Stuffing the Ballot Box for Democrats?

Though VPC describes itself as a “nonpartisan organization,” its overriding objective is to increase electoral support for Democrats. Each of its target groups has traditionally been a reliable supporter of the Democratic Party. According to an October 2010 VPC study, for instance, unmarried women favor Democratic candidates by a 67%-to-28% margin—in contrast to married women, who lean 52%-to-40% in favor of Republicans. Similarly, 86% of African Americans and 64% of Hispanics identify themselves as Democrats. And in 2008, fully 66% of voters under age 30 supported Barack Obama.

VPC was originally known as “Women’s Voices, Women Vote” (WVWV), and started out as a project of the Tides Center in 2003; two years later, it incorporated as a stand-alone entity. The name was formally changed in 2011 to reflect the fact that the organization had expanded its focus beyond unmarried women, to include the entire RAE.