ICYMI: Vice President Harris Opens NAACP Image Awards by Urging People Across America to Register to Vote

"Go to Vote.gov to register to vote," said the Vice President in a surprise video with Queen Latifah that aired during the ceremony's opening segment on Saturday night

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris opened the 55th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday night by urging people across the nation to register to vote or check their registration status. During a surprise video that kicked off the ceremony, the Vice President asked Queen Latifah to remind viewers to go to Vote.Gov.

"Remind people about how important this election is coming up in November," Vice President Harris urged Queen Latifah. "If you can ask people to go to Vote.gov to register to vote or to check their registration status, that would mean a lot."

The Vice President has consistently led efforts to protect voting rights and advance voter registration. Last month, she convened her second meeting of 2024 with leaders who are on the frontlines of protecting voting rights and registering communities to vote. During the roundtable conversation, she announced new steps that the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to ensure Americans have the information they need to vote, promote voter participation for students, protect election workers, and fight voter suppression laws. In January, she was in Atlanta, GA for a roundtable conversation on voting rights where she called out extremists across the country for their full-on assault on the freedom to vote at a time when more than 300 anti-voter bills were introduced last year.

Since being sworn in, Vice President Harris has been working with President Biden to ensure that the voting rights of Americans are protected and advanced. In addition to her work on pushing for federal legislation, the Vice President has consistently convened a broad coalition of voting rights champions to strategize about what we must do to ensure that Americans have access to the ballot. She has consistently brought together leaders from the Black community, Latino community, Asian American and Pacific Islander community, Native American and Tribal community, voters with disabilities, youth, poll workers and election officials, and democracy advocacy groups.

In addition to these convenings, Vice President Harris has continued her leadership on voting rights and in the fight for fundamental freedoms:

• In January, the Vice President traveled to South Carolina to mark the third anniversary of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by delivering the keynote speech at the 7th Episcopal District AME Church Women's Missionary Society's annual retreat. Her address focused on the full-on attack on hard fought, hard-won freedoms.

• In the fall, the Vice President launched a nationwide "Fight for Our Freedoms" college tour in which she energized more than 15,000 students and young leaders. The Vice President took questions from students on a range of issues – including voting rights – and called on students to register to vote, organize, and stay involved in the fight for our freedoms.

• Last year, the Vice President also held a Summer of Action in which she traveled to 17 states to hold a series of events. During these events, the Vice President spoke about voting rights and how the Administration is fighting back against attacks on fundamental freedoms. For example, she visited the Gila River Indian Community where she spoke about the need for the Native American Voting Rights Act.

• In July, the Vice President convened a roundtable discussion on the Americans with Disabilities Act that focused on voting rights and built on an earlier convening about making voting more accessible for those with disabilities.

• In March of 2022, the Vice President delivered remarks commemorating the President's Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting.

• The Vice President has regularly held meetings about voting rights with state legislators and members of Congress across the country. This includes traveling to Tennessee after Rep. Jones and Rep. Pearson were expelled, speaking with Texas legislators who were working to block voter suppression efforts, and holding a listening session in Michigan.