When We All Vote

Michelle Obama said at the launch of When We All Vote that she had been frustrated by poor Democratic voter turnout in the 2010, 2014, and 2016 elections that aided Republican victories. She said that Democratic losses resulted from lack of voter enthusiasm⁴ rather than the result of former President Barack Obama’s policies. The group’s goal is to reinvigorate left-progressive African-American and youth voter participation regardless of the Democrat candidates. ⁵

Background

When We All Vote was created as an initiative of advocacy organization Civic Nation in 2018 and was co-founded by celebrities including Tim McGraw, Selena Gomez, and Faith Hill. Its strategies include hosting events in liberal cities like Detroit and Miami⁶ and click-baiting younger voters to registration websites. In the weeks before the 2018 mid-term elections, liberal Elle magazine, a When We All Vote partner,⁷ promoted a false headline stating that rapper Kanye West and entertainment personality Kim Kardashian were divorcing. When users clicked, they were led to a When We All Vote voter registration page. ⁴ These activities contributed to When We All Vote’s boast of reaching 200 million Americans online. ⁸

Vote by Mail

When We All Vote is supporting the controversial vote by mail legislation, Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020. When We All Vote supports the legislation that would allow all American voters to vote early, register on-line, and vote by mail. The group claims that minorities and young voters face voting barriers. ⁹

When We All Vote is leveraging celebrity power to grow support for voting by mail legislation. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are co-chairs at When We All Vote and corresponded with the left-of-center MoveOn.org to gain support for voting by mail, early voting, and on-line voting registration. ¹⁰

Clickbait Controversy

In advance of the 2018 elections, people and groups circulated When We All Vote registration links using false stories about celebrities. Elle magazine circulated a false claim that rapper Kanye West was divorcing entertainment personality Kim Kardashian, for which Elle later apologized. Celebrities also circulated a false tweet that alleged the link explained why singer Ariana Grande was breaking up with actor Pete Davidson. Clicking on the hotlink sent users to a When We All Vote voting registration link. This tactic fueled praise and criticism. Some users saw the practice as suggesting voters were not sufficiently intelligent to register without being deceived. ¹¹

Activities

Prom-A-Thon

When We All Vote teamed with MTV to host an “online prom” for the 2020 graduating class. Labeled the Prom-A-Thon, the event seeks to raise voting awareness among the 4 million graduating Americans turning 18 by the November 2020 presidential election. ¹²

Events

Michelle Obama hosts dozens of events to drive registration primarily on college campuses in Democratic-leaning cities. When We All Vote held a voting rally with basketball players from the Philadelphia 76ers to drive participation. ¹³

Partner Organizations

When We All Vote partners with the historically Black sororities Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, Jack and Jill of America, NAACP, National Basketball Players Association, National Education Association, National Urban League, the Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, XQ Institute, YMCA Youth and Government, Voto Latino, ATTN, Baller Alert, BET Networks, Blavity, Elle, Essence, Hollywood Life, ICM Partners, Lyft, and MTV. ⁷

WeWork Campaign

When We All Vote teamed with WeWork, Meetup, and Nonprofit VOTE to register voters for the 2018 election. It set up registration hubs at 200 WeWork sites around the country. When We All Vote will host a series of events to drive awareness in Democratic-leaning cities like Atlanta, Denver, New York, and Philadelphia. ¹⁴

Civic Cities

Civic Cities was created by When We All Vote to help increase voter participation from the roughly 50% mark in the 2016 election and the 15% mark in local elections. It is a coalition of 31 mayors strategizing on how to improve voter turnout. The strategy is focused on urban centers and includes Democratic mayors from cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. ¹⁵ The goal of Civic Cities is to drive voting participation up and down the ballot from the presidency to the school board. Mayors are encouraged to ensure voters have safe access to voting, to energize local leaders, share best practices with other mayors and information with voters. ¹⁶

My School Votes

When We All Vote created My School Votes, which seeks to energize teachers, parents, and students to participate in voting. It encourages teachers in all subjects and grades to discuss political participation. ¹⁷ Amongst the activities it created and shares, are links¹⁸ to Democracy Class curriculum that is created by the left-of-center Rock the Vote and supported by liberal groups like the ACLU, League of Women Voters, and Voto Latino. ¹⁹

Leaders

Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff and a senior advisor in President Obama’s administration, is the president of the board. ²⁰

The CEO is Kyle Lierman, who worked for President Obama as a senior policy advisor. According to tax records, Kyle Lierman is also the CEO of Civic Advisors, ²¹ a vendor that received a payment of $175,628 from When We All Vote. ²²