1VoteCloser is a left-leaning ostensibly nonpartisan organization that works to increase voter turnout in elections. Its main focus is to provide education on the issues through a series of short videos explaining left-of-center issue stances that are uploaded to the organization’s website by its users.

During the 2020 elections, the organization teamed up with rapper and left-of-center political activist Snoop Dogg and the left-leaning organizations Rock the Vote and OneOpp to launch an online voter registration drive. The campaign was backed by a series of posters of Snoop Dogg that were created by the same artist that created the famous Barack Obama “Hope” posters. ¹

In the 2022 elections, the ostensibly nonpartisan organization joined an alliance of organizations that are working to elect more Democrats to office. The alliance is run out of an organization called Field Team 6. ²

Overview

1VoteCloser is a left-leaning organization that claims to be nonpartisan that is focused on increasing turnout of liberal and left-progressive voters in elections. The organization primarily does this by hosting videos that ostensibly provide education on the issues to voters. The organization encourages users of their website to make their own videos to provide education on the issues to encourage people to register to vote and to actually vote. ³

The organization claims that the website was created by a series of anonymous surveys that were conducted through U.S. mail. Each recipient received a large manila envelope with a letter of explanation, a survey, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The survey listed the issues and asked the recipients what word first came to mind and the survey only asked the taker’s age. The organization claims that the survey was not influenced by political preference. ⁴

The organization’s list of issue of 84 issues was collected by a survey of the websites of members of the U.S. Congress. Those issues were supposedly of importance to their constituents. ⁵

Work With Snoop Dogg

In September 2020, the organization announced that it was partnering with rapper and left-leaning activist Snoop Dogg to encourage people to register to vote and to vote. The partnership was also backed by the left-leaning organizations Rock the Vote and OneOpp. The partnership was also announced to coincide with Rock the Vote’s 30^th anniversary. ⁶

The campaign was backed by a series of Snoop Dogg posters created by Shepard Fairey. Fairey was the artist behind the famous Barack Obama “Hope” posters in 2008. ⁷

Work With OneOpp

In September 2020, the organization joined the OneOpp coalition. The coalition was created by the Cashmere marketing agency. In addition to the organization and Rock the Vote joining the coalition, it was also backed by the many in the entertainment industry such as Quincy Jones Productions, G-Eazy, The Revels Group, The Art of Chase, David&Goliath, Concept Arts, Pitch 5 Productions, Friendly Vengeance, Gram x Gram, and Alchemy Media. ⁸

The mission of the OneOpp coalition was to end police brutality and to campaign for left-leaning issues that ostensibly benefit communities of color. Among the left-leaning organizations that joined the coalition when it launched in June 2020 were Center for Policing Equity and Color of Change. ⁹

Viral Instagram Post

In October 2020, an Instagram post from the organization that explained what mistakes to avoid when casting an absentee ballot went viral. It got 716 times the interactions its posts normally receive. ¹⁰

However, the post was criticized for being confusing or vague. ¹¹

Field Team 6

In the 2022 midterm elections, the organization joined the Field Team 6 coalition. The coalition’s purpose is to elect more Democrats to office. ¹²

Leadership

Frances Berman is the founder of the organization. She is a native of Texas who relocated to Los Angeles to work in the music industry. She founded the organization after the relatively low turnout in the 2016 presidential election. She is also a philanthropist, and among the organizations she supports is Planned Parenthood Federation of America. ¹³

Maddy Kennell is the co-founder of the organization. She largely works on the social media side of the organization. ¹⁴

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2. “Field Team 6”. Field Team 6. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission.
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7.  Allah, Sha Be. “Snoop Dogg Launches Online Voter Registration Drive #Votewithsnoop With Rock The Vote And 1 Votecloser”. The Source. Sept. 23, 2020 https://thesource.com/2020/09/23/snoop-dogg-launches-online-voter-registration-drive-votewithsnoop-with-rock-the-vote-and-1-votecloser/.
8.  “Award-Winning Marketing Shop Cashmere Announces New Partners For Its Social Justice Coalition, Oneopp, In Support Of Ending Police Brutality”. PR Newswire. Sept. 23, 2020 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/award-winning-marketing-shop-cashmere-announces-new-partners-for-its-social-justice-coalition-oneopp-in-support-of-ending-police-brutality-301136865.html.
9. “Award-Winning Marketing Shop Cashmere Announces New Partners For Its Social Justice Coalition, Oneopp, In Support Of Ending Police Brutality”. PR Newswire. Sept. 23, 2020 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/award-winning-marketing-shop-cashmere-announces-new-partners-for-its-social-justice-coalition-oneopp-in-support-of-ending-police-brutality-301136865.html
10.  Kraus, Rachel. “Instagram Election: Celebs Post Selfies With Instructions To VOTE”. Mashable. Oct. 13, 2020 https://mashable.com/article/instagram-election-breakdown-celebrity-voting.
11. Kraus, Rachel. “Instagram Election: Celebs Post Selfies With Instructions To VOTE”. Mashable. Oct. 13, 2020 https://mashable.com/article/instagram-election-breakdown-celebrity-voting.
12. [1] “Field Team 6”. Field Team 6. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission.
13. “About”. 1 Votecloser.  Accessed April 25, 2022 https://1votecloser.org/about/.
14. “About”. 1 Votecloser.  Accessed April 25, 2022 https://1votecloser.org/about/.