New American Pathways partners with Branch Politics to boost participation of new American voters in 2021 Georgia elections
The nonprofit and tech startup have launched an interactive non-partisan website, newap.branch.vote, that makes it easy to learn about local candidates and issues in advance of the November 2nd election.
CLARKSTON, Georgia–In the 2020 election, new American and immigrant voters played a vital role in determining electoral outcomes in Georgia and across the country. According to a study by Pew Research, naturalized citizens made up a record 10% of eligible voters in 2020.
Not all of these eligible citizens voted in the 2020 election. However, New American Pathways, a non-partisan (501c3) organization dedicated to helping new Americans in Metro Atlanta become successful, contributing and welcomed members of Georgia’s communities, is working to change that. “New American Pathways’ mission is to help refugees in Georgia thrive,” explained Paedia Mixon, the organization’s CEO. “An important part of thriving in a new community is participation in civic and community life.”
To advance this mission and encourage participation in Georgia’s 2021 municipal elections, New American Pathways has partnered with Branch Politics, a Georgia technology startup with a mission to make it easier for voters to be informed about local elections. Together, the organizations have launched an interactive non-partisan website that walks voters through what will be on their ballot and where the candidates stand on key issues. “We are so excited to partner with Branch because they are providing the individuals we serve with clear, accessible and nonpartisan information on candidates and issues so that Georgia’s newest citizens can vote with confidence,” explained Mixon. Voters who are interested in looking up what’s on their ballot can access the tool by visiting newap.branch.vote.
Upon launching the tool, Branch founder, Walter Ley, laid out how he hopes the tool will tackle the drop-off in participation seen outside of presidential election years. “Local elections often see a dramatic dip in voter turnout compared to presidential elections because the whole process of getting informed can be incredibly overwhelming. That shouldn’t be the case because local offices have such a big impact on our day-to-day lives.”
New American Pathways will use this tool as part of their “get out the vote” initiative for Georgia’s 2021 November election. Their work will mainly focus on providing accessible election information to voters in Clarkston, Lilburn, Tucker, Marietta, and Atlanta.
“Reducing barriers to linguistically accessible information is essential to increasing civic participation among new voters,” explained Paedia Mixon. “We look forward to using Branch as a tool to help break down those barriers and increase voter turnout as we look toward November’s municipal elections and beyond.”
About Branch: Branch is a Public Benefit Corporation headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information on Branch, please visit www.branch.vote/about. For questions, please contact Walter Ley at walter@branch.chat.
About New American Pathways: New American Pathways is a non-partisan, non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to helping new Americans in metro Atlanta become successful, contributing, and welcomed members of Georgia’s communities. For more information on New American Pathways, please visit newamericanpathways.org. For questions, please contact Ashley Coleman at a.coleman@newamericanpathways.org.
