Harris-Walz campaign promotes voter registration at 60 HBCUs

The Harris-Walz campaign is helping students mobilize to vote with a mass voter registration initiative at 60 HBCUs to celebrate National Voter Registration Day and National Black Voter Registration Day, according to a press release shared with Black Enterprise.

In partnership with the Democratic National Committee and the media conglomerate Rebellion, The plan is to launch an “all hands on deck” campaign to mobilize, nudge, and encourage young, prospective Black voters to commit to exercising their right to vote—regardless of the candidate they choose. At 60 HBCU campuses in states including Virginia, North Carolina, and key battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, Harris-Walz’s team will take over Revolt’s homepage, as well as other major Black media platforms, hoping to meet young voters where they are and encourage them to get to the polls in November.

As part of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a moderated conversation with the National Association of Black Journalists, while students from Lincoln University and Cheyney University will look on. Working with National HBCU Week, the Harris-Walz team will create an ad campaign targeting live events in key states and North Carolina, home to the second-largest number of HBCUs.

The team also established a National Voter Assistance hotline to provide easy access to information in English and Spanish so voters can register on the DNC’s IWillVote.com platform.

The Harris-Waltz team has outsiders who are pushing voter registration just as hard as they do. According to the Greenville NewsCoalition partners in South Carolina are doubling down on efforts to engage young voters. The League of Women Voters of Greenville County has scheduled 19 voter registration drives at area high schools, colleges and universities, including Clemson University, Furman University, Greenville Technical College and Tri-County Technical College.

In 2023, the group registered more than 500 new voters in 15 high schools and colleges.

Greenville NAACP Political Action Chair Lawson Wetli pointed to the low voter turnout in the black community. Of the state’s 46 counties, 16 are below average in black voter registration and turnout. More than half of those counties are in Upstate South Carolina, but she’s confident that will change. “It has to change,” Wetli said.

“We know that our voice is our voice, and we know that Black voices should be represented in our civic conversation. That’s why it’s especially important that members of the Black community in South Carolina have access to voter registration information and the ability to vote.”

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