What Has to Change with Democrats’ Voter Registration Efforts

The New, Sobering Numbers

We’ve talked before about how the ground game wins the long game. It’s time for Democrats to take that advice, and not just during campaign season. Because there’s no getting away from the numbers.

A sobering report shows that between 2020 and 2024, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in all 30 states that track voter registration data — to the tune of 4.5 million voters. That’s larger than the popular vote margin Donald Trump secured over Kamala Harris. Yes, 2024 was unique and there are plenty of lessons there. But the numbers are a different story.

There’s no end of conversation about what has gone wrong for and within the Democratic party since November 2024. (We’ve already talked in depth about Democrats’ internal reckoning as a characteristic unique to our party — still true!) So we’re not here to add the million-and-first hot take to that discourse. 

No, we’re here to lay out the groundwork for a solution. 

First, we’ve got to commit to serious change to stop losing our own voters to Republicans and new voters to “no party” affiliation. But we’ve also got to dust off a rusty item out of our toolkit: mass voter registration efforts.

What Can I Do?

Voter registration drives have been utilized throughout American history to combat disenfranchisement. Think back to just 2018, when Stacey Abrams lost her Georgia gubernatorial bid at the hands of gerrymandering meant to bar Black voters. In response, she led drives that registered over 800,000 new voters in Georgia — ultimately helping to flip their Senate seats blue. We may not all be Stacey Abrams, but this is something we know how to do and we know how to do well.

In most communities across the country, voter registration is an act that anybody can do after completing a training (there are some exceptions, particularly in Republican states like Kansas and Texas, which require someone to undergo a formal process before being deputized as a volunteer registrar — so consult your attorney and local board of elections).

Additionally, remember that registering someone to vote is a nonpartisan action, so you cannot influence the person’s party affiliation, and you must submit a completed form regardless of what the person wrote on it.

Finally, think about what follow-up you can engage a newly registered voter with — consider making a flier you can provide them after they complete their registration form, or having your organization’s social media handles taped to the back of your clipboard. Collect a phone number and give them a call in a few weeks to confirm they’d received their voter registration card — and in the same conversation, invite them to your organization’s monthly meeting or upcoming picnic.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in West Hartford, CT, downtown Atlanta, or between two farms in Idaho — every voter you register is one more voice added to our chorus, and our song is a righteous one. Make it a habit of your organization to host a monthly voter registration drive, or grab a friend and walk around your local farmer’s market with a clipboard and some forms. Registration drives can’t just be a phase of the campaigning season for Democrats; they have to be a cornerstone of our political organizing.

We train Democrats for success in every aspect of campaigning, and our 45-minute Running a Voter Registration Program course addresses this exact need. We’ll walk you through how to find voter registration laws local to your campaign, implement voter registration tactics, and track the success of your efforts.

Wherever you’re at in your campaign, we’re here to help you lay down the bricks you need to win. If you’re looking for another place to start, our website always has free trainings, courses, and resources for other campaign needs.