WASHINGTON — Left-wing voter engagement groups that saw a surge of support and energy afterward Vice President Kamala Harris replace President Joe Biden as Democrats’ White House nominee joins a key pillar of her campaign in the final stages before Election Day — in an effort to become disengaged voters of color.
But many of those groups are finding they still have a lot of work to do to introduce Harris and her policies. The challenges reflect the late start to Harris’ campaign, as well as efforts to overcome the earlier ones lack of enthusiasm for a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump. They also reflect the Republicans’ incursion have tried to make particularly with black and Latino voters.
Activists with Siembra NC, a grassroots organization focused on Latino communities in North Carolina, found that many potential voters are willing to vote in ballot measures for state and local offices while leaving the top of the ticket blank. Their feeling is that the races closer to home are affecting their daily lives, while neither Trump nor Harris are fulfilling all their desires in a presidential candidate.
“What we’ve had to do is have a lot of conversations about building trust, and that takes time,” said Kelly Morales, co-director of the group. “It’s really about helping people understand that not casting a vote is also a political decision.”
The organization hosted a voting event followed by a block party in late September in Greensboro. Labor policyHarris’ position the border and Trump’s rhetoric about it the Latino community were top problems, Morales said.
The group, which supported Harris, knocked on nearly 1,000 doors during the event and had attendees from multiple counties.
Convince voters of color in particular Black And Latino men, has become a priority for the Harris And Trump campaigns now that early voting is underway across the country, with a wider reach for both groups, recognizing that the race will likely come down to seven swing states.
Like Siembra NC, many voter engagement groups saw a renewal feeling of enthusiasm after Harris became the Democratic nominee. At 59, she is more than twenty years younger than Biden, who is 81. If she wins, Harris would be the first Black woman, the first Asian American and the first South Asian American elected president.
But as the Nov. 5 elections approach, motivating undecided voters in battleground states is a challenge.
“We have to be aware that exuberance and excitement don’t mean we don’t do the work. You still have to get people out,” said Michael A. Blake, founder and CEO of KAIROS Democracy Project, a nonpartisan group focused on engaging young voters and people of color.
Activists say these are the biggest obstacles restrictive voting laws was passed in several Republican-controlled states after the 2020 elections, efforts by right-wing groups to do so purge electoral rolls and conflicts in the Middle East.
That has been evident for groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Atlanta, despite initial excitement over South Asian representation on both sides of the presidential ticket: Usha Vance, wife of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate, would Becoming America’s first president. South Asian second lady if Trump wins.
“While there is excitement, there is also a desire to hold the party at the top accountable for what our communities need,” said Murtaza Khwaja, the group’s executive director.
In Texas, where the Senate race is being closely watched, officials said so removed more than 1 million voters This has disappeared from the voters’ list since 2021. This raised concerns among voter groups like Asian Texans for Justice about whether eligible voters might have been purged but would run out of time to correct it before the election.
Language barriers add to the already complex process, said Executive Director Lily Trieu. Texas has seen approximately 63% growth in its Asian population since 2012 and is close to doing so 1.1 million is eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander voters as of this year, according to APIA Vote, a nonpartisan advocacy group focused on Asian and Pacific Islander voters.
“These are new hurdles that we’re seeing in response to this rise and enthusiasm,” Trieu said.
Biden’s decision to drop out of the race this summer marked a late start for the Harris campaign but led to a surge in voter registrations, a significant increase in volunteers and a jump in donations to left-wing voting groups.
Voto Latino said it registered more than 50,000 people in the 10 days afterward Biden withdrew on July 21. By comparison, the nonprofit registered 2,250 people in July 2016 and 25,150 in July 2020.
More than half of new registrations this year were for voters aged 18 to 29. Most of the increase occurred in Arizona and North Carolina, key swing states, and Florida, Trump’s adopted home state. The group registered more than 11,000 Latino voters in Arizona alone, more than half after Biden’s announcement.
“With Kamala Harris at the top, with an enthusiasm that comes organically from young people, the question among donors and people who care about a robust democracy should be: where can we close the gap in voter registration,” said Maria Teresa Kumar. president and CEO of the group.
Black fraternities and sororities, known collectively as “The Divine Nine,” have been a source of strength for Harris. She was a member of the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha while attending Howard University, one of the most prominent historically black universities in the country.
On a recent afternoon, dozens of students from Spelman College in Atlanta lined up for a voter registration drive organized by the campus chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha and its brother chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha, at nearby Morehouse College.
Chapter president Taylor Kerr, a psychology major at Spelman, said the organizations organized the event because it was important for students to be civically involved and have the opportunity to ask questions about registering and voting. The organizations were not allowed to support candidates.
Caleb Cage, a 21-year-old religion teacher at Morehouse, said he was there because of the excitement of getting a chance to vote for a historic candidate.
“With Harris at the top, there’s just a lot more energy,” he said. “People are more ecstatic and much more engaged,” he said.
Following Biden’s decision to leave the race, Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority, released a paid ad — the first of its kind — that focused on Black people and addressed issues of bodily autonomy and the right to know more talk about black history. has recently been attacked by some conservative school boards and state legislators.
The ad aired across several networks and streaming platforms, focusing on battleground states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania. The fraternity already had a public service announcement underway before switching to the Democratic ticket, but changed it to focus on what it believes is at stake for Black Americans.
Kerry-Ann Hamilton, the ad’s executive producer, said the campaign reached more than 200,000 potential voters. It was also intended in part to reach men and people who don’t often vote, said Elsie Cooke-Holmes, international president of Delta Sigma Theta.
“It’s about making sure we reach our community, reach lower propensity voters, those who may feel like there’s no reason for me to vote,” she said. “That’s all important, in every way. It’s about all of us.”
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Associated Press writer Gary Fields contributed to this report.
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