WASHINGTON, DC — As the United States looks toward the 2026 midterm elections, the grassroots lobbying and advocacy arm of the national organization Children’s Defense Fund has stepped forward with a powerful new initiative. Children’s Defense Fund Action (CDF Action) has officially launched its nationwide nonpartisan campaign, Voting Rights are Children’s Rights, designed to bridge the gap between civic participation and the welfare of the nation’s youngest populations.
The core premise of the campaign is direct and thought-provoking: while children and young people do not yet have the legal right to cast a ballot, every law, budget cut, and policy decision that shapes their daily lives, education, health, and safety is written and enacted by adults who can. By highlighting this profound reality, CDF Action aims to encourage the nation’s eligible voters to consciously and intentionally consider the interests of all children and young people each time they step into a voting booth or mail in an absentee ballot.
Ahead of the upcoming midterms, the campaign is actively equipping parents, caregivers, faith leaders, congregations, and young voters with a robust suite of resources. These tools are engineered to help eligible adults educate themselves, prioritize child welfare, and deliberately include children in their civic routines. Among the materials provided are detailed voter action guides, comprehensive registration instructions, and practical strategies for involving children in the planning of a family’s voting routine, as well as holding meaningful discussions about election choices and outcomes afterward.
As part of the rollout, CDF Action is calling upon CDF Freedom Schools® partner sites nationwide to host coordinated "Read Aloud for Democracy" experiences at or near early voting centers across the country. Scheduled for October 17, these community-centered events invite parents, caregivers, and children to read together before walking over to nearby early voting centers. The goal is to demystify the democratic process, normalize civic participation from an early age, and demonstrate the power of community engagement in states where early voting has already commenced.
The intersection of child advocacy and voting access was a primary theme in a recent address delivered by CDF Action President and CEO Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson to the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. During his speech, Dr. Wilson emphasized the critical importance of allowing children to witness the voting process firsthand, advocating for a generational shift in how civic responsibility is taught and modeled within American families.
"We don’t believe we can wait until they’re 18 to suggest that they vote. We have to bring them up in a culture of civic engagement by modeling voting, by taking them with us," Dr. Wilson stated. He further connected the act of voting to the broader, ongoing struggle for ballot access, noting the importance of election protection work in the current political climate. "We also understand the election protection work that must happen this year. There must be a moral confrontation at the polls that demonstrates the realities of the challenges of those who would seek to send others to the polls to keep us from there. That… they’re really keeping… the voices of our children from being heard."
This sentiment was echoed and expanded upon by Brittany Packnett Cunningham, CDF Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Packnett Cunningham underscored the urgency of the "Voting Rights are Children’s Rights" campaign against the backdrop of recent legal and political attacks on voting access, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. For CDF Action, the fight to protect the ballot is inseparable from the fight to protect children’s fundamental needs and futures.
"We are clear at CDF Action that voting rights are children’s rights," Packnett Cunningham said. "Every school that gets shuttered was a vote. Every lunch line that gets cut was a vote. Every hospital that closes in a rural county or an urban core, where a Black mother is trying to deliver a healthy baby, was a vote. You cannot say that you love children and stay silent while the vote is being strangled. These are the same fight."
In addition to shifting voter mindsets at the ballot box, the comprehensive campaign calls on citizens to focus heavily on structural reforms. This includes expanding voting rights broadly, reforming the nation’s court system, and holding institutional corruption accountable at every level of government. Furthermore, CDF Action remains firmly committed to ensuring that the next generation of Americans is fully equipped to vote, volunteer, and lift their voices in public life. As part of this long-term vision, the organization supports progressive policy goals such as lowering the federal voting age to 16, a move intended to give young people earlier and more direct access to influencing the governmental decisions that directly impact their schooling, health, and communities.
Founded in 1969 as the Washington Research Project Action Council, CDF Action continues to advance child well-being through direct grassroots lobbying, vigorous advocacy in Congress and statehouses across the country, and holding elected officials publicly accountable for supporting child-centered policies. Through initiatives like its signature nonpartisan Legislative Report Card, the organization strives to keep the American public informed about how lawmakers perform on issues vital to the nation’s youth, ensuring that the needs of children remain at the forefront of the American political landscape.
