More than a half-century ago, Ted Sorensen joined forces with Nelson Mandela to build voter education and mobilization by establishing the South Africa Free Election Fund (SAFE). In building support for SAFE, Sorensen said, "I am not asking you to give to charity. I am asking you to participate in history. SAFE worked in partnership with local organizations to reach those with the greatest need for information, especially women and rural populations.
The Sorensen Center’s Voting Rights Initiative (2020-2022) continued this legacy by supporting student partnerships with leading voting rights advocates to conduct original research and legal writing that helped to address specific barriers and long-standing injustices. Each project offered a different way for students to gain experience and interact with voting rights law, from deep investigative research to in-person lawyering practice, striving to meet the needs of the community and go beyond to engage many whose voices are often excluded from political conversations.