Who We Are
iVote Civic Education Fund’s mission is to secure voting rights for all Americans.
We're working to achieve this goal by increasing awareness about the role of secretaries of state in implementing voting laws and overseeing elections; running nonpartisan get out the vote campaigns; and educating the public about Automatic Voter Registration.
iVote CEF's Advisory Board includes campaign and policy veterans: Ellen Kurz, Hari Sevugan, Addisu Demissie, Charles Baker, Mark Ritchie, Rebecca Pearcey, Betsy Hoover, Tim Miller, and Mayra Macías.
Our Work
Secretaries of State
While state legislatures, Congress and courts affect voting, there is one office which has inordinate power in determining participation: secretaries of state.
Nonpartisan GOTV Campaigns
We have produced multi-million dollar advertising campaigns to give voters nonpartisan information about how and when to vote.
Automatic Voter Registration
Automatic Voter Registration makes voting easier and increases turnout by eliminating the burden on individual voters.
Secretaries of State
While state legislatures, Congress and the courts affect voting, there is one office which has inordinate power in determining voter participation: state-level secretaries of state. In 37 states, the secretary of state is the chief election officer, often with the power to interpret election laws, determine acceptable forms of ID, manage voter registration systems, oversee early vote and other alternative voting vehicles, as well as determine election locations, hours, processes and machines.
These responsibilities give secretaries of state considerable control over whether more people will vote or fewer will vote. Despite this power, the media and, in turn, the public has paid little attention to this office over the years. At the same time voters do not fully understand the function and power of the office.
There is an average of a 2.5% “under-vote” in ballots cast for the office relative to the top of the ballot. The disparity between voter information about the office and lack of participation in determining who holds the office on the one hand and power vested in the office on the other, presents a critical threat to American democracy.
Automatic Voter Registration
What is Automatic Voter Registration?
Automatic Voter Registration makes voting easier and increases turnout by eliminating the burden on individual voters to find out when, where and how to register to vote for each election.
With Automatic Voter Registration, every eligible voter is automatically registered when they get a driver’s license. Eligible citizens who already have driver's licenses are also automatically registered to vote. If someone does not want to register to vote, they simply opt-out. Automatic Voter Registration is different from "motor-voter" laws, which put the burden on voters to opt-into registration.
Why Automatic Voter Registration?
More than 155 million Americans voted in the 2020 election, which means about one-in-three eligible voters, or over 76 million people, sat out the election. An Ipsos survey found that 29% of eligible voters who didn’t vote said they didn’t cast a ballot because they weren’t registered. That means 22 million people didn’t vote simply because they weren’t registered. To give some context on how big that number is, in the past six presidential elections, the candidates were separated by an average of less than 4.7 million votes nationally.
In short, putting the burden on individuals to find out when, where and how to register for each election is leaving a lot of our democracy at home. By making registration automatic and universal, we have the potential to bring new – disproportionately minority and young – voting power to bear in our elections.
And momentum is growing to tap into this power. As of January 2022, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 22 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted or implemented automatic voter registration. When Nevada implemented their voter-passed automatic voter registration system in 2020, about 750,000 eligible but previously unregistered Nevadans were automatically registered to vote. Nearly 1.4 million Nevadans then voted in the November election, setting a state record.
Our Research
iVote Civic Education Fund conducts nonpartisan research to measure opinions on election and voting issues
September 2022
iVote commissioned a survey of swing state voters in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada to measure opinions on election and voting issues, including what voters want – and don’t want – in a candidate for Secretary of State. The survey took place from September 17-20, 2022.
Many Republican candidates for Secretary of State do not publicly recognize Joe Biden as the legitimate president and refuse to say whether they will accept the results of the upcoming November election. Many candidates also have aligned themselves with the events of the January 6 insurrection, some even attending the insurrection in person. This survey found that majorities of voters across these swing states say these positions are not only net negatives for Secretary of State candidates, but are disqualifying.
You can read the full memo here and see the full results here.
June 2022
iVote commissioned a survey of swing state voters in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada to measure opinion on election and voting issues, including what voters want in a Secretary of State. The survey took place from June 15-22, 2022.
The survey found that, in the wake of Trump and Republicans attempting to overturn the 2020 election with lies about voter fraud, it is Trump’s base who is most likely to express concern about fraud. Other voters are much more concerned about politicians trying to manipulate election results, and voters continue to prioritize their Secretary of State acting in a fair and nonpartisan manner. And while many who believe the election was stolen from Trump want new restrictive voting laws, voters overall are much more likely to prioritize increasing access to the ballot.
You can read the full memo and see results by clicking here.
In the News
Poll Workers Are More Important Now Than Ever
By Jocelyn Benson and Frank LaRose
As secretaries of state responsible for guaranteeing that our elections are safe and fair, we can unequivocally state that poll workers are our most valuable asset in ensuring the integrity of America's system of self-governance. Though it may not seem like the most glamorous job, poll workers are the heroes of our democracy.
Contact Us
iVote Civic Education Fund
PO Box 382167
Cambridge, MA 02238
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