The Democratic National Committee launched what it called its largest-ever voter registration effort Tuesday to boost the party’s chances in the November midterm elections.
The initiative, dubbed When We Count, aims to close the Democratic national voter registration gap by training young Democrats to register new voters in districts across the country. It is the first time in over a decade that the DNC is investing in on-the-ground voter registration.
DNC Chair Ken Martin told The Associated Press that for the Democratic Party to win elections, “we have to actually create more Democrats.”
“A year ago, during my campaign for DNC chair, I vowed that our national party would get back into the business of partisan voter registration,” he said on a Tuesday press call. “For too long, Democrats have ceded ground to Republicans on registered voters.”
Mr. Martin is also under fire for lackluster fundraising for the 2024 cycle.
A group of House Democrats in tough reelection races confronted Mr. Martin over the committee’s midterm plans during a recent meeting, according to Punchbowl News.
The vulnerable Democratic lawmakers, known as the party’s “frontliners,” voiced fears that Mr. Martin is not putting Democrats in a position to win back the House this fall, and warned that steering resources to state parties will not matter if Democrats fail to take back the House.
The DNC took out a $15 million loan in October, ending November with $12.6 million in the bank. The RNC had $90 million.
In announcing the voter registration effort, the DNC admitted that Democrats lost major ground in recent years among young people, voters of color and non-college youth, while Republicans invested heavily in voter registration efforts.
Such demographics helped put a Republican in the White House again by returning President Trump to office in the 2024 elections.
While nonprofit organizations that register voters are generally required by law to be nonpartisan, the DNC is taking a page from the Republican playbook with a more partisan approach: taking internal steps to mobilize voters rather than depend on external efforts.
Mr. Martin said that nonprofit partners are “really important, [but] in this moment right now, given the significant disadvantage that we have and the advantage the Republicans have, we actually have to do more.”
The When We Count Fellowship trains people to register new Democratic voters in an effort to close “critical registration gaps” in battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterms.
As Republicans hold a political trifecta in Washington, Democrats are doubling down on efforts to regain control of at least one chamber of Congress.
The initiative will begin in Arizona and Nevada with a seven-figure investment for training organizers.
