As the general election nears on Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Brooklyn branch of the NAACP reached out to voters across the state in hopes of boosting early voting numbers.
The Brooklyn NAACP hosted a voter outreach day dubbed “Golden Day” on Saturday, with the purpose spreading the word about voter registration and early voting, which ends in the city on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Members met at Mount Arart Baptist Church in Brownsville before marching with the Brooklyn United Marching Band to the Weeksville Heritage Center, an early voting site. In the afternoon, volunteers headed back to the church to reach out to voters via phone and text.
L. Joy Williams, president of the Brooklyn chapter of the NAACP, said the group contacted 64,000 voters across New York state.
“All of the people really who signed up were energized and ready to come,” said Williams. “We had a good base of members and community members and partners who committed and showed up to contact voters.”
Brooklyn NAACP Volunteers reach out to voters across NY state to spread the word on the first day of early voting. . Photo: Christopher Edwards for BK Reader.
About 1.9 million New Yorkers have cast their vote in the presidential election as of Oct. 31, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. About 66 million Americans across the country have also voted early for far, which already surpasses the near 50 million people who voted early for the 2020 presidential election.
“As I'm getting older, I do think it's important to make an impact on the community that I live in,” said Humberto Chaparro, chair of technology at Brooklyn NAACP. “I just want to make sure that regardless of any party affiliation, people know they have a say in what happens in the community. So, to get people to go out and vote is important.”
Joanne Challenger, a retired principal from Flatbush who has been volunteering with the Brooklyn NAACP for 25 years, said voting is essential.
“It's crucial, it’s your right, people have died to get to this point to vote. And I don't think there is an option,” said Challenger. “I don't care who you vote for, just vote.”
Some volunteers felt this election was especially important for holding onto human rights.
“We had to fight for all a lot of things that we have today,” said Trina Hall, a social services worker from Flatbush. “And it seems like if we don’t continue where we’re at and do better, we’re gonna back to the days like before where we didn't have so many rights.”
