RELEASE: IMMIGRANTS, ALLIES MOBILIZE THOUSANDS OF VOTERS IN TENNESSEE PRIMARY ELECTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1, 2024

CONTACT

Hamp Price, hamp@tirrcvotes.org

IMMIGRANTS, ALLIES MOBILIZE THOUSANDS OF VOTERS IN TENNESSEE PRIMARY ELECTIONS

Progressive Partners Join Together To Build A Tennessee That Works For All

NASHVILLE— As the polls close in Tennessee's primary elections, immigrants, refugees, and their allies are celebrating historic voter mobilization efforts across the state, having made over 1,084,227 touches to Tennessee voters this election cycle.

“Immigrant and refugee voters know what’s at stake in 2024, and we won't sit by and accept the status quo from our state and federal officials,” said Judith Clerjeune, Advocacy Director at TIRRC Votes. “Voters are ready to show up and cast their ballot for progressive champions who will represent their values and work tirelessly to ensure all communities have the freedom to thrive in our state.”

To ensure voters had the information needed to cast their ballot in the August 1 primary elections, TIRRC Votes mobilized a team of 24 canvassers representing more than 10 countries to contact hundreds of thousands of voters through door knocking, phone banking, text banking, and hand-writing postcards. This election cycle, TIRRC Votes’s canvassing team and volunteers knocked on 11,520 doors, speaking with thousands of voters on the importance of casting their ballots. In addition to doors, TIRRC Votes canvassers made 408,723 calls and texts and sent 57,800 handwritten postcards to voters reminding them to go to the polls.

“Our canvassers had thousands of conversations with voters at the doors and on the phones, and we know our community is ready to make their voices heard this election,” said Pratik Dash, Political Director at TIRRC Votes. “Immigrant and refugee voters and their allies are a powerful voting bloc, and they are building a movement that shows up to vote for candidates that represent our communities–up and down the ballot, in every election."

TIRRC Votes also worked in coalition with progressive partners such as CivicTN, The Equity Alliance, Organize Tennessee, and others to educate and mobilize voters around issues such as gerrymandering, city budgeting, education, public safety, affordable housing, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, public transit, and disability justice. Together, the coalition made 6,250 phone calls, sent 658,573 text messages, and wrote 407,884 postcards to voters across the state.

“None of us are free until we are all free, which is why we are proud to work in coalition with our partners across issues to make sure voters can confidently cast their ballots, no matter the color of their skin, what's in their wallets, who they love, or how they came to call Tennessee home,” said Clerjeune. “All Tennesseans deserve the freedom to be ourselves, the freedom to learn, the freedom to give our families a better life and get home safely, and the freedom to vote and have an equal say in the decisions that impact our lives, and together we can vote for leaders who will deliver those freedoms and build a Tennessee where everyone can belong.”

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TIRRC Votes was launched in 2018 to strengthen and expand our democracy by building power in immigrant and refugee communities and advocating for equitable and inclusive public policy. TIRRC Votes is affiliated with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).