"[1] America Votes leads national and state-based coalitions to advance progressive policies and increase voter turnout for Democratic Party candidates.
[2][3][4] America Votes was created prior to the 2004 United States presidential election by Ellen Malcolm, the founder of EMILY's List; former Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope; Harold Ickes; Steve Rosenthal; and Andy Stern, the former president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
For example, the organization recently opposed efforts to restrict out of state students from voting in New Hampshire.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, "Between 40 percent and 50 percent of that sum is projected to come from wealthy donors connected to the Democracy Alliance, a secretive nonprofit whose funders include the likes of billionaire investor George Soros and author, horticulturalist and philanthropist Amy Goldman.
The $27 million grant was nearly twice the amount America Votes had previously ever raised in a single year.