CAIR-Chicago and ICIRR (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights) are partnering to encourage and mobilize residents of Illinois' 8th congressional district to vote in this year's general election. The Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign will rely on heavy phone banking efforts to promote the participation of Illinois Muslims as part of the electoral process.

The campaign focuses on the 8th congressional district of Illinois due to the prominent Muslim community residing in the area, as well as recent issues concerning mosque zoning, vandalism, and hate crimes that have affected American Muslim community. This past Ramadan also saw the troublesome remarks from Rep. Joe Walsh, and the series of hate crimes targeting the Chicagoland Muslim community that came shortly thereafter. Rep. Walsh has been the representative of the 8th congressional district since January 2011.

The groups are currently seeking volunteers who would like to directly engage with community members to ensure that they are familiar with important issues and will turn out to vote in this year's election. Voting is a right that every citizen possesses in order to make a difference in the political process and to help their community.

If you are interested in volunteering as part of the phone banking efforts, please contact: Gerald Hankerson, Outreach Coordinator for CAIR-Chicago, at ghankerson@cair.com