Founded in 1998, DC Vote is an organization that works to secure full voting rights in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia by informing Congress and the American public, formulating solutions with coalition partners and elected officials, and promoting change based on the principle that a government is democratic only when people have the ability, through freely elected leaders, to shape the laws under which they must live.

Funded by a grant from the Government of the District of Columbia, DC Vote partnered with Medialink to create a public service video that would raise awareness about the District’s struggle to obtain full Congressional representation. The DC Vote public awareness campaign was geared at educating the American public about Washington, D.C. residents’ lack of voting representation in Congress. Among this group are firefighters, police officers, nurses, educators, business people, and military personnel, all of whom serve their community and country, but without the voting privileges enjoyed by every other American.

Medialink produced a series of four short-form, narrative videos that featured ordinary D.C. residents who provided a brief account of their lives and how they should have the right to vote in Congress. A teachers, businessman, librarian, and homeowner spoke plainly, yet passionately, about how the lack of Congressional representation affects daily life in our Nation’s capital.

Each video segment included identification for the DC Vote organization, as well as a call to action with Web contact details for viewers interested in learning more about its mission and how to get involved. Medialink delivered video that was at once informative and poignant in its storytelling approach, which brought to life the energy that drives DC Vote’s mission.

The public service announcements aired on national cable network TV programming, resulting in more than 8 million impressions.

Fully appreciating the power of video to tell its story on the Web, DC Vote also published the interviews on its website and created a dynamic way to carry on its educational campaign online.

By combining the “push” mechanism of traditional television with the “pull” approach of the Internet, Medialink helped DC Vote capture the humble voices of Americans and amplify them with the singular power of video.