A Look Back at 2024
2024 Impact Report for All Voting is Local Action
In the 2024 cycle, AVL Action advocated for policies that protected and expanded access to the ballot box and fought back against attempts to undermine the will of voters.
Key highlights include:
- Mobilized constituents in Washoe County, NV to successfully stop rogue election officials from refusing to certify elections.
- Blocked last-minute anti-voter proposals in Georgia that would have wreaked havoc for election officials, mandated 100% hand counting on Election Night, and led to votes potentially getting canceled.
- Fought rampant election denialism by a top election official in Wisconsin, rallying Wisconsinites to call for his removal.
- Advocated for funding for vital voter access programs in Florida, securing resources for sample ballots, poll worker trainings, and other critical election preparation materials.
- Convened more than 100 pro-voting advocates in Michigan to advance opportunities to further expand voting rights for voters of color, voters with disabilities, and those living in marginalized communities.
The Power of Voters
AVL Action Georgia rallied hundreds of voters to oppose last-minute anti-voter proposals, stopping them from going into effect just weeks before the election. Our team played a pivotal role in the rejection of egregious last-minute restrictions on mail-in voting and requirements to hand-count ballots, designed to cast doubt on election results.
The Power of Election Officials
AVL Action Nevada led a successful campaign to stop officials from implementing hand-counting proposals. Together with our partner, ACLU Nevada, AVL Action Nevada drove a public pressure campaign to urge County Clerk Mark Kampf to reject hand-counting proposals that would create post-election chaos and sow doubt in the results of the election. In a massive win for the state, Kampf later joined AVL Action Nevada in front of the Washoe County Board of Commissioners to provide public comment against hand-counting requirements.
AVL Action Georgia partnered with county election officials to oppose restrictions on absentee voting. In early 2024, Georgia’s State Election Board faced a vote on whether state legislators should end “no excuse” absentee voting, which allows any registered voter to request an absentee ballot for any reason, whether they’ve fallen sick, are planning to be away during the voting period, or simply prefer the ease and security of a mail-in ballot.
The Power of All Voting is Local
AVL Action Wisconsin fought rampant election denialism by a state elections commissioner, Bob Spindell. Spindell has publicly celebrated the suppression of voters of color and acknowledged his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In 2024, we joined local partners, including Souls to the Polls and Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), at a President’s Day press conference calling for Spindell’s removal from the state election commission. We held another rally in August with the Wisconsin secretary of state, where we delivered a petition to remove Spindell, signed by more than 1,800 voters, to the state legislature.
AVL Action Michigan seized an opportunity to cement voting rights advancements. Even after Michigan closed out the 2024 election season with historic voter turnout, our team convened 111 pro-voting advocates to strategize how to further protect voting rights with the Michigan Voting Rights Act (MIVRA). Even though the state legislature ended the legislative session abruptly without voting on the MIVRA, our advocacy on behalf of this bill laid the groundwork for policies that can expand voter access for voters of color, voters with disabilities, and those living in marginalized communities.
Looking Forward:
The fundamental tenet of American democracy—that every citizen has the right to participate in a free and fair election—is under attack today. Election denialism has taken root at the highest levels of our government, and leaders have been crystal clear in their intentions to undermine core voter freedoms.
Ensuring this dangerous agenda does not take hold will rely on the type of resilience and power we saw from voters and election officials in 2024. In the long term, that means advancing an elections system and a pro-voter agenda that brings people in and gives them more power and voice in our democracy. In the short term, it means fighting for policies that break down barriers that make it hard to register to vote and to cast a ballot. And it means restoring confidence in our elections for all voters.
In 2025 and beyond, our organizational principles will help guide us in achieving this goal:
High stakes, high impact. Americans agree that voting should be as easy as possible because it is a fundamental right and responsibility that is crucial to our democracy. As anti-voter extremists across the country double down on policies and laws that make it harder to register, vote, and ensure those votes count, AVL Action is strategically investing our efforts in advocating for and against bills and local policies that most impact the communities we serve.
Long-term power-building is core to protecting the freedom to vote. Every legislative and policy fight is a chance to not only advance a pro-voter policy agenda, but also to build and sustain lasting community power. We build partnerships within the communities we serve to ensure they are equipped with the necessary resources, infrastructure, and support to effectively engage with legislation and policies that most affect their ability to cast a vote that counts.
The threat of authoritarianism is real and present in our country. The policies of the Trump administration and its allies at the federal and state level not only pose a threat to fair, safe, and accessible elections, but they also exploit election administration as part of a broader effort to undermine democratic norms and consolidate their own power. Congress and the White House have advanced policies that would prevent millions of Americans from registering to vote, gutted civil rights enforcement, and sought access to private voter data. States and counties are making policy and legislative changes every day that advance the myth of election denial, make it harder to count votes, threaten election workers, and risk delaying or even stopping the certification of valid election results. We believe that ending election sabotage is absolutely critical to resisting authoritarianism and fulfilling the promise of our democracy.
Accountability is essential to stopping anti-voter, extremist officials in their tracks. Too often, state and local lawmakers who reject election results, attempt to suppress the vote, or support policies that cut off voter access or disrupt vote counting are able to do so out of view of the public and without scrutiny. AVL Action calls to account extremist public officials – including candidates – who use their power and platform to deploy voter suppression, spread disinformation, and sabotage elections by demanding they follow the law, respect election results, and step down if they won’t. Our work isn’t partisan: it is a shared American value that the people pick their elected leaders, not the other way around.