Black grassroots organisers are kicking off multi-state bus tours and raising millions of dollars for voter engagement and mobilization efforts in key battleground states, in hopes of helping secure Vice President Kamala Harris’ White House bid ahead of the November presidential election. Reuters spoke with groups that are ramping up get-out-the-vote efforts through digital organizing, door-knocking, and targeting low-propensity voters in swing states.
Black voters will play a pivotal role in the election, with both Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump vying for their support, which could help sway the electoral outcome in states expected to have razor thin margins. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, said grassroots organizing will be crucial in turning out Black voters in Georgia, southern belt states and swing states.
Brown’s organization is embarking on a get-out-to vote bus tour across 20 states now through November 5. The organisation is planning to fill up two charter buses and 20 bus vans with volunteers.
“Some of my friends who I’ve been trying to get engaged in this election, they’d say ‘oh yeah, I’m going to vote’,” Brown said. “Now, they are going beyond saying ‘I’m going to vote’ but ‘put me to work.’”
Organizers in Georgia, the state that helped clinch Biden’s 2020 presidency and two key U.S. Senate Democratic seats, plan to again galvanize a multiracial coalition of voters.
Black Voters Matter Fund is collaborating with more than 100 local community groups across Georgia and other states to enhance get-out-the-vote efforts which Brown believes will help them reach an estimated 10 million voters
Black communities have historically been viewed as the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc. But Black voter support for President Joe Biden had dropped earlier this year, largely driven by pocketbook issues, such as high inflation and the rising cost of living, as well as a lack of progress on racial justice efforts.
Harris, who would become the first Black woman and South Asian person to become president, now leads Trump 42% to 37%, according to an August Reuters/Ipsos poll, but experts and advocates said the challenge will be to transform excitement into voter turnout.
Despite high enthusiasm for Harris, research shows that a significant disparity remains among likely voter turnout between younger and older Black voters.
With less than 80 days until the election, Harris’ campaign hopes to reengage disenchanted voters and lure undecided moderates.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, senior advisor to the Harris campaign and former mayor of Atlanta, said trusted local community members should be deployed to communicate Harris’ platform and accomplishments.
“There’s a really strong record to run on from the Biden Harris administration,” Bottoms said. The campaign has yet to reveal specific policy platforms addressed to the Black communities.
Yet, they still face the challenge of luring undecided voters. Many pro-Palestinian activists have said they refuse to vote for Harris without commitments towards changing U.S. policy towards Israel. T Thousands are expected to protest the Biden administration outside the Democratic National Convention this week.
Source: eNCA
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