By Michelle Moore, Bridge2Blue
The Virginia Grassroots Coalition’s “Vote Yes Fight Back” campaign has brought together an amazing array of volunteer-initiated voter outreach efforts to include a star-studded line-up of guests kicking off phone banks and a series of sketch videos that explain the redistricting amendment in English and in five other languages — Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, and Urdu. This multi-lingual outreach initiative is a significant step forward in making civic participation accessible to all Virginians.
The multilingual initiative directly addresses a longstanding barrier in Virginia’s political outreach the limited availability of campaign materials in languages that align with the rich multicultural communities throughout Virginia. The video series covers six of the ten most widely spoken languages in Virginia’s urban and suburban communities, helping to ensure that thousands of residents can engage with the campaign in their native language.
“Grassroots activists in Virginia have long raised concerns about this gap,” said a campaign spokesperson. “These videos represent real progress toward a more inclusive democratic process.”
How did Virginia Grassroots Coalition volunteers make this happen? Organizers reached out to trusted native-language speakers from within our community to help draft and review scripts. They partnered with Anika Rahman, Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia’s Asian-American Caucus, to align language support and review messaging—making sure the wording and cultural context reinforced the Vote Yes message and helped us reach more voters.
The results and the ability to engage more voters in their own language in new and novel ways has been invigorating for volunteers. One canvasser used a video when door knocking to cross a language barrier with the voter. We need to be ready—with as many tools as possible—when we talk with voters, so every voter feels valued and has the clear information they need to exercise their right to vote.
The colorful, engaging sketch videos are now available on the Virginia Grassroots Coalition’s Vote YES website.
About the Virginia Grassroots Coalition The Virginia Grassroots Coalition is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to expanding civic engagement and political access across Virginia’s diverse communities.
