A nonprofit organization that helps people get IDs so they can vote plans to expand drastically over the next year, spending $3.6 million on its efforts, Axios reports.
The group, Spread The Vote, reportedly spent $770,000 this year to help more than 600 voters in Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida obtain IDs. Next year, Spread The Vote is expanding into seven more states: West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi.
“The midterms may be over, but our work is far from done,” Kat Calvin, founder of Spread The Vote, told Axios. “IDs are about so much more than voting. Our clients use their IDs to get jobs, housing, medical care, food at food banks, nights at shelters, and so much more.”
According to the organization, 21 million eligible voters in the U.S. don’t have a photo ID. With 34 states requesting or requiring voters to show identification at the polls, easing the process of getting an ID can have a huge effect on voter turnout.
Spread The Vote helps individuals by covering the fees involved with getting an ID. While the ID itself costs an average of $40, individuals might also need help obtaining additional documents like birth certificates in order to apply. Spread The Vote also spends funds on volunteer training, voter education materials and efforts, and staff members.
According to Axios, the group aims to get IDs for 10,000 people in 2019—a goal more than 16 times higher than what Spread The Vote accomplished in this election cycle.
