WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — The Democratic National Committee is rounding out its $7 million in spending on the “I Will Vote” campaign by putting mobile billboards in nearly a dozen metro areas that could be crucial in determining the outcome of the presidential election.
The billboards are intended to increase turnout and direct voters to the DNC’s I Will Vote website that provides information about polling locations and educational materials.
The mobile billboards are set to drive around Atlanta; Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Las Vegas, Nevada; Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Tempe, Arizona.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a written statement that the I Will Vote campaign “is a testament to Democrats’ commitment to and investment in the many communities that make up our strong coalition of voters.”
“Throughout this campaign, Democrats have worked with diverse vendors and talent that are reflective of our values as a party and the communities that we are reaching with the campaign,” Harrison said. “This entire election cycle, the Democratic Party has not taken a single vote or community for granted and used every opportunity to engage with the pivotal members of our party that will take us over the finish line on Election Day by electing Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Previous DNC “I Will Vote” mobile billboards have been directed at Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, Haitian, Latino, LGBTQ+, Native American and rural voters, according to the announcement. The billboards have also run in nine different languages.
The DNC spent around $200,000 on this final round of mobile billboards.
More than 1 million people have visited the DNC’s I Will Vote website since its launch. Voting information can also be found at vote.gov and vote.org.
Any civil rights violations regarding voting can be reported to the Department of Justice by calling 800-253-3931 or by filling out a report online.
The DNC is hoping the billboards help Vice President Kamala Harris win the 270 Electoral College votes needed to become the country’s next president.
Polls show tight race
Harris has been polling closely, often within the margin of error, with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the key battleground races that will determine the next commander-in-chief.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter places Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the toss-up column for the presidential race, meaning Harris and Trump are relatively evenly matched to win those states’ Electoral College votes.
Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief, wrote in her final analysis released Friday that “(p)olling averages suggest that Trump has a narrow lead in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. If he won all three, that would add up to 260 electoral votes, ten votes shy of an Electoral College victory.”
“Harris has a tiny lead in Michigan and Wisconsin,” Walter added. “If she wins both, she’ll still be 19 votes shy of 270. Nevada and Pennsylvania are currently tied in the 538 average. In that scenario, neither candidate could win without Pennsylvania.”
But, Walter writes in her article that “dramatic scenario isn’t one that we’ve seen in the last two cycles.”
“Instead, almost all of the battleground states have ultimately broken to one candidate. In 2016, Trump carried all but Nevada. In 2020, Biden carried all but North Carolina,” Walter wrote. “Moreover, analyst Ron Brownstein has noted that in every presidential election but one since 1980, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have voted for the same candidate.”
