Local Organizations Unite to Boost Voter Education and Turnout in Muscogee County

By Janell Williams

On Aug. 12 and Aug 20, local organizations and Muscogee County residents gathered at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Gamma Tau Omega Chapter House to attend a meeting with State Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus) to discuss the importance of voter education and her "Adopt-A-Precinct" initiative.

The focus of the meeting was around having local organizations and volunteers divide the voter precinct locations to provide services to the community members throughout the city. 

Such resources include voter information, education and transportation to polls.

“We’re very pleased with the meeting turnout. As you can see, we have different kinds of religious, social and civic organizations, fraternities and so forth,” Hugley said. “They seem like they’re fired up and ready to go. You know, there’s a lot of work to be done in America. We know what the turnout was last time, and then after election day, we’ll be able to see what the turnout is this year, and that’s going to be instructive to us; so that as our next election calls, we’ll know what worked and what didn’t.”

Residents stand with Hugley and her vision to educate the community, young and old, about the importance of knowing local and national candidates as well as knowing how to go about exercising the right to vote.

“We’re here today to try to organize several different organizations so that we can help increase voters’ attendance at the polls. It’s really important, because a lot of people are registered, and some may not even be registered, but we need people to show up and vote” said Dr. Bande Virgil, who practices pediatrics in Columbus. 

Residents voiced concerns and ideas about educating youth and young adults about voting and the impact they can have on our democracy.“Registration is great, but how many of those people actually vote?,” said Columbus resident Marvin Broadwater. “We’ve got to get some younger folks involved to talk to the even younger folks. For instance, I’m an old man, I don’t understand Snapchat and TikTok and the tools that demographic uses.”

The importance of, not just voter registration, but voter education, was discussed heavily during the meeting.

“Working at a college, I hear a lot of young people at the voter information tables say they don’t know who to vote for or they don’t feel the need to vote because nothing is changing for them,” said Columbus Technical College employee Shurmain Broadwater. “We’ve got to get our younger generations educated.”

Since the meeting more work has been done to firm up their initial plans.

The collaborative effort has now grown to include several nonpartisan organizations, including the Urban League, NAACP, local sororities and fraternities, Masonic organizations and churches. The goal is to increase voter turnout in these areas by 15 percent through a variety of coordinated activities, including phone banking, voter registration, text campaigns, "meet the candidate" forums and voter education panels.

"Our focus is on increasing voter awareness, ensuring that citizens understand what's on the ballot, how to obtain absentee ballots, and confirming that their voter registration is up to date," Hugley said. "We’re not telling people who to vote for, but we are encouraging them to participate, lift their voices and exercise their right to vote."

The program also seeks to remove barriers to voting, such as lack of transportation, by offering rides to the polls and promoting early voting. The organizations involved are pooling their resources to maximize impact and ensure effective use of their efforts."

The most powerful day a citizen has is Election Day," Hugley said. "We want people to turn out, vote and exercise their power”

For those interested in joining the initiative, the next meeting is 6 :30 p.m. Sept. 3 via Zoom. Those interested in attending can request the link by emailing Hugley at carolynfhugley136@gmail.com.