Page 4 - JanuaryNewsletter
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Montgomery (AL) Alumnae tween October and December, the committee
Successfully Made Area worked extremely hard on several projects to
help get out the vote for the U.S. Senate election
Citizens “Election Day Ready” between former prosecutor Doug Jones and
Submitted by Judge Roy Moore. Volunteers along with commit-
Kynesha M. Brown tee members spent several weekends canvass-
ing neighborhoods. During canvassing, volun-
The Political Awareness and Involvement Com- teers went door to door to make sure each resi-
mittee has been working hard since August to dent was registered, knew their polling location,
make sure the Montgomery area was “Election and was made aware of the absentee voting pro-
Day Ready.” The Rollin to the Polls Voting Initia- cess. Residents also received sample ballots and
tive, which started in 2016, had the charge to tar- brochures on pertinent voter information, which
get neighborhoods with routinely low voter turn- included the number to call if they needed a ride
out. This included a collaboration with over 20 to the polls.
organizations, including organizations of the Di- In addition to the U.S. Senate special election,
vine Nine, to implement several activities to in- there was also a special election for State Senate
crease voter registration and educate area voters District 26, the seat formerly held by Quinton T.
of the election process. Ross. Due to the state senate election, and the
recent enactment of the Alabama Crossover
What was at first a great obstacle in the com- Law, several voting districts would have to vote
mittee’s efforts to register new voters has now on two separate ballots. Efforts were made by
become a project that has generated great suc- volunteers and the committee to make sure the
cess. For several decades, Alabamians convict- community knew of the process and to be pre-
ed of a felony were barred from voting in the pared to go through two lines. The committee al-
state. The Definition of Moral Turpitude Act, so held a candidate’s forum for
which was signed State Senate District 26 that includ-
into law by Governor ed our own chapter soror Deborah
Kay Ivey in May, al- Anthony.
lowed thousands of
individuals with felo- On Election Day, over 47 individuals
ny convictions to re- were transported to the polls
store their voting through the Rollin to the Polls Vot-
rights. Several organizations participated with the ing Initiative. Most of the voters that were trans-
Political Awareness and Involvement Committee, ported to the polls came from neighborhoods that
such as Legal Services Alabama and ACLU Ala- were originally targeted. Montgomery was one of
bama, to conduct voter restoration clinics. During the top counties in the state to have a high voter
these voter restoration clinics, individuals with turnout. Voter turnout averaged at 44%, a num-
felony convictions were offered the opportunity ber close to the percentage of the 2008 presiden-
to first determine if they were eligible to register tial election, if not higher. Since Rollin to the Polls
to vote by verifying their criminal histories and started for the 2017-2018 sororal year, a total of
comparing their convictions to the list of crimes 491 new voters were registered and several indi-
identified in the new law. If they were found to viduals were able to restore their right to vote.
not have any disqualifying felonies, the volun- The Rollin to the Polls Voting Initiative will start
teers and professionals working at the clinics again in February in preparation for the four up-
helped them register to vote. The Southern Pov- coming elections.
erty Law Center also joined in the initiative by
providing legal assistance and donating
$1,500.00.
In addition to the voter restoration clinics, groups
went into area high schools to register high
school seniors on National Voter Registration
Day. A total of 107 seniors were registered. Be-
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