2024 Annual Report

In 2001, after months of investigating claims by Black voters of disenfranchisement and discrimination at polling places, Advancement Project filed suit against the state of Florida and won significant improvements to the state’s voting procedures. Since then, we’ve supported grassroots groups across the deep south and beyond. We have filed winning suits against illegal voter purge and disenfranchisement practices, hosted national forums and regional convenings to build power, and more.

In 2016, we won a landmark case in North Carolina that helped redefine the parameters of the Voting Rights Act’s ability to address racially discriminatory voting laws. After the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated the preclearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, North Carolina was the first state to pass a law restricting access to the polls by eliminating the new same-day registration and pre-registration of 16-17 year olds; cutting early voting by a week; implementing a strict voter ID requirement; and more. We filed suit on behalf of the state’s NAACP and other organizational and individual plaintiffs, alleging that the law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, due to its disparate impact on African American and Latino voters. The litigation was used as a tool to galvanize North Carolinians to join The Forward Together Moral Movement, and after a multi-year court battle, we beat the Monster Voter Suppression law and voter ID restrictions.

Throughout the years, we’ve published resources to help others feel empowered and prepared to fight, including a toolkit for voting advocates that was cited by former President Obama; a Democracy Rising report which engaged and helped register Returning Citizens following the passage of Amendment 4 in Florida; and a collaborative We Vote We Count report which elevated community voices and emphasized the need for congressional action to secure voting rights for all citizens.

Our strong legacy of leadership and change making continued in 2024. When our long-time partner, New Georgia Project, was facing widespread voter disenfranchisement, we filed suit against a new Georgia law that allowed voter purging based on flimsy evidence, arguing the law unconstitutionally created unnecessary burdens to the right to vote.

Our lawsuit successfully deterred counties from removing voters within 90 days of the election. We met with voters impacted by challenges, sent open record requests to counties potentially violating the 90-day rule, and attended board hearings. Working with New Georgia Project staff, we developed plans for its Voter Protection Program and created protocols and one-pagers to educate and empower voters.

Our staff were on the ground in Georgia on Election Day to help monitor polling locations, assist voters facing issues at the polls, investigate issues for potential litigation, and advocate for voters at the county level. Our Executive Director also joined partners on a non-partisan bus tour across Georgia during the last weekend of early voting.  We were there, on the ground, fighting alongside partners to support and protect voters in Georgia.

Advancement Project is an unwavering and trusted partner of grassroots organizations across the country who confidently call upon us when they need strong movement lawyering, creative communications strategies, and thoughtful campaigns to fight back against voter disenfranchisement.

In this era of unprecedented attacks on the foundations of democracy, we remain committed to supporting partners and fighting in the courts to protect access to the polls, undo exact match laws, and ensure communities of color are never silenced or pushed out of our democracy.

As voter suppression evolves, so do we. This fight is not new to us. We were built to protect democracy: one community, one vote, one win at a time.

In 2018, we launched Formation to create a racial justice network and learning space for grassroots power building groups. We also co-founded the National Campaign for Police Free Schools so that over 40 youth-led grassroots organizations fighting to end the criminalization of youth in schools can work on joint organizing, policy, and narrative strategy. In 2020, we launched the Black Narrative Table as a hub for Black-led and Black-serving progressive organizations and individuals to collaborate on long-term narrative strategy at scale to build power and progressive politics with Black communities. For decades, we’ve been co-hosting regular convenings, trainings, and learning opportunities for community-led organizations across the country, allowing people to connect, build networks, and support one another in our collective fight for liberation.

In 2024, the Black Narrative Table conducted an updated assessment of the most influential networks where election narratives reached and impacted Black voters. We used findings to conduct targeted and strategic educational outreach to Black communities leading up to the 2024 election, with a focus on combatting disinformation tactics and reaching Gen Z Black voters. And at the 2024 Formation convening in Los Angeles, members shared that they had been winning change locally, but then the state would come in and undo it. These conversations resulted in Advancement Project adopting a new focus on state preemption, a critical aim to support and secure local power for social justice change without state overturn, and we are actively bringing in new partners for this work.

Advancement Project and our partners are well positioned and ready for this unprecedented moment. Our communities who have fought against mass incarceration are ready to fight mass deportation. Our partners who have fought against police brutality are ready to fight against authoritarianism. Our students of color who have worked to get police out of schools are ready to fight back against ICE’s deportation machine.

Looking forward, we will continue responding to our partners’ needs by fighting against state preemption, building and protecting people power at the state and local levels, and holding space for gathering and learning across issues and geography, recognizing the intersectionality of this work. Our partners trust us to hold space for difficult conversations and bold strategies. We will proudly continue providing essential infrastructure for the movement, now and well into the future, just as we always have.