The Democratic National Committee is launching a textline Tuesday to help people with voting questions, aiming to reach voters where they are — on their phones — when they need help with something about the ballot-casting process in the next 49 days before Election Day.
Ahead of National Voter Registration Day, DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement to NBC News that the effort is aimed especially at helping young people navigate the voting process.
“Every voter deserves to make their voice heard and cast their ballot for the future they want to see, which is why we’ve invested millions into our ‘I Will Vote’ program and have launched a new text hotline to get young voters real time information and live support directly on their phones in the run up to Election Day,” Harrison said in the statement.
The textline is monitored by DNC employees and volunteers who will be able to provide real-time answers via text when users have questions regarding any step of the voting process. Those questions can range from how to register to vote to how to spot or address poll worker misconduct.
Any voter can use the service regardless of partisan affiliation. The DNC said the information they are sharing is nonpartisan, though it’s being run by a party committee.
“This November is the most important election of our lifetimes, and we want every voter to make their voice heard,” Harrison said.
Harrison says the DNC is making it “easier than ever” to get the information voters need to exercise their right to vote.
Since the 2020 election, the DNC has invested more than $30 million dollars to expand its “I Will Vote” initiative. The textline is the latest voter assistance feature, but the program already had a voter information hotline available in English and Spanish, as well as a website spelling out important voting information by state, such as important local dates and deadlines as well as things like voter ID requirements.
According to the DNC, its hotline has received more than 17,000 calls in both English and Spanish since the beginning of the 2024 presidential election cycle. Since 2020, the effort has fielded more than 150,000 calls.
Ahead of the primaries in states like Nevada and Michigan earlier this year, the DNC ran advertising directing young voters, voters of color and rural voters to IWillVote.com to find information on how and where to vote based on their location
The DNC’s team staffing the effort includes more than 12,700 volunteers nationwide, who will take on various responsibilities, including being hotline volunteers and serving as poll observers.
Laura Estersohn, 70, a volunteer hotline coordinator volunteer for the phone program, recruits and trains volunteers to make sure the hotline is functioning and makes sure volunteers have the tools they need to answer questions accurately.
“As an educator, I wanted to make sure that Americans, especially young Americans, know how to vote and are eligible to exercise their right to vote,” Estersohn, a retired high school math teacher, told NBC News. She likes the idea of the new text line because it will “appeal to young people who like texting.”
“Voting is a way to have your voice heard, and this is a very high stakes election, so we want to make sure that people know how to vote and are able to exercise their right to vote,” Estersohn said.
