Voting Kits for the Disenfranchised

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For the 2020 U.S. Presidential election season, I am planning to create Voting Kits for the Disenfranchised, a series of toolkits for artists, activists, educators, students, and others to produce imaginative voting stations that will bring attention to voting barriers or restrictions in the United States. In 2016, according the U.S. Election Project, 29% of Americans (more than 92 million people) were ineligible to vote in the presidential election. These disenfranchised groups include youth under 18, non-citizens, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people (depending on state laws), residents of U.S. territories, and those without government issued IDs (depending on state laws). This list does not even address voter suppression. The goal of this project is to create a fun and pedagogical toolkit that helps us re-imagine what our election process would look like if we could empower some or all of these groups to vote. I’ll be collaborating with other artists on the design and fabrication of approximately 50 kits, each containing ballots, ballot boxes, infographics, wristbands, stickers, posters, music playlists, and more. With your help, this project will challenge the rhetoric that voting is for all, and instead, create a moment where everyone can take up space, be part of the conversation, and celebrate in protest.

About This Project

This project will build upon an earlier effort in 2016 where I created 25 Official Unofficial Voting Stations in cities across the U.S. and Mexico. For that project I collaborated with more than 15 artists and activists, many of whom are eager to sign on and be part of this new, larger initiative in 2020.

The goal for 2020 is to create voting kits that can be dispersed and activated. Anyone will be able to request a toolkit (for free) to activate as they see fit. These will be ideal for politically engaged artists, educators, students, activists, and any concerned citizens wanting to have conversations around disenfranchisement.

The Voting Kits for the Disenfranchised will include:

• Official Unofficial ballots, ballot boxes, and infographics showing the population of people who cannot legally vote in the United States
• If We Could Vote, We Would wristbands by Undocumented Projects
• Voting Stickers for All by Cute Rage Press
• Party as Protest vinyl record by Sadie Woods
• Screen-printed posters by William Estrada
• Handmade banners from the Protest Banner Lending Library
• Actions to Increase Voting Rights by Erin Delaney and myself
• How to Use This Kit info sheet

My goal as an artist is to question, problematize, and provide strategies for social and political concerns. I aim to create radical discourse around politics, human rights, and care. Art provides me with possibilities and platforms to empower disempowered communities. In my art practice, I ask: How can we develop a stronger and more inclusive sense of community, even if temporary, through art making?

Thank you for being part of this project; contributions of any amount will make a difference!

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, a national historic site of democratic experimentation for disenfranchised immigrants on the Near West Side of Chicago, facilitated partnerships across the country and was the hub for "Official Unofficial Voting Station: Voting for All Who Legally Can’t" in 2016. For more information visit hullhousemusuem.org. (Images: JAHHM/Sara Pooley)

Thank yous

Contribute any amount or choose from the levels below.

• $25
  A thank you shout-out on Facebook ($25.00 is tax deductible.)
• $50
  Above plus "Voting Stickers for All" designed by Cute Rage Press (Aram and Ishita) ($40.00 is tax deductible.)
• $100
  Above plus "Who Can’t Legally Vote" 11 x 17-inch poster ($65.00 is tax deductible.)
• $300
  Above plus a hand-made protest banner of your choice from the "Protest Banner Lending Library" ($165.00 is tax deductible.)
• $500
  A signed "Voting Kit for the Disenfranchised" (includes handmade: ballots, ballot box, posters, stickers, wristbands, banner, etc.) ($350.00 is tax deductible.)

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Aram Han Sifuentes

Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee

Aram Han Sifuentes (she/they) is a fiber and social practice artist, writer, and educator who works to claim spaces for immigrant and disenfranchised communities. Her work often revolves around skill sharing, specifically sewing techniques, to create multiethnic and intergenerational sewing …

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