Groups in North Carolina are racing to meet Latino and Black voters in their neighborhoods and online, informing them of what pandemic voting looks like and the importance of down-ballot races to effect change in their communities.
Black residents are 22 percent of the state's population, and Latinos are 10 percent, but that wasn't always the case with the fast-growing Hispanic community in North Carolina. In 2008 only 77,000 Latinos voted, but that number more than doubled to 186,000 in 2016. Now the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials expects that 230,000 Latinos will vote in North Carolina in this election.
"We're trying very hard to find Black folks, but during this time of COVID it has become ridiculously hard to engage the Black folks who need a more active voice," Whaley said. "That means schools on the Black side of town will be heated," Whaley added, with a short incredulous laugh."This is a year we can not afford to be uninformed about who is on our ballot."
On Thursday, Latino groups shared reports among their members of people they believed to be Republican poll watchers coming near Latinos in line who were speaking Spanish and scribbling down notes, an effort voters who relayed the stories felt were intimidation efforts, Mijente's Batista, toldIrene Godinez, the executive director of Poder NC Action, said some members waited three hours and 45 minutes to vote Thursday in diverse Raleigh, North Carolina.
Reflecting the way the groups see the importance of a multi-racial coalition, Poder NC Action will also bring a Day of the Dead altar featuring pictures of Black people killed by police likeand Tamir Rice to remind voters what is at stake. They will also ask community members to write down the names of people who died of COVID-19, the group said.
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