By the People for the People: the Vote 2020 Initiative

In the months preceding the 2020 elections, NYU Professors Erica Foldy and John Gershman were concerned about voter turnout. The country continued to reckon with one crisis after another—from the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic to persistent demonstrations against racial inequity—and the ballot box would be a powerful opportunity for Americans to respond. But would voters show up on election day? And even more alarmingly, would those who want to vote even be able to? The solution, Erica and John realized, was to mobilize organizers who could educate and empower America’s electorate—and who better to mobilize than their students at NYU? And so began the university’s VOTE 2020 Fellowship.

From the summer preceding the elections to the senatorial run-offs in January, the VOTE 2020 Fellowship partnered NYU students with grassroots organizations that champion voting rights. Erica and John secured funding from the university provost to support the students, and then, like matchmakers, paired students with organizations that could utilize their talents. In total, thirty-two fellows partnered with nearly ten organizations around the country—they taught constituents how to use mail-in ballots, advocated voting accessibility for people with disabilities, challenged the discriminatory use of A.I. intelligence, and worked to prepare election sites for the logistical challenges of a pandemic.

“By the People, For the People: The VOTE 2020 Initiative'' chronicles this experimental fellowship through one student, Maya, and her two partner organizations, Mi Familia Vota and Detroit Action. As Maya encountered, the challenges to voter access are often historically complex, politically weaponized, and contrary to the principles of democracy they’re meant to uphold. But just as elites can erode the foundations of democracy, so can everyday people uphold them. And “By the People, For the People” examines what happens when these everyday people—like Erica, John, Maya, and Carlos, a lifelong advocate and organizer—take ownership of their democracy.