The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a new electoral program to mobilize its 1.8 million members to vote as a bloc — a sign of how the group, flush with cash from the election of Donald Trump, is increasingly turning itself into a political engine of the resistance.

The organization, which once confined itself to litigation, has envisioned “ACLU Voter,” an initiative to register and turn out voters and encourage them to choose candidates based on a scorecard of civil liberties. The goal isn’t just to get like-minded people to the polls — it’s to encourage elected officials to vote based on the ACLU’s rating.

If the new ACLU reminds you of the National Rifle Association, that’s not an accident.

“We talk about the NRA often here,” said Faiz Shakir, the group’s national political director. “Not because we agree with them, but because they have effectively created an organizational model around the single issue they care deeply about. They make their members and volunteers feel like they have a duty to vote.”

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We want [elected officials] to be competing for a higher score on civil rights and civil liberties,” said Shakir. “Next time when we say there’s a vote recommendation, it’s not because we’re offering a friendly piece of advice. It’s an implied threat.”



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