Kamala Harris recently attended two black churches in the Atlanta area in an attempt to inspire parishioners to vote as part of an effort in several states known as Souls to the Polls.
Urban areas give Dems natural advantage in early votingChad Groening, AFN.net The polls are tight in the Trump vs. Harris race for the White House, and some are even favoring Trump in key battleground states, but a conservative activist says he is concerned early voting clearly remains an advantage for Democrats. With less than two weeks to Election Day, news outlets have reported 24 million votes have already been cast. Democrats have used early voting to push their base to cast a ballot, including in the 2020 race, but Republicans have learned that lesson and are urging their supporters to get out and vote, too. 
Gary Bauer, of the Campaign for Working Families, tells AFN early voting is a key asset for Democrats since much of their votes are in urban areas. The tactic works well, he says, because voters' names are checked off the list after casting a ballot. “Then, all day long on Election Day,” he advises, “they can go door to door to those apartment complexes and drag those people to the polls." That puts Republicans and their rural voters at an obvious disadvantage, he reasons. |
The chapters bill themselves as non-profit, non-partisan voter education and advocacy organizations. They encourage faith leaders and their congregations to strengthen the voting power of the Black community.
“We know a strong voting bloc is key to pressing state and local leaders on issues like affordable housing, education, economic development, gun violence, and governmental transparency. Together, we are building a bloc of engaged community members in our mission to channel our faith and bring thousands Souls to the Polls. Our votes matter,” the Wisconsin group writes at its website.
In Louisiana, The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, says it has committed more than $200,000 to its Souls to the Polls effort with the goal of "ensuring that congregations through Louisiana can access Power Coalition tools, training, mini-grants, sample ballots and swag.
But Souls to the Polls only wants the power of the vote if its members vote a certain way.
One-way get-out-the-vote effort
Donna Jackson is the director of membership development for the Project 21 Black Leadership Network.
"I can tell you that it's not a bipartisan group. You can tell very clearly that it's left-leaning.
They realize that they are losing the minority vote, and so they're pushing to put these organizations in there to try to get religious leaders to make them think that somehow it's some divine Providence for them to continue to vote for the policies that have destroyed the communities."
Jackson says the people are ready for a change.
“They've grown up with no father. They want to have children who have fathers in their lives. They want to support their families. They don't want a substitution for the government to do the job that they want to do. But I think that at the end of the day, it is going to be black fathers that save our communities. Their kids are going to be the ones that make the turnaround."
