, administer and enforce voting rights, including the US Department of Justice, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Election Assistance Commission, as well as Secretaries of State and Attorneys General in all 50 states. In addition, the report will be delivered to the appropriate committees of jurisdiction in the House and Senate, and entities within the United Nations.

"It's been more than a century since we've seen such a tidal wave of assaults on the right to vote. Historically, when voting rights are attacked, it's done to facilitate attacks on other rights. It is no mistake that the groups who are behind this are simultaneously attacking very basic women's rights, environmental protections, labor rights, and educational access for working people and minorities," said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. "Voting rights attacks are the flip side of buying a democracy. First you buy all the leaders you can, and then you suppress as many votes as possible of the people who might object."

Successful registration, education and get-out-the-vote campaigns in the last Presidential election cycle helped overturn electoral barriers and generated Black voter turnout at record high numbers across the country. Calling the response "historic in scope and intensity," the report highlights voting barriers that range from new and enhanced voter identification requirements to provisions that will curtail voter access to registration. Other proposals challenge mass registration drives, limit voting periods and tighten the ability of newly registered voters to cast ballots.

The report maintains that the vote-blocking measures are not only a threat to individual voters, but are also an assault on Latino and African American communities that are enjoying demographic growth and the prospects of majority voting status in many districts.

"This assault — which is comprehensive in its reach and was launched in time to affect the 2012 elections — threatens to undermine the record levels of political participation witnessed during the historic 2008 Presidential Election, by blocking access to people of color, the poor, the elderly and the young," the report warns. 

"These block the vote efforts are a carefully targeted response to the remarkable growth of the minority electorate, and threaten to disproportionally diminish the voting strength of African-Americans and Latinos," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel.

The report is released less than a week before the Stand For Freedom rally for voting rights. Held in New York City on December 10 — the United Nations' International Human Rights Day — the rally will begin with a mass protest at 61st and Madison Ave. and continue to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the U.N.

The December 10 activities officially launch the NAACP's year-long public education and civic engagement project.

To learn more about Stand For Freedom, please go to www.stand4freedom.org.