The 2020 election had a record breaking voter turnout for both parties, and Black women proved once again to be the Democratic Party’s most powerful group of voters. From spearheading voter outreach projects to their own increased turnout numbers, Black women stood at the front lines of this election to ensure that the voices of Americans were heard.

Black women showed the Democratic party overwhelming support in this election particularly, as over 90% of Black women voted in favor of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. Turnout in places like Detroit, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia secured the electoral votes necessary for Biden’s victory.

Women like Stacey Abrams and LaTosha Brown helped to combat the voter suppression all across the United States. 

Stacey Abrams ran for governor of Georgia in 2018, but lost to Republican Brian Kemp in an election that received numerous reported accounts of voter suppression. There were 53,000 votes which had officially not been counted, and of these, Black voters composed up to 80%.

To combat further voter suppression, Abrams began her organization Fair Fight, which works around the country to “encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights.”

Fair Fight initially began in three states, and has now expanded to seventeen. Led by Abrams, Fair Fight helped register over 800,000 voters in Georgia alone since the start of the 2020 election cycle.

“During my election in 2018, we fought through the courts to make sure every vote got counted,” said Abrams in an interview on ABC’s “The View”. “Sadly they just want to do a recount of what we already accomplished and I wish them well, but we know that Joe Biden is going to be, not only the president of the United States, but the first president in 30 years from the Democratic party to carry Georgia.”

Until Stacey Abrams’ efforts to flip the state, Georgia had not voted blue since 1992. 

Although Georgia’s results for the presidential election are in, both Georgia Senate races are headed to runoff elections in January. This runoff election determines who will hold the majority of the Senate, and Stacey Abrams has encouraged voters to focus their attention on these runoff races. As Democrats have only won only one of seven statewide runoffs since the 1990s, voter turnout is especially crucial. 

Another victim to voter suppression, LaTosha Brown, lost her 1998 State Board of Education election in Alabama. After this loss, 800 uncounted ballots were found inside a safe to prevent her win. In an effort to prevent a similar situation, Brown co-founded Black Voters Matter Fund, whose mission is to “increase power in our communities” through voter registration, policy advocacy, organizational development/training, and independent expenditures. 

The work of Abrams and Brown to register voters is a significant part of the record shattering voter turnout in the 2020 general election, which Black voters were a huge part of. These votes contributed to Joe Biden’s ability to flip states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia which Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.