League of Women Voters will hold Day of Action furthering its United & Rise campaign

By Nadir Benslimane
Nonprofit Sector News
June 30, 2026

The national League of Women Voters on Aug. 8 will hold a Unite & Rise for Voting Rights National Day of Action, commemorating the 61st year of the Voting Rights Act, as part of its Unite & Rise 8.5 campaign that it started in May 2025. The number 8.5 refers to the League’s goal of mobilizing 8.5 million nonvoters nationwide to register, vote, and otherwise become more involved in the democratic process.

The Aug. 8 event will be preceded by a virtual “pep rally” on Aug. 6 and will be followed by continued intensive voter engagement through Election Day, which this year is Nov. 3.

As political polarization continues to shape the American electorate, millions of eligible voters have apparently chosen to sit out the 2026 elections. U.S. News & World Report also reported that in 2024 nearly 90 million Americans did not vote in the presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, which helped prompt the League’s campaign starting the last year. Unite & Rise 8.5 is about moving people from concern to concrete engagement,” Jeanette Senecal, the League’s Chief of Civic Learning and Impact, said. “Our goal is to activate 8.5 million new voters through voter engagement – connecting them to registration, education, protection, and mobilization efforts – and to strengthen a broad, people-powered movement for democracy,” Senecal explained that Unite & Rise 8.5 sought to meet that challenge by creating accessible pathways for participation and equipping communities with the resources needed to become more active in the democratic process for the coming election. Through more than 800 local Leagues serving all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the initiative focuses on bridging those accessible pathways towards diverse communities, particularly those historically underrepresented in the political process.

As state and local Leagues are equipped with shared messaging, tools, and digital networks to drive participation, they reach out to disengaged and disenfranchised voters alike through coordinated rallies, civic education projects and events, August’s Day of Action, and other steps. (The campaign has received almost no news coverage by legacy media such as newspapers, television stations and networks, and newsmagazines.)At the same time, the League has invested in strengthening its own grassroots network. An internal survey found that about 88% of state and local League members reported “they were better equipped to end hyper-partisan practices that don’t benefit voters” while a similar majority reported, “they were more knowledgeable in how to strengthen democracy to be equitable, inclusive, and participatory.” However, the League understands the hurdles that stand against the campaign’s expansion. As Senecal explained, “Like many civic organizations, we’re operating in a highly polarized environment where trust in institutions is complicated by misinformation and disinformation that proliferates, including on social media platforms. That makes sustained engagement harder, but it also reinforces why trusted, local engagement is central to this work.”

A consolidated figure for the number of new voters mobilized has not been released yet, but the League emphasizes that it measures success through a broader set of civic engagement indicators. Beyond voter registration, the League tracks digital interactions, event participation, advocacy efforts, volunteer recruitment, membership growth, and the use of resources such as its VOTE411 voter information platform. Critically, the grassroots approach has enabled the League to expand partnerships with civic groups that share similar goals. National organizations including the National Education Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority have joined the effort, helping broaden the campaign’s reach while reinforcing its focus on nonpartisan civic participation. Even if the campaign ultimately falls short of mobilizing 8.5 million new voters, Senecal said the League of Women Voters views the initiative’s lasting impact through a wider lens. “Success is building sustained civic engagement – more informed voters, stronger local networks, and increased participation in defending democratic processes,” she said. “The goal is ambitious by design, but the real measure is durable movement-building.”

With just over four months remaining before the 2026 midterm elections, the true measure of Unite & Rise 8.5 may not be revealed in a single voter turnout statistic, but rather by whether it succeeds in reversing a broader trend of civic disengagement. For the League of Women Voters, the campaign represents an effort to empower voters and rebuild trust in democratic institutions while political polarization, misinformation, and voter apathy continue to shape the electorate.