Board Awards Funding for Ranked Choice Voting Education and Outreach

Published on August 15, 2025

The Arlington County Board has concluded its Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Notice of Funding Availability process, and has awarded grants to two non-profits organizations, Challenging Racism and FairVote, for voter education and outreach efforts related to Ranked Choice Voting leading up to the November election. Both organizations will partner on these efforts, serving complementary roles.  

Challenging Racism, a local nonpartisan non-profit that for 20 years has trained organizations and individuals to build awareness and skills to talk about race and equity, was awarded $35,000. Challenging Racism’s primary focus will be to conduct and coordinate in-person outreach, with a key focus on working with other local partners to amplify outreach.  

FairVote, a national nonpartisan non-profit that researches and advances voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every American, was awarded $25,000. FairVote, through its Virginia based partnership with Ranked Choice Virginia, will coordinate data collection and surveying, and will support and inform Challenging Racism’s in-person efforts.  

Efforts will begin immediately, with Challenging Racism informing the public of upcoming education events at the Arlington County Fair this week. Updates on these efforts will be provided on the Arlington County Board webpage, and the Board will speak further to the award at its September Recessed meeting.