Planned Parenthood will register voters at its clinics, on college campuses, and online as part of a new nonpartisan campaign to help marginalized populations participate in the election cycle, reports The Huffington Post.
On Friday, Planned Parenthood announced the voter registration campaign — called My Vote, My Voice — which will have volunteers in 45 states set up "action tables" outside of clinics. The volunteers will educate people about their state's voter-ID laws while helping them register to vote and remind people to vote two weeks before the general election.
"If we can't all participate in our government, we all get cheated," Anna Keene, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman, told the Huffington Post. "We're launching the My Vote, My Voice campaign to help ensure that every voice is heard and every vote is counted in communities across the country. No matter what your political beliefs are, if you don't or can't vote, then you can't elect officials who will keep your best interests in mind."
The launch of the campaign is tied to the 51st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 law designed to break down legal barriers for African-American voters. In 2013, the VRA received a major blow after a Supreme Court ruling that struck down the requirement for local and state governments with a history of voter discrimination to receive federal approval before changing voting procedures.
With that in mind, Planned Parenthood's new campaign aims to reach out to disenfranchised communities. Planned Parenthood already services a large number of affected communities; in fact, a quarter of its patients are Latino and 78% of its patients earn incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in January. It was the first time the organization endorsed a candidate during a presidential primary. The organization also said it will spend at least $20 million during the 2016 election.