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Most renters need to be registered in order to be able to vote!

Underpaid work and poor economic conditions cause about half of all renters to move every year.  When jobs are exported and minimum wages are kept cruelly low, many Americans are forced to move too often in order to find work.  Most renters have no stability, no healthcare and often no future.

Although renters may not be registered to vote, when they do register, a survey conducted by the University of Virginia shows they vote heavily for progressive or Democratic candidates.

Over a third of Americans are renters.  About 80 million of these Americans will be eligible to vote in the next election, but most will not be able to vote because they are not registered where they currently live.  No, it’s not fair, and keeping them from voting may be the motive of powerful forces who do not want them to vote.  But if that is the way the law works, we need to learn how to defeat it with a program like RegisterRenters.

RegisterRenters is a voter activation program tested for more than a decade in Colorado and other states, where up to 85% of newly registered voters went to the polls and voted.  Over a thousand RegisterRenters volunteers have helped elect Democratic legislatures, Congressmen, at lease one Senator and lots of new, progressive leadership in the Democratic party.

Start Now, Make a Difference!  Volunteer.

A RegisterRenters project can be started by any state or county party organization, by a candidate’s campaign, or by public agencies or non-profit organizations.  And a RegisterRenters project can also be started—today—by You.  RegisterRenters is structured to be an educational program distributing registration information, so you are protected by your legal rights under the First Amendment.  Because you CANNOT take possession of a completed registration form, nobody needs to give you permission. Here are the basic steps:

  1. Contact your County’s election division. Ask if they will accept the Federal voter registration application by mail (they are required to under the Help America Vote Act–HAVA). Get their mailing address.
  2. Print a copy of the form found at the Federal Election Commission site:  Click Here.
  3. List a few addresses of multifamily units in your area and print as many Federal registration forms as you will need (200 would be a good start). Target a progressive, low-income or minority area.  All you need is the form, not the extra pages.  There is also a form in Spanish.  Click Here.
  4. Distribute each Federal voter registration form with an envelope addressed to your County election division and a printed appeal: “Please Register to Vote”.
  5. The process, structure, sample materials, rules and regulations are described in our FREE handbook.

It’s that simple!  It’s fun!  And it’s very effective!  Go here for our FREE handbook.

Most laws passed about voter registration and voter registration drives act to limit voting by the mobile, working poor. Political advisors say registration is too hard, too ineffective, and newly registered people won’t vote. We have proven they are wrong!  Newly registered voters do vote–85%!!  (The political advisors also don’t usually get a cut out of volunteer work.)

Register Renters experience has demonstrated:

  • Almost 200 voter packets can be distributed each hour at a cost of about 5 cents each, and up to 10% will be used to register voters;
  • Register Renter’s volunteers enjoy the many easy jobs they are asked to do before the voter registration deadline. It can often be as effective to just leave packets as it is to knock and talk, and because it is a lot faster, you connect with every apartment, and your volunteers don’t burn out;
  • Volunteers keep coming back, and they become great workers for Get Out the Vote;
  • Timing is critical: register students after September 1, others earlier. You can canvass non-student areas before every election—school board, city council and special elections. Targeting can produce new voters who support progressives and Democrats at a rate of 90%;
  • And up to 85% of newly registered voters will actually turn out to vote in the next election!

Note: RegisterRenters volunteers must never collect completed voter registration forms!! Even the most careful volunteer can be accused of fraud, and such charges are dangerous!!  Please see the Handbook for details.  (*Statistics in this blog are based on U.S. Census data, adjusted for errors based on recognized census under-counting of poor and minority voters, high renter mobility, voter purging practices and inaccurate survey responses due to lack of knowledge of voter registration requirements by highly mobile voters.  Turnout figures for newly registered voters are from County Clerk records.  Even though an 85% turnout among poor, minority and student voters may seem surprising, it is a proven fact!)

For more details, Contact us here.

If you want to have a major impact on your County and State, RegisterRenters has the program and the experience you need. We can show you how to build a structure, target your precincts, raise money, recruit your volunteers, print materials, and complete a tested program. Finally, we can show you how to involve your group in local GOTV (get out the vote) efforts so almost all the people you register will get to the polls.

First, you need to sign up, so we can help you get together with others in your County and State who also want to register voters.

Second, we need to get you a copy of our RegisterRenters Handbook used to develop and test our program in Colorado.

Finally, you can work with us by phone or email. Or we can visit with your team and help you iron out details and build a strong organization.

Click here for your FREE BOOKLET