Opinion: Support a Sunday voting option, at the local BOE this Monday
Souls to the Polls! Anyone growing up in North Carolina knows that term. I was not raised here and although I understood on the surface what Souls to the Polls was, I didn’t really understand how important it was to the Black Community. My understanding is the congregations of Black Churches would gather in a group after services and go together in church vans to vote on Sunday. To an outsider this seemed convenient and a powerful community exercise to get out the vote. My outsider’s view might be accurate in part but is far from the whole story.
My op-ed here is not an attempt to try to explain an important tradition of a community that I am not a member of, but to tell my story as a volunteer vote protector for many organizations in many Southern States. Since 2020 I have spent countless hours listening to stories from mostly Black Voters and difficulties they faced when trying to vote. It was heart wrenching, infuriating, frustrating, and stunning. One thing it was not was surprising. This is why Voter Protection work is so important, to shine a light on efforts to suppress votes of marginalized communities.
I hate to show my ignorance, but the one thing I didn’t understand was the origin of Souls to the Polls came from the community needing to protect its members from the violence against Black Voters who dared to vote before and after the Voting rights Act of 1965. Although we are not at that place right now (I hope), the need to protect each other at the polls is still important in today’s environment. Please let the Board of Elections in Davidson County know why you think it’s important to have Sunday voting this General election. Whether it’s convenience, avoiding long lines, not being able to get time off work, coming together as a community, or whatever is important to you. Now is the time to have your voice heard. Monday July 25 the Davidson County Board of Elections will vote on whether to schedule Sunday voting for the November General Election. Would you like to be a Vote Protector? Please tell the Board why it is important to have Sunday Voting.
Send an email to Davidson.boe@davidsoncountync.gov or call (336) 242-2190 or come to the meeting at the Board of Elections 945 N Main Street Ste A, Lexington Monday July 25th at 6p
Pamela is a member of VoProPros, a non-partisan organization of volunteer Vote Protectors.
#Soulstothepolls #GOTV #JLVRAA #voterprotection #VPP #Freedomtovote
