President Joe Biden is praising Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The news comes on the heels of Donald Trump accepting the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.
As the 2024 Presidential Election draws closer, Alabama still has one of the lowest voter turnout percentages in the nation. The ACLU of Alabama is working to increase voter participation in Alabama.
The nonprofit based in Montgomery works in courts, legislature and communities to preserve civil rights and liberties. The organization’s newest initiative, Project MOVE (Making Our Voices Echo), aims to build community, engage new voters and increase voter turnout in the state.
Alabama currently has four million registered voters; however, during the 2022 midterm election only 37% of registered voters exercised that right, according to the ACLU of Alabama. JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the organization, said the Yellowhammer State’s rocky history is still affecting residents.
“We have to keep in mind this history impacts folks. So, there's a level of apathy when you think about the obstacles and the limitations that have historically been put in place, particularly for Black voters in Alabama, and the efforts to ensure their full enfranchisement,” she said. “With its history, we have to understand that there's a need for us to make voting relatable on a day-to-day basis, because we just could not always rely on that history for folks to be motivated now.”
Gilchrist also said voting can be a powerful tool Alabamians and other Americans can use to have their voices heard, but when communities feel like they are not being represented, it can be more difficult to get residents to the polls.
“Oftentimes, we are voting as a move of using our power, of using our voice and to understand our needs. Historically, that has not always been represented in Black and brown communities,” she explained.
“Historically, when we talk about those who are impoverished, those of us who are living in areas in which we feel are not being invested in, we have to be honest about the apathy that is related to that,” Gilchrist continued. “We cannot expect folks to just show up when we have not done the work of meeting their needs. So, that's what's important as we prepare for this election.”
Gilchrist said that Project MOVE is a three-pronged effort to increase the voter turnout in the state:
· Community building
· Community care
· Information
“We can make assumptions about why folks have not shown up, but if we're not talking to them and engaging them where they are, that's a challenge. So, that's part of Project MOVE,” she said.
However, Gilchrist stressed that voting does not begin and end with the 2024 Presidential Election. Local and state elections, which have direct effects on Alabamians, are just as, if not more, important.
“We've got to think about the Alabama Supreme Court. We're voting on our Supreme Court seats. The [Alabama] Supreme Court made a decision around IVF this year that impacted so many Alabamians and so many Alabama families,” Gilchrist said.
“That's something that we should be showing up for. To make sure that our voices are heard and ways that are substantive, that are going to change our material conditions today,” she continued. “If we're able to do that and get an understanding of what those needs are when we speak to folks, it will truly help inform some things in our strategies and efforts to ensure we have safe and accessible elections.”
Gilchrist explained Project MOVE will be focusing on Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, District 5 and District 7 in an effort to increase voter turnout by 5% by 2026.
“Five percent is about 200,000 voters that we want to see showing up by 2026. An increase of about 200,000 people showing up to the polls by 2026 who are already registered. So, that is what we are looking at in Project MOVE in the effort of making our voices echo and ensuring that our elections are safe, accessible and folks know their power,” she said.
The 2024 Presidential Election comes after the redrawing of Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, which derived from a lengthy court battle where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Black Alabamians who had challenged the state’s existing congressional districts.
Federal judges approved new district lines in October 2023 after ruling that Alabama’s previous map, which had only one majority-Black district out of seven, was racially gerrymandered to limit the influence of the state’s Black voters, according to the Associated Press.
The three-judge panel said Alabama should have a second district where Black voters make up a substantial portion of the voting age population and have a reasonable opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. Alabama's 2nd Congressional District spans the width of the state and includes Montgomery, parts of Mobile and rural counties in the state’s Black Belt.
Gilchrist explained, outside of Project MOVE, grassroots voter engagement efforts have been in Alabama for many years.
“You have organizations who have done this work for years. You have Greater Birmingham Ministries. You have the NAACP in North Alabama. You have so many organizations that have budded and developed rowing to the polls in Montgomery,” she said. “You have Black Voters Matter, which is an incredible organization, as well as Faith & Works, and you have Stand Up Mobile and United Women of Color in North Alabama.”
Project MOVE will allow the ACLU to meet registered and potential voters to ensure their needs are being met for all election cycles, according to Gilchrist.
“This is an opportunity for us to ensure that we are making sure these this effort in this work shows up in various ways, because we honestly can't do the work of voter engagement without a strong coalition of organizations driving this and showing up in community off election cycles,” she said. “That's what has been most important about combating voter suppression and obstacles that we were seeing.”
“Truthfully, there people have shown up in communities in spite of that, and it is now an opportunity to ensure that not only we are coalescing, but we are building a more powerful infrastructure in a way that allows us to show up for community,” Gilchrist continued. ”For that to be elevated at the state level, and for us to put policies in that provide voting rights that are equitable, voting that is safe and voting that is accessible for all Alabamians,” she continued.
To learn more about Project MOVE and upcoming events, visit the ACLU of Alabama website here.
