It’s National Voter Registration Day
The SPLC president urges everyone to exercise their right to vote, honoring those who fought and died for the right.
Today is National Voter Registration Day – the perfect time to register or to help someone you know register. You can start the online process here.
A simple fact: Elected officials don’t listen to people who don’t vote. It’s one reason that the most vulnerable among us have little or no voice in our legislative bodies and town halls.
Only 50 years ago, millions of people in our country couldn’t vote because of their skin color. Today, more than 90 million Americans don’t vote – despite the sacrifices of those who fought and died for the precious right.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is sponsoring a voter registration booth today at the Civil Rights Memorial here in Montgomery. And, with your help, we’re working on an exciting new project that promotes voting and civic engagement.
Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the pivotal Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march next March, we’ll release a new classroom documentary – One Person, One Vote. It’s the riveting story of the young people in Selma, Alabama, who risked beatings, jail, and even death in 1965 to help African Americans gain access to the ballot box.
Our film is particularly relevant today because of newly erected barriers to stop minorities and the poor from voting. And it’s a good reminder of the power behind the right to vote.
We’ll distribute 50,000 copies of One Person, One Vote, along with a teacher’s guide, to schools across the country –free of charge. We believe it will help inspire young people to act.
I’ll update you on our project as we get closer to the release date. But, in the meantime, please urge those close to you to register – and to vote in November.
Sincerely yours,
J. Richard Cohen
