MemphisVotes is a non-partisan voter registration drive aimed ultimately at encouraging political awareness and involvement. We operate on the belief that by helping communities build their own voter drives, we are helping those communities take steps toward becoming more active in the political sphere. We hope to help empower communities to take the lead in decision-making, rather than be led by decision-makers.

Our Fall voter registration drive and get out the vote effort were extremely successful. In a concerted effort to reach those people traditionally disenfranchised from the voting systems in Memphis we reached out at food pantries, churches, homeless shelters, mental health facilities, and concerts to name a few. This resulted in the registration of over 1,000 people and voting rights education of countless more. In a partnership with MIFA we were able to provide absentee ballot forms to over 1,200 Meals-on-Wheels clients.

The get out the vote effort was also a great success. Our hard working staff and volunteers phone banked, gave rides, poll-watched and canvassed until the polls closed on Nov. 2nd 2004, no doubt contributing to the largest voting turn-out in Shelby County's history.

Now that the election has passed we turn our attention to the many deficiencies and problems that we identified in our work over the past few months. First, in our pre-election and election day work we noticed that there are extreme problems that need to be addressed in the Shelby County Election Commission. From outdated election laws, back-ups and break-downs in voter registration, and untrained and negligent pollworkers to charges of voter fraud and collusion the Election Commission needs some serious reforms in order for our local elections to be viable. To accomplish this we have formed the Democracy Project, a program to achieve both local and national election reform.

On a wider level we plan to seek reforms on two major issues at the state level. First, the practice of felony disenfranchisement haunts many Tennessee residents. Time and time again we have encountered individuals that wish to participate in the Democracy that is America, but are barred from participation due to a past mistake that they have already paid their dues for. Tennessee is one of only seven states in the entire country that barrs felons from voting for the rest of their lives without going through a protracted, expensive and complicated legal process. Second, we see a growing need forSpanish language voter registration forms and ballots. The latino population of Memphis and Tennessee is growing at an exponential rate and these people should not be discriminated against based upon their culture or heritage.

As you can see we have a lot of work to do, and we need your help to accomplish these goals. If you feel passionately about these issues please contact us, we have a variety of ways to get involved, both large and small.

Get Involved:
-Attend a monthly Memphis Votes Meeting
-Call your representatives and urge them to take action on these issues.
-Educate your community about these issues, contact the Center and we will provide you with the materials.
-Participate in Phone banking
-Contact churches and arrange meetings with pastors and community members
-Assist web design and updating
-Drop voter info and event flyers by locations around town
-Join organizing committee

Contact Janelle or the Center for more information.