Yesterday, the DNC launched When We Count, a historic, seven-figure partisan voter registration effort ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, and the first time the DNC has conducted on-the-ground partisan voter registration in over a decade. The When We Count Youth Fellowship will train hundreds of young supporters to register tens of thousands of new voters and close critical voter registration gaps in priority congressional districts.

This midterm cycle, the DNC is making voter registration a top priority to close the partisan registration gap and rebuild and expand Democratic power across the country. 

Take a look at some of the coverage below: 

On Broadcast: 

MS NOW: “My job is to win elections, and to do that, we have to create more Democrats. We do that by persuading voters for sure, but we also do that by registering people who aren’t registered, get them involved in their democracy, get make sure they understand that they have power and a voice, and make sure they’re mobilized to the polls. This is a historic investment by the DNC, the largest investment ever in actually reversing the trends that we’ve seen in recent years, where we’ve lost ground to the Republicans on voter registration.”

MS NOW: “The DNC is announcing its plan to spend millions of what could be its biggest push ever, to register new voters ahead of the November elections. … This new DNC voter registration initiative will be zeroing in on people of color, younger voters, people without college educations, and these were, of course, key to Trump’s win, previously. The DNC Chair telling the AP, ‘It’s a crisis, and for our party to actually win elections, we have to actually create more Democrats.’”

WDVM: “Democratic National Committee plans to spend over $2 million on voter registration efforts ahead of the November midterms. In previous election cycles, registering voters has typically been up to individual donors, campaigns and nonprofits, but Democrats are hoping this new national program will help sign up new voters and help them take control of the House. A new fellowship program will direct the effort, which will focus on young people. … DNC chair Ken Martin explained why in a statement, he said, ‘While Republicans are doing everything they can to silence young voters, voters of color and working families, we’re going to register voters, train organizers, empower young people and make sure they have tools to shape their future.’”

KPHO: “Democrats are trying to play catch-up, spending millions to shift voter registration strategies ahead of the November midterms, and they’re starting right here in Arizona. Before now, nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns were in charge of voter registration efforts. Now, the Democratic National Committee will control that push, and right out the gate, they’re pumping $2 million into training organizers in Arizona and Nevada. It’s the biggest push ever to register new voters, focusing specifically on young people, voters of color, and people without a college education.”

KRXI: “The Democratic National Committee says they plan to spend millions of dollars to consolidate voter registration efforts. The initiative begins in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million for training organizers of the program.  The DNC says it’s focusing on young people, people of color, and those without college educations, groups that tended to drift away from Democrats in the last presidential race. ‘So our job as Democrats over the years, we have to get back to basics and giving people a hope, giving people a sense that their better days are ahead of them, and then providing a prescriptive policy agenda that spells out how we’re actually going to improve their lives.’ Well, this effort is traditionally handled by nonprofits and individual campaigns. This program will also coordinate national days of action and encourage state parties to compete in voter registration efforts.”

KSAZ: “The Democratic National Committee is set to spend millions of dollars to help voter registration efforts in our state and Nevada. Now this has traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual campaigns, but political experts say the move could help for the midterms. The focus will be on registering young people, minorities, people without college education, and those who went away from the Democratic Party back in 2024. ‘Our job as Democrats over the years, we have to get back to basics and giving people a hope, giving people a sense that their better days are ahead of them, and then providing a prescriptive policy agenda that spells out how we’re actually going to improve their lives.’”

WAGA: “The DNC is making a major strategy shift, planning to spend millions on voter registration. Traditionally, nonprofits and individual political campaigns handle that, but party leaders say they hope to shift will increase the Democrats’ chances in the midterms. They say they will focus on registering young people, voters of color, and people without a college education, all of those demographics shifted away from the Democrats in the last presidential race. The party will begin its efforts in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million going to train organizers.”

WJZY: “The Democratic National Committee says that it plans to spend millions of dollars to consolidate voter registration efforts. This effort is traditionally handled by nonprofits and individual campaigns. The initiative begins in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million for training organizers. The DNC says that it’s focusing on young people, people of color, and those without college education — groups who drifted away from Democrats in the last presidential race. The program will also coordinate national days of action and encourage state parties to compete in voter registration efforts.”

KNEW: “The Democratic National Committee is launching a seven-figure voter registration initiative ahead of this year’s midterms. As part of the initiative, the DNC plans to train more than 100 young democrats on helping register young voters in battleground districts such as Nevada and Arizona. There will also be several national weeks of action that are expected to mobilize voter registration efforts around the country. According to the national party, this will be its largest ever investment in voter registration targeted at young people and people of color.” 

KOH: “The DNC announced Tuesday it will be pouring more than $700,000 into voter registration efforts in Nevada and Arizona. The money will train volunteers to canvass in local communities, speaking to voters about ways to improve tourism and fight high costs in housing and health care. Nevada Democratic Party chair Danielle Monroe Moreno lists the people they want to reach. ‘We can’t win statewide without earning the support of young voters, black voters, Latino voters, AAPI voters, as well as white working-class voters.’”

WRKO: “The Democratic National Committee is launching a seven-figure voter registration initiative ahead of this year’s midterm elections. As part of the initiative, the DNC plans to train more than 100 young Democrats on helping register young voters in battleground districts like Nevada and Arizona. There will also be several national weeks of action that’s expected to mobilize voter registration efforts all across the country.”

KTAR: “The Democratic National Committee plans to spend $2 million in swing states Arizona and Nevada in an effort to register more voters as Democrats. The party has relied on nonprofit advocacy groups in years past, who are required by law to be nonpartisan. Arizona US Senator Ruben Gallego says Democrats have a lot of ground to recover. ‘The beginning of my election, there was 200,000 registered more Republicans than Democrats. By the time the election ended in 2024 there was 315,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Arizona.’ Gallego says some races in Arizona are won by slim margins, adding every vote counts.’”

In Print: 

Associated Press: Democrats will spend millions to shift voter registration strategy ahead of the midterm elections

[Matt Brown, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee will spend millions of dollars to cement control of voter registration efforts that have traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns, a shift that party leaders hope will increase their chances in this year’s midterm elections.

“The initiative, being announced on Tuesday, will begin in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million for training organizers. It’s the first step in what could become the DNC’s largest-ever push to sign up new voters, with a particular focus on young people, voters of color and people without college educations. …

“The DNC initiative aims to reach non-college-educated young voters by recruiting organizers from a wide array of backgrounds, like gig economy workers and young parents, who have often been overlooked in the party’s grassroots efforts. Democrats hope that organizers’ own perspectives and experiences will help party strategists learn how to connect with Americans in blue-collar roles who are disaffected with politics, whom the party fears it has lost touch with in recent elections.”

Arizona Republic: National Democrats launch voter registration effort in Arizona

[Stephanie Murray, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee is making a ‘seven-figure’ investment to register new voters in Arizona, the party announced Jan. 13. …

“The DNC said it sees opportunity with Arizona’s more than 700,000 unregistered Latino voters, calling the group a key demographic that Democrats lost ground with in 2024.

“‘The midterms are here, and at the DNC, we refuse to let anybody else dictate this election season — we’re setting the tone,’ DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a written statement. ‘We’re going to register voters, train organizers, empower young people, and make sure they have the tools to shape their future. That’s what this program is all about.’” 

Nevada Independent: National Democrats launch seven-figure voter registration campaign in Nevada, Arizona

[Mini Racker, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee hopes to reverse recent trends by making a historic investment in registering new Democratic voters nationwide — and the party is kicking off the effort with a seven-figure investment in Nevada. …

“The DNC’s program, dubbed ‘When We Count,’ is expected to be the committee’s largest-ever national voter registration campaign and marks the first time in more than ten years that it has invested in on-the-ground partisan voter registration. DNC Chair Ken Martin stressed the strategic importance of such efforts, saying they will be a top priority. …

“The DNC will be especially focused on voters of color that it says have been overlooked by traditional registration efforts. The party believes it could help register nearly half of the state’s 160,000 unregistered Latino voters, as well as many members of the fast-growing Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate.”

Newsweek: Democrats Announce Seven-Figure Voter Registration Effort

[Alex J. Rouhandeh, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee will make a seven-figure investment in voter registration efforts, DNC Chairman Ken Martin said in a Tuesday morning press call attended by Newsweek.

“Launching in the electoral battleground states of Arizona and Nevada before rolling out nationally, the effort—called ‘When We Count’—seeks to reduce the Democratic Party’s reliance on allied 501(c)(3) nonprofits to register voters, Martin said. …

“‘We’ve been getting our butts kicked for years now by the Republicans on voter registration,’ Martin said during the call. ‘What the significance of this launch is, is that we are getting the party committees and hard side actors—candidate campaigns, elected officials, state parties, local party committees and national party committees—back into the voter registration game.’”

Washington Times: DNC initiates what could be its largest-ever voter registration effort ahead of 2026 midterms

[Mary McCue Bell, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee launched what it called its largest-ever voter registration effort Tuesday to boost the party’s chances in the November midterm elections.

“The initiative, dubbed When We Count, aims to close the Democratic national voter registration gap by training young Democrats to register new voters in districts across the country. It is the first time in over a decade that the DNC is investing in on-the-ground voter registration. …

“The When We Count Fellowship trains people to register new Democratic voters in an effort to close ‘critical registration gaps’ in battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterms.”

KTAR News: Democrats launch voter registration effort in Arizona, Nevada ahead of midterm elections

[JEFF VINTON, 1/13/26]

“Ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, Democrats are launching a nationwide voter registration effort, beginning in Arizona and Nevada, officials announced Tuesday. …

“When We Count, which Martin described as ‘the DNC’s largest-ever voter registration effort,’ will aim to train hundreds of fellows nationwide to register tens of thousands of new Democratic voters, according to Martin. …

“‘Here’s the bottom line: Democrats have momentum after a historic 2025, but we’re not going to take this momentum for granted,’ Martin said. ‘We’re going to set the tone, we’re going to register more Democratic voters to elect more Democrats to office.’”

Fox News: Playing catchup to Republicans, Democrats launch ‘largest-ever’ partisan national voter registration campaign

[Paul Steinhauser and Andrew Mark Miller, 1/13/26]

“Acknowledging that ‘we’ve been getting our butts kicked for years now by the Republicans on voter registration,’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin on Tuesday announced the DNC will spend millions of dollars to get ‘back in the game.’

“Martin said the newly created ‘When We Count’ initiative, which he described as the party’s ‘largest ever voter registration effort… will train hundreds of fellows throughout the country to register tens of thousands of new voters in communities across the country.’ …

“The DNC’s seven-figure initiative, which Martin said would kick off in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, ‘puts our national party and local parties back in the game. When we count, we’ll begin to chip away at the Republican advantage as we prepare to organize everywhere and win everywhere in 2026.’”

NBC News: DNC launching seven-figure voter registration program

[Ben Kamisar, 1/14/26]

“The Democratic National Committee is launching an in-house voter registration fellowship program aimed at registering tens of thousands of new voters, DNC Chairman Ken Martin announced, calling the program the party’s “largest voter registration effort” in its history.

“Martin said the program will launch with a seven-figure investment in Arizona and Nevada. Lamenting how Democrats have largely ceded their voter registration programs to nonprofit groups, contrasting with how partisan groups spearhead Republicans’ voter registration efforts, Martin said the program is about leveling the voter registration playing field with the GOP by centering a more partisan-focused approach. 

“‘This is an all-hands-on-deck moment,’ he said. ‘We can’t just assume that certain demographics, whether they be young voters, voters of color or otherwise, will automatically support the Democratic Party.’”

Nevada News and Views: Democrats Launch Massive Voter Registration Push in Nevada After Losing Registration Edge

[Brittany Sheehan, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee is responding with what they’re calling their largest-ever voter registration effort. They’re starting in Nevada and Arizona with at least $2 million just for training organizers.

“The DNC’s new initiative, called ‘When We Count,’ marks the first time in over a decade that Democrats are investing directly in on-the-ground voter registration. …

“The DNC is specifically targeting young people, voters of color, and people without college degrees – all groups that shifted toward Republicans in 2024. They’re recruiting organizers from backgrounds like gig economy workers and young parents, hoping these organizers can connect with voters the party has been losing.”

The Hill: DNC launches seven-figure voter registration initiative ahead of 2026 midterms

[Caroline Vakil, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said Tuesday that it’s launching a seven-figure voter registration initiative aimed at young people without a college education ahead of this year’s midterms. 

“The DNC plans to train more than 100 young Democrats on helping register young voters in battleground districts in Nevada and Arizona in addition to several ‘National Weeks of Action’ that will mobilize voter registration efforts across the country.

“‘Everywhere I go, young people tell me they want to be involved, want their voices heard, and want leaders who actually show up for them when it counts. When I ran for Chair, I made it clear that voter registration must once again be a top priority for the DNC,’ DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.”

KJZZ: Democratic National Committee launches voter registration efforts in swing states Arizona, Nevada

[Ben Giles, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee has announced a seven-figure investment to register voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, beginning in Arizona and Nevada, where DNC Chair Ken Martin sees untapped potential among the states’ unregistered Latinos. … 

“‘For too long, Democrats have ceded ground to Republicans on register and voters,’ Martin said. ‘Between 2020 and 2024 alone, our party lost a combined 2.1 million registered voters. Meanwhile, Republicans gained 2.4 million voters.’ …

“The DNC’s initial investment in Arizona and Nevada — where Democrats hold a slim voter registration advantage — underscores the emerging importance of the southwestern states as battlegrounds that can tip the balance of power in Congress and help provide a path for future Democratic presidential candidates to take back the White House.”

Politico Playbook: SCOTUS seems likely to OK trans sports bans

[ELI OKUN, 1/13/26]

“7. TRAIL MIX: The DNC has launched its largest-ever voter registration push, beginning with a seven-figure campaign in battleground districts in Arizona and Nevada, per The Nevada Independent’s Mini Racker. The ‘When We Count’ initiative, which centers on a fellowship to train people in how to register new voters, is particularly focused on reaching young, non-college-educated Americans and people of color.”

AZPM: Democrats will pursue new voter registration strategy in Arizona

[Nick Rommel, 1/13/26]

“On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee announced a voter registration program meant to reverse that trend in Arizona and Nevada, another southwestern swing state. The party will recruit over 100 organizers in both states to register voters specifically as Democrats, signaling a reversal of years-old political strategies.

“‘We can no longer solely rely on outside partners. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment and a crisis,’ said DNC chair Ken Martin in a call with reporters.”

Las Vegas Sun: The Latest: Trump in Michigan to promote US manufacturing amid concerns about a weakening job market

[Las Vegas Sun Staff, 1/13/26]

“The Democratic National Committee will spend millions of dollars to cement control of voter registration efforts that have traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns. Party leaders hope the shift will increase their chances this year and cement successes for many elections to come.

“The initiative being announced on Tuesday in Arizona and Nevada could become the DNC’s largest-ever push to sign up new voters. The focus is on young people, voters of color and people without college educations — demographics that drifted away from Democrats in the last presidential race , which returned Trump to the White House.

“‘It’s a crisis. And for our party to actually win elections, we have to actually create more Democrats,’ DNC Chair Ken Martin said in an interview with The Associated Press. Party leaders want a more explicitly partisan approach like the one used by Republicans, who have relied less on outside groups to register and mobilize their voter base.”

WCBC Radio: DNC Launches Voter Registration Effort

[Kathy Cornwell, 1/14/26]

“Kicking off a critical midterm election year, the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday the launch of When We Count, a new voter registration program. It will be the DNC’s largest-ever voter registration effort, targeting non-college youth 18-24. DNC Chair Ken Martin said the Democrats have too long ceded ground to Republicans, losing over 2 million voters between 2020 and 24…

 “‘Democrats have momentum after a historic 2025. We’re not going to take this momentum for granted. We refuse to be reactive. We refuse the same old song and dance, and we refuse to let politics come to us. And I will not accept being in a position at the end of the year where we have to ask what else could we have done.’”

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Democrats court new Nevada voters in partisan registration drive

[McKenna Ross, 1/14/26]

“The Democratic National Committee will launch a partisan voter drive in Nevada as part of a regional effort to increase Democratic voter registration ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“In a Tuesday morning announcement, DNC officials said the launch of the ‘When We Count’ initiative is an effort to gain seats in Congress and local elections by training young supporters to register new voters in targeted outreach campaigns. 

“‘Democrats have been successful because of our decades of work building a strong infrastructure focusing on kitchen table issues voters care most about, and year-round organizing that allows us to build and strengthen relationships across our entire diverse communities and state,’ Nevada Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said in a video call to the media.”