Site-based voter registration program will register eligible voters in communities of color and rural communities in Arizona

Phoenix, AZ — Today, Chispa Arizona, a program of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (LCVEF), announced the launch of a new site-based voter registration program in Arizona to register eligible voters in communities historically excluded from voter registration efforts, including in communities of color and rural communities. 

Starting on Saturday, March 19, organizers in Arizona will go door to door registering eligible voters, particularly focused on engaging communities of color and rural communities.  The voter registration program efforts will aim to register a majority of eligible voters that identify as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian American or Pacific Islander, in addition to eligible voters in immigrant communities.

“We are proud to be in this fight to help break down barriers to voting and ensure that voters of color, eligible immigrant voters, and rural voters have a fighting chance to have their voice heard at the ballot box,” said Nicole Morales, Chispa Arizona Director of Civic Engagement. “Organizing at the grassroots level and meeting constituents where they are is the most impactful way to reach communities who are too often left out of the electoral process. All eligible voters should have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process, especially in communities of color and rural communities that are historically underrepresented at all levels of our government.”

“Barriers to voting disproportionately impact eligible voters in communities of color, immigrant communities, and rural communities, especially for first-time voters, voters with disabilities, and voters who speak or read another language,” said Hilda Nucete, LCVEF Director of Civic Engagement. “We know that we can’t have a healthy environment without a healthy democracy — the same communities who are historically excluded from the voting process are the same communities who are disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices.”

Chispa Arizona, as part of LCVEF’s ongoing investment in voter registration programs in states across the country to close voter registration gaps, will engage constituents of color who disproportionately do not vote; in the 2020 election, an estimated 70.9 percent of white voters cast ballots compared to only 58.4 percent of nonwhite voters. In Arizona, Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities make up 42% of the state’s population, and often face obstacles that result in not voting, including language differences and delays in receiving accurate information. LCVEF’s voter registration efforts will help strengthen engagement in the electoral process in these communities so that more eligible voters can participate in and be represented in our democracy.  

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