“They are very excited. They really want him in office.”
This is Ashli Bolden, civic engagement coordinator for Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, describing some of the new voters she has been registering in North St. Louis and North St. Louis County.
Of course, the man they “really want” in office is Barack Obama, Democratic nominee for U.S. president and the first African American ever to receive a major political party’s nomination for the nation’s highest office.
Last week, ProVote announced it has registered 22,612 new voters in Missouri during this election cycle, most of them from low-voting areas like the urban zone where Bolden toils – and lives.
“I go for under-served communities, in North St. Louis, North County -those are the people I really care about,” Bolden said. “That’s where I live.”
Bolden leads a staff of nine registrars at Pro-Vote. This voter registration drive is supported by the Missouri Citizen Education Fund, a non-profit non-partisan organization founded in 1992 to involve more Missourians in the public policy process.
Bolden and her staff recently worked a Town Hall forum at Harris-Stowe State University hosted by Comptroller Darlene Green, where they registered a large number of students, nearly all of them African-American.
Deadline: October 8
The deadline for registration for the November 4 election, when Obama will face Republican nominee John McCain, is October 8.
Even people who have previously registered to vote should check their registration status, according to advocates for enfranchisement.
“Anyone who has changed addresses, changed his or her name, or not voted in the last eight years should re-register and address these issues prior to October 8,” urged Lanear Rhodes, a local realtor who is working as a volunteer for the Obama campaign in St. Peters.
“This is a critical election period, and every single vote is essential,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes is a “neighborhood team leader” for the Obama campaign in St. Peters, meaning that she trains (and herds) volunteers. She said the Obama campaign receives large numbers of volunteers in St. Charles County and that Obama’s message is having success with a wide diversity of voters in what is typically regarded as a Republican area.
Rhodes also is outreaching to a population of Missouri voters that is often overlooked: ex-offenders.
“Ex-felons have the perception that they are not allowed to vote,” Rhodes said.
“In the state of Missouri, if they are not in prison, on probation or parole, they are eligible to vote; however, they must register prior to the deadline.”
Rhodes also urged college students or anyone temporarily living in another state to check with Missouri election authorities regarding the requirements for getting an absentee ballot.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Missouri’s top election official, stresses that voters must be registered to vote where they live – and must vote on November 4 where they are registered.
Bolden and her ProVote registrars have been targeting Metro stops, schools, health clinics, retirement homes and low-income apartment complexes. The work is not easy, because the public is often suspicious.
“People don’t want to give you their information because they think you are going to steal it or do something with it,” Bolden said.
“They don’t want to give you their phone numbers because they think you will harass them, but we want their number so they will know their polling place and so we can remind them to go vote.”
Bolden said a successful voter registration effort requires patient communication.
“To convince them, you’ve got to talk to them and tell them you’re not going to steal their identity,” Bolden said.
“And I tell them, ‘If you don’t give us your number and your address is off by one digit, you won’t get registered because we won’t be able to call you to correct the mistake.’”
Bolden says that an odd part of her job involves cautioning newly energized black voters to be realistic about the degree of change Obama will be able to achieve if elected president.
“I tell the big Obama supporters, ‘He is not going to solve everything. He can’t change the public city schools or give us more money for day care,’” Bolden said.
Her own participation in the political process goes deeper than the enthusiasm Obama has stirred up in St. Louis.
“As you grow up, you pay taxes and you realize that’s how politicians get paid, with your taxes,” Bolden said.
“It’s reasonable to want them to do what they are paid to do.”
Anyone who needs help with voter registration is welcome to call Ashli Bolden at 314-531-2288. Robin Carnahan’s website at http://www.sos.mo.gov is the best single source for voter information in Missouri.