We Launched When We Count in Arizona!
In April, DNC staff onboarded our first cohort of When We Count fellows in Phoenix, AZ! 🌵
Hello, hello! My name is Grace Eickel, and I serve as the DNC’s National Voter Registration Program Director, where I get to lead When We Count — the DNC’s first-ever partisan voter registration program.
Last weekend, we officially launched our first cohort of Fellows in Arizona and we have had so much fun hustling, learning, and getting scrappy. This work could not be more important, and I’ve been filled with purpose and inspiration watching this program finally come to life.
When We Count in Arizona
We launched in Arizona last week and currently have our first cohort of Fellows on the ground organizing in their own communities. I’m actually on my way back to Arizona right now to launch our second cohort of 30 Fellows this weekend — bringing us to 40 Fellows organizing across the state — and we’re only growing. By June, we are on track to scale up to 75 Fellows in Arizona alone.
The first week has been so much fun. Fellows are meeting young people where they already are using third spaces — cafes, concerts, rideshares, thrift stores — you name it. We’re also organizing online through Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and group chats because the bottom line is: if young people are there, so are our Fellows.
One of the coolest parts of this first week has been watching Fellows start to realize just how many organizing opportunities already exist in their everyday lives. We are training Fellows not just to register voters, but to think creatively and strategically about where conversations can happen and how they can turn everyday interactions into organizing moments.
Honestly, the stories coming out of this first week have been incredible. My favorite so far is a Fellow who registered a voter through the Taco Bell drive-thru while working her night shift. Another Fellow registered a group of voters at a laundromat while waiting for clothes to dry.
Hear from our Fellow Miranda about how her onboarding experience went:
This team is HUSTLING — and that’s the entire point of When We Count.
Between 2020 and 2024, Democrats lost ground in voter registration nationwide, including a net loss of more than 2.1 million registered Democrats. At the same time, Republicans registered an outright majority of new voters under 45 — a reversal from just a few cycles ago.
Young people are not bad at voting — we’re just not registered. Right now, under 30% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote, compared to 75% of voters 45+. But once young people are registered, we tend to vote at similar rates to any other generation. This is an accessibility problem, and it’s one we are out to solve.
For years, voter registration programs have focused mostly on college campuses — but around 60% of Americans ages 18–24 are not enrolled in college. That means millions of young people are being missed by traditional political organizing, especially working-class young people and young people of color.
Where We’re Going
It has been so exciting getting to watch When We Count come to life and we are just getting started.
We are learning so much every single day and soon we’ll be launching even more – sharing our materials, lessons, and best practices so people anywhere in the country can plug in and start registering voters in their own communities.
We also have more National Voter Registration Weeks of Action coming up this year!
We will be hosting multiple Weeks of Action between now and Election Day. We will have opportunities for big moments with our fellows, and places YOU can plug in to support our voter registration efforts across the country.
We’re building something really special with When We Count and I’m so excited for what’s ahead.
Spend five minutes today to register to vote or make sure your registration is up-to-date. Head over to IWillVote.com for all the info you need!
Have questions about voting? Call the voter assistance hotline, 833-336-8683, and our team can get you the help you need to cast your ballot and make sure it’s counted.
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Thank you for all the work you’re doing — honored to be in this fight with you all. :)
In solidarity,
Grace
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Hi Grace, I learned about your work through Simon Rosenberg as well, and what you’re doing is fantastic! Dr. Andrea Barreiro and I started our Substack to share research with advocates and voters about how states manage the voter registration and voting process — and how voter databases actually work in practice. We focus on practical information that can help voters successfully navigate the system.
One of the reasons we launched the project is because 2.8 million voter registration applications or updates were rejected nationwide during the 2024 election cycle — including more than 45,000 in Arizona. Many voters believed they were successfully registered or had updated their information when they had not.
The good news is that voters are in charge of their voter record information. Checking your registration was completed and keeping your information up to date can make a real difference. Arizona had 607,128 valid new registrations in the 2024 timeframe!!
I grew up in Phoenix. Moved north to cool off. Glad When We Count works there. Thanks!