| Title | Date Created | Description | Subject | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Reviewing the Runoff System", July 15, 1983 | 1983-07-15 | The article discusses the primary runoff system in Southern US states and its potential impact on Black voters, as well as its effectiveness in promoting consensus-building and preventing rule by cliques, but also its drawbacks such as increased costs and a proliferation of candidates. 1 page. | African Americans--Politics and government, African Americans--Civil rights, Voting, Political science | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Black Voter Increase for 1980s", May 14, 1982 | 1982-05-14 | Press release on how the Voter Education Project found that one-third of counties in eleven southern states had a Black population of 27% or higher in 1980, with opportunities for voter registration and turnout activities. Mississippi had the most Black majority counties, and South Carolina had the highest percentage of counties with 27% or higher Black populations. 2 pages. | African Americans--Politics and government, African Americans--Civil rights, Voting, Political science | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Black Votes for Andrew Young", November 4, 1981 | 1981-11-04 | Press release on a study of the 1981 Atlanta Municipal elections by the Voter Education Project shows that Blacks alone provided enough votes to elect Andrew Young on October 27. Blacks won all four municipal elections in majority Black constituencies, and whites cast an even higher percentage of their votes for white candidates. 2 pages. | African Americans--Politics and government, African Americans--Civil rights, Voting, Political science | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "White Candidates Winning Elections in Majority Black Districts", October 23, 1981 | 1981-10-23 | Press release on how the VEP found that in the October 6, 1981 City of Atlanta municipal elections, four white candidates won in majority Black districts and all three elections in majority white districts, while Black mayoral candidates received 57% of the total vote and the highest percentage (58%) of registered voters cast ballots in the mayoral election. 2 pages. | African Americans--Politics and government, African Americans--Civil rights, Voting, Political science | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Black Voter Participation in 1980 Presidential Election", December 12, 1980 | 1980-12-12 | Press release on how 95% of Black registered voters in the South who turned out in the 1980 presidential election voted for Jimmy Carter, with a range of 92-97% in different states. Ronald Reagan won only 82,000 Black votes, ranging from 2-6% of the total Black vote. The study found that socioeconomic differences among Southern Blacks did not significantly affect their voting behavior. 2 pages. | African Americans--Politics and government, African Americans--Civil rights, Voting, Political science | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Voter Education Project on Voter Mobilization Tour", September 19, 1976 | 1976-09-19 | The VEP launched a voter mobilization tour which aimed to visit all 11 southern states before election day, and featured a combination of voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, with a focus on educating and motivating nonparticipating segments of society to take an active role in selecting government leaders and having a voice in decisions affecting collective lives. 1 page. | Voter registration, Political science, African Americans--Civil rights, African American civil rights workers | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Voting Rights Act Still Needed", July 17, 1975 | 1975-07-17 | Editorial discussing the opposing views of Mayor Jackson and Senator Talmadge on extending the 1965 Voting Rights Act, with the former supporting its extension and the latter opposing it because it does not cover the entire nation, but ultimately recommends that the bill should be extended regardless of the Senator's proposed amendment. 1 page. | Voter registration, Political science, African Americans--Civil rights | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "Permanent Voting Rights Protection Needed", April 1975 | 1975-04 | John Lewis testified before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, stating that the southern states had not complied with the Voting Rights Act, and permanent voting rights protection was needed, as citizenship education efforts had been hampered by noncompliance with the Act. 1 page. | Voter registration, Political science, African Americans--Civil rights, African American civil rights workers | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
| "A Need for Consolidation", November 19, 1969 | 1969-11-19 | Two newspaper clippings describing a report and criticisms surrounding the consolidation of the Atlanta and Fulton County governments. 2 pages. | Voting, Voter registration, Political science, African Americans--Politics and government, City planning | Voter Education Project Organizational Records |
Sep 4, 2020
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
The Voter Education Project (VEP) began in 1962 as part of the Southern Regional Council. Initially VEP granted funds to civil rights organizations to support voter education, voter registration drives, and voting-related research. In 1964, Vernon Jordan, the second executive director of the VEP, expanded the programs goals to include citizenship training, voter education, and leadership training in the southern United States, while continuing to provide funds to independent voter and civil rights groups, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the League of Women Voters. The VEP’s work with the League of Women Voters is highlighted in the materials below. In 1971, VEP under the leadership of John Lewis, became an independent organization and functioned as a research center and became known as an authoritative source for statistics on southern elections and voter registration in general. Lewis also forged the VEP into an activist organization, launching Voter Mobilization Tours with Georgia state legislator and civil rights advocate Julian Bond.
At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at DSD@auctr.edu.
