NASCAR is partnering with national nonprofit We the Veterans and Military Families to support Vet the Vote, a national campaign aimed at recruiting veterans and military families to serve as nonpartisan poll workers across the country this fall.
“NASCAR is honored and humbled to count thousands of military veterans as NASCAR fans and we’re encouraging them to consider once again serving their country this election season as poll workers," said NASCAR Chief Impact Officer Eric Nyquist in a statement.
“We are committed to doing our part to help address the critical shortage of poll workers in this country, so we’re proud to support Vet the Vote and its vital mission this fall."
The Vet the Vote campaign is designed to tackle the historic shortage of poll workers nationwide by inspiring veterans and military family members to leverage their sense of purpose and patriotism to serve as poll workers.
The 2022 elections saw more than 63,500 members of the military community raise their hands to register through the Vet the Vote program. Today, that number has more than doubled, with more than 140,000 registrations through Vet the Vote currently.
“We are thrilled NASCAR is joining the Vet the Vote coalition to support recruiting veterans and military family members to be the next generation of election poll workers,” said Ellen Gustafson, executive director of We the Veterans and Military Families. “Vet the Vote has recruited over 140,000 veterans and military family members to serve again in their local jurisdictions since our inception in 2022. We’re proud to have a great American institution like NASCAR as a partner and look forward to collaborating with them in the future to support our elections.”
The campaign kicked off this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, where the Vet the Vote campaign engaged NASCAR fans in the fan zone at select races and registered veterans and military family members as poll workers leading up to the 2024 elections.
Typically, America needs approximately 900,000 poll workers to effectively run elections in all states and territories during a presidential election. In 2020, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on an aging volunteer base and upticks in threats of political violence significantly depressed volunteerism, especially among the 60+ year old traditional election volunteer cohort, leading to reduced number of polling stations, longer lines at the polls, increased stress on volunteers, and ultimately, more difficulty voting.
To address this critical issue, NASCAR will join a cohort of 38 national businesses and organizations, including the NFL, Microsoft, and Walmart, in support of the Vet the Vote program.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.