Ohio Unity Coalition Aims to Increase African-American Voter Turnout

By Ashley Taylor
Special to The Truth

Imagine Tuesday, November 8, you walk into your polling place to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, but instead the poll workers says, “I’m sorry, your name is not in the poll book.”  

As it turns out, you’re not registered to vote. This may sound like some sort of clerical error but, in reality, it is an intentional deletion that has already happened to many people right here in Toledo -- and many more across Ohio in recent elections.

Ashley Taylor

A statewide network of labor, civic, faith and community organizations convened as the Ohio Coalition on Black Civic Participation (Ohio Unity Coalition) is recruiting African-American volunteers in Toledo and other urban cities to make sure this doesn’t happen again this November.

“Some Ohio voters, especially African Americans, may not be able to cast a ballot in this very important election this November, because Jon Husted, Ohio Secretary of State, has purged, or kicked off, tens of thousands of registered voters,” said Petee Talley, one of the leaders of the coalition.

“He claims he took this action to fight voter fraud and to clean up the voter rolls in Ohio, but it turns out that voter fraud is not a problem and many voters were purged even though they voted in the 2008 election,” Talley continued.

An investigation by Husted’s own office revealed that voter fraud was practically nonexistent in Ohio in the 2012 elections. The report showed that, out of 5.63 million votes cast, fraud was only thought to have been committed by 135 people across the state; that is less than one hundredth of one percent of the votes cast.

“I find it really interesting that a large number of African-American voters were removed from the voting rolls by Secretary Husted. There were also white voters whose registrations were thrown out but, based on our numbers in the population and the areas where purging most took place, it will have a more noticeable impact on our community,” Talley said.

The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting Sec. Husted’s action in the court. They sued Husted and lost, but the case is currently being heard by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Petee Talley

Meanwhile, the Ohio Coalition on Black Civic Participation (Ohio Unity Coalition) is not waiting for the court’s decision before taking action. The coalition is pushing back on a different front, Talley said. The organization is taking to the streets to register and verify African-American voters in Toledo and in cities across Ohio, hoping to reverse the effects the purge will have.

“#OhioUnity16, the Black Voter Empowerment Campaign” has a goal to register 2,500 people in Toledo before the registration deadline of October 11.

The Ohio Unity Coalition volunteers receive training to correctly fill out voter registration forms and use online software to verify that those who have registered are still registered to vote.

The group will hold a series of trainings and events during the month of August. All trainings will be held in the former Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union, 1339 Dorr Street, Suite B. The dates and times are: Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 10 a.m. and Friday, August 19, 2016 at 5 p.m. Additional days and times may continue to be added. Follow Ohio Unity Coalition on Facebook to receive the latest updates or email toledounity16@gmail.com.

The Ohio Unity Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is “to increase political literacy and civic engagement among African Americans in Ohio.” They are hoping to re-register those who were removed from the voter rolls, and register new voters as well. They will also be reminding all of the November 8 Election Day, and providing ways for Toledoans to stay civically engaged.

“Just this year, some 144,000 voters were removed from the voter rolls in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, and they were twice as likely to be from majority African-American neighborhoods,” Talley said.

“I’m urging everyone to make sure our voices are heard in this election and every election. Take two minutes to look up your registration status on ohiounitycoalition.org.”

Those who want to register on their own can do so at the Lucas County Board of Elections, the BMV or any Toledo Public Library.

Engage with the Ohio Unity Coalition on social media!

★     Follow @OhioUnity on Twitter and Instagram

★     Tweet using #OhioUnity16 #JustVote

★     Sign up at www.ohiounitycoalition.org/get-involved

Ed. Note: Ashley Taylor is a sophomore at The Ohio State University. She has been back in Toledo for the summer working for the nonprofit Democratic Voices, spearheading the Toledo chapter of the Ohio Unity Coalition, The OUC is a non-partisan nonprofit that is trying to increase black voter turnout in Ohio by registering African Americans to vote.

Copyright © 2015 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 08/16/18 14:12:43 -0700.

More Articles....

Closing the Trust Gap

Back to Home Page