Assatta Mann is a senior organizer of the League of Women Voters New Jersey. She is an engaged activist who builds support for different issues within our state. She majored in political science at Rutgers University and got her start in activism there. Currently, her greatest priority is the Same Day Voter Registration bill (A1966 and S247). This bill would allow voters to register themselves at their polling location on Election Day. As the legislative session nears to the end, this issue is becoming more urgent. While there are obvious benefits from this bill including increasing accessibility and voter turnout, some hold concerns such as security and the possibility of voting fraud. I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Mann about her experiences in political activism as well as her work surrounding Same Day Voter Registration.
Q: How did you get involved in advocacy and public policy?
A: I think I was really introduced to advocacy, civic engagement, and politics in general when I went to college. I attended Rutgers University in Newark. I majored in political science, and the courses I took gave me a strong idea of how government works, the political history of the United States, as well as our involvement around the world.
So in general, that was my first introduction and education on these topics. But most of the influential experiences and learning moments I had didn’t happen in the classroom. A lot of it was about being involved on campus and in the larger Newark community. I got really involved in student life and joined several student organizations, where I had leadership positions. That gave me the opportunity to get involved with elections and learn how that stuff works. It also gave me the opportunity to start advocating for change on issues I’m passionate about and exposed me to a community of other students and youth activists.
In my senior year and after graduating, I really got my hands dirty. I worked to get grassroots candidates elected to office locally in New Jersey. When grassroots candidates, first-time candidates, and young people of color are running for office, they usually don’t have the fundraising network or access to resources that more established candidates have. So I saw it as an opportunity to do a little bit of everything—political organizing, coalition building, communications, and even a bit of logistics like campaign finance.
Q: Many youths don’t seem to know a lot about public policy. How do you think we can encourage more youths to be engaged?
A: It really comes down to education. The reality is, as young students, you spend the majority of your day in school, right? So, part of your education at school should have to involve civic education. And that’s not just reading a book or having a lesson on it, but also providing an opportunity to get involved. As a young person in middle or high school, it’s important to see how the process works and to get your hands dirty. For example, they could volunteer as poll workers or have election machines brought to their schools. They could attend public hearings or even do public testimony on issues they care about. If I had been exposed to some of those things a few years younger, it would have made a significant difference and empowered me to get involved earlier.
Q: How would you recommend that people who have never entered this area before get started?
A: I would say, if you want to do something, if you’re passionate about an issue, want to change something, or just want to understand how things work, just do it. Take the first steps. Whether that’s trying to get a law passed or even running for office. Of course, do your research, seek advice, training, and mentorship. But don’t let your age or lack of experience be a barrier to becoming a community leader.
Some of the most impressive activists and organizers I know started as teenagers in activism. I encourage you to seek out experienced organizers and groups for guidance. There are incredible people and organizations out there, including the League of Women Voters, who have decades of knowledge and resources to offer. Many times, if you’re willing to reach out, send an email, or make a phone call, you can access that knowledge. Don’t be shy.
Q: You’ve mentioned the League of Women Voters a couple of times, and I know you’re a senior organizer for New Jersey. So when and how did you get involved with the League of Women Voters?
A: I started working for the League in February 2021. But I learned about them about a year and a half earlier when I was still in college. I was still at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, and they had a fellowship opportunity that allowed people to get hands-on experience in American government and politics. They had a panel with guest speakers, and the League’s executive director came in. She introduced herself and told us about her work. Before that, I had never heard of the League of Women Voters.
So it was really great timing when, about a year and a half later, at the end of 2020, I found a job opening for a community organizer position at LWVNJ (League of Women’s Voters New Jersey). I had just been fired from my part-time retail job at a shoe store because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So when a friend sent me the job description for the community organizer position, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Growing up, I didn’t even know that being a community organizer was a possible job. But after being exposed to the possibility, it sounded like everything I wanted to do. So I applied, and the rest is pretty much history. I started working there in February 2021, and now I’m a senior organizer.
Within that role, I do a lot of things. I primarily support and organize our members and our 30+ local chapters, recruit and empower everyday people from all walks of life and backgrounds to become grassroots leaders, and build power to influence public policy and advocate for laws at the state and local levels.
Q: In your role, you’ve been working on the same-day voter registration bill. Can you briefly explain what it is and why it’s so important?
A: Right now, in New Jersey, if you want to vote in our elections, you have to register to vote. There’s a deadline for doing so, which is 21 days before an election. That’s a whole three weeks. The problem is that because of this deadline, there are people who get left out of our elections every single year because they miss it for various reasons.
This bill is a common-sense solution to the problem of people being disenfranchised and losing their right to vote due to missing an arbitrary voter registration deadline. There’s no meaningful reason why this deadline is set at 21 days when it could be, for example, 25 days or even 15 days. There are several reasons people might miss the deadline, such as moving and not updating their registration, becoming a new American citizen after the deadline, or being released from incarceration.
The Same-Day Voter Registration Bill would allow eligible voters to register to vote at the polls on Election Day or during the early voting period. The benefits of same-day voter registration are numerous. It helps increase voter turnout, with an average 5% increase overall and up to a 10% increase among young voters aged 18 to 25 and up to a 17% increase among black and Latino communities. Overall, this is not only a pro-democracy initiative but also a step toward making our government more reflective of the desires of our population by removing barriers to voting.
Q: Over 20 states already have a similar bill and while there is a lot of support in both houses, it’s still facing tough opposition. Why do they oppose it?
A: There are several different opposition arguments to same day voter registration, and some of them are valid concerns for sure.
A: The first thing you will hear in any conversation about expanding access to the ballot is the argument that this is not secure. That this is going to undermine the security of our elections. The reality of the fact is, same day voter registration is just as, if not more, secure than traditional voter registration. You have to bring valid documents that prove that you are who you claim to be. It’s basically the process that happens now. The only major difference is that it happens on Election Day.
The other thing that we hear people say is the question of why they couldn’t just get it together in time? It’s so easy to register to vote: you can do it online, you can do it at the DMV. If voting is so important, why could you not register to vote on time? We really reject that argument for a lot of reasons. We know that it is not easy for every single person, especially people of historically marginalized backgrounds to get registered to vote.
The other thing is the argument that it will put stress on poll workers. Same day voter registration increases voter turnout by 5% on average or higher for certain groups. But when we’re talking about each individual polling place, the reality is, we’re only talking about maybe a handful of voters here and there using same day voter registration.
Q: With so much opposition and limited time left, what have you been doing to try to move this bill forward?
A: The League of Women Voters have been advocating for this bill for about two, maybe three years now in partnership with other organizations. I actually, in my role, helped to coordinate a coalition of over 75 organizations and dozens of volunteers. As part of trying to advocate for this bill to pass, we use a number of different strategies and tactics.
We’ve done mass calling days, we send emails, we’ve gone to the statehouse to talk to them in person. We’ve set up meetings with them in Trenton or in their local offices. We’ve also collected several sign-on letters that were signed by roughly 80 state and local social justice and civic engagement groups. We’ve sent them to Governor Murphy, the Senate President, and the Assembly Speaker, asking them to prioritize this issue.
We’re also trying to build grassroots power which is needed to build a long-term movement that is capable of strengthening and protecting our democracy. So that includes a lot of public education and public meetings to let the public know what this bill is, how they can get involved and help them become capable activists and grassroots leaders. We are on social media and we’ve gone to local neighborhoods, especially focusing and targeting people who would be affected by this bill. That means young people, communities of color, communities who historically do not turn out to vote in high numbers. We go door to door or go to high traffic transit stations. We try to meet people in the streets, in their community to get the word out and get their support.
And currently, our focus is collecting signed postcards from thousands of New Jersey residents that will be delivered in person to legislative leaders. Our goal is to demonstrate that this bill has broad support. Right now, we’re seeing threats to our democracy across the country, at all levels of government. We’re seeing state legislatures across the country introduce bills and laws that obstruct the right to vote. New Jersey has to be a leader on this issue and we’re not gonna go away.
Q: It’s obvious that the public has to get engaged and help push this bill through. How can high school students get involved?
A: There’s so many things you can do. I’ll say one very easy but important action you can take is to reach out directly to your legislators. You’ve got to make this an issue for them and let them know how important this is to you, especially as a young person. You can reach out to your legislators in a number of ways. You can call them, talk to them over the phone, try to set up a meeting in person, or you can send them an email. The League of Women Voters in New Jersey actually has an easy one-click tool that you can use to send your legislators a message. We already have a pre-written message that you’re welcome to customize, but if you only have, let’s say, a minute and you want to do something that’s really impactful and effective, that gets your voice on the record for this bill. Please send your legislators an email.
There’s also so many other opportunities to volunteer with the campaign if you want to get involved and do a little bit more. That includes some of the activities I mentioned earlier, like doing public education events, hosting a speaker, getting the word out on social media, writing articles, or training activists.
But the number one thing is legislators need to hear from us. They cannot take our views into consideration if they don’t know what they are. And it is just way too easy for them to ignore us and to put this issue in the background. There’s power in numbers.
Q: Lastly, do you have any advice for high school students interested in public policy and activism?
A: The most important thing I could say is to get experience. Try to expose yourself to different issues and all of the movements and the work that’s going on. Over the last few years, I have taken online training and just popped into webinars for related things that interested me and that exposed me to so much. Don’t let your inexperience or age be a roadblock. Join youth-led organizations and expose yourself to other young people who are involved. Use the opportunity to lead, use your own knowledge, skills, resources, relationships, all your special talents to build power and make change.