SPLC organizers spend last hours of election getting out the vote in Georgia
In the video: SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang and Yterenickia Bell, the SPLC’s state director for Georgia, canvassed an apartment complex in Mableton, Georgia, on Election Day.
Despite millions of people voting early in Georgia, there were still millions of voters remaining on Election Day who could vote but had not despite the polls being open.
Yterenickia Bell, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s state director for Georgia, was still on the trail trying to get those voters out even as the last grains of sand fell through the election’s hourglass. Along with SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang, Bell and a small team canvassed at the Alta Mill apartment complex on the afternoon of Election Day. This effort was reaching out to Black women between the ages of 18 and 50.
“I’m here today to knock on doors in Cobb County,” Huang said. “We want to make sure that everyone who hasn’t cast their vote yet does so before the end of the day.”
“We reached a few voters,” Bell said. “Most had already voted or had just voted today. But that’s all good.”
One voter, Yolene Alvarez, was actually waiting for her ride to the polls when she was approached.
“I was a poll worker for 10 years, so I know voting is important,” she said. “I was the assistant supervisor for two years, then I demoted myself to polling clerk. But I still helped out on all of the other duties.”
Because of her time as a poll worker, she was very aware of the early voting options in Georgia.
“When I worked at the polls, I always voted early,” Alvarez said. “But this year I waited till Election Day.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger held a press conference at noon, extolling the large number of early votes cast as well as the healthy day-of-voting response. The state saw more than 4 million votes cast through its early voting period.
“By noon, it looks like half a million people have already voted,” Raffensperger said. “Just to project that out, if everything stays the same, we’ll be over 1.2 million. So, look at the 4 million we had, and that gives you an idea of where we will be at the end of the day.”
The SPLC canvassing team was also given news as they moved from door to door, knocking and leaving flyers for potential voters. Two Cobb County locations remained open for an additional 20 minutes after mechanical issues with voting machines held up the opening on the morning of Election Day. In Fulton and Gwinnett counties, several polling stations remained open after bomb threats – which Raffensperger blamed on Russia – forced the polls to close for a brief period. Two other sites, in DeKalb County, were being held open until 8:22 p.m., or an hour and 22 minutes after the statewide closing.
“We don't want people to be afraid about going to vote,” Huang said. “But it is very clearly part of the effort to discourage voting today.”
Which, Bell said, is why the canvassing effort is so important.
“This really is a last push to remind people that this is the last day to vote, the last minutes to vote,” Bell said. “Not just for president, but for county commission, city council, school board and constitutional amendments. They are all important.”
Bell said the effort was the last of several canvasses, going back to before the primary elections were held.
“We wanted to make sure people were voting their values and that their voices are heard,” Bell said.
Picture at top: SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang goes door to door in a final get-out-the-vote effort before polls close on Election Day in Mableton, Georgia. (Credit: David Naugle)
