Chief Executive Leadership Institute Releases January 2022 CELI Research Insights “Voting Rights Groups Crowding”

In light of recent developments surrounding the proposed Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and potential Electoral Count Act of 1887 reform, the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute identified 190 active, independent advocacy organizations working to advance voting rights issues at the national, state and local levels.

Detailed reviews of each group’s registration, fundraising, tax and staffing records revealed that half of these organizations were established in the last five years, and of these, more than a quarter were established in the last year alone.

Although the 190 groups in total spent in excess of $300 million in the last year to advocate for voting rights, over half have either budgets of less than $1 million or staffs of less than five full-time individuals.

In this report, we shed light on these disparate advocacy groups, the current state of the voting rights movement, and recommendations for fortifying the collective action of these fractious groups moving forward.