Since the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, voter engagement efforts have played a vital role in our democratic process. Unfortunately, both low-income and minority citizens have historically been and remain underrepresented in the electoral process. In fact, only 33% of the low-income population in the U.S. is registered to vote, and of those who are registered to vote, only 40% exercise this right. By encouraging more low-income citizens to register to vote and exercise their right, we can ensure that the voices of all, including our most vulnerable citizens, are reflected in major public policy decisions.

Virginia Housing Alliance (VHA) in partnership with Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), will host a two-part training series on organizing and/or participating in Get Out To Vote (GOTV) drives within low-income housing communities throughout the Commonwealth. The first half of the training will be a one hour webinar on May 8th where participants will be able to learn how to connect with non-partisan organizations to engage in GOTV efforts without endangering 501(c)3 non-profit status. This webinar will serve as a GOTV 101 for all housing and homeless service providers who would like to get their residents and clients registered and actively voting.

The webinar will be followed up with a more in-depth panel discussion on June 14th, 2018 from 9:30am – 11:30am at the Westin Richmond as the Pre-Luncheon Forum at Virginia Housing Alliance’s Annual Awards Luncheon.

The webinar and pre-luncheon panel will include:

• Teresa Santalucia of Klein Hornig, who will provide legal expertise on what types of civic and advocacy related activities in which non-profits can engage

• Melissa Bondi from Enterprise Community Partners, who will provide insights on engaging low-income communities to organize and engage in voter registration and GOTV efforts with highlights from a field case study

• Victoria Bouret of National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), who will provide an overview of NLIHC’s focus this year on mobilizing GOTV efforts within low-income communities

• Jose Quinonez of Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), who will share APAH’s experience as a landlord in actively facilitating and hosting GOTV engagement activities with low-income resident in their community

• Kim Phillip of the Arlington Chapter of the NAACP, who will provide an overview of the ways in which organizations can partner with their local NAACP affiliates to get low-income residents register, and active in voting.

Webinar access information will be sent via email upon registration. For more information on this webinar or to register, visit the event webpage here.