Meet the Candidates Forum 

April 13, 2004
Photos by Janet Fout

Huntington's  District 5 Constituents Quiz the Candidates

Voters Get Limo Ride to Polls

In Huntington's District 5,  OVEC, the Huntington / Cabell Branch of the NAACP and the NAACP Youth Council worked steadily for several months to create heightened interest in the electoral process. Volunteers from NAACP Youth, Marshall Action for Peaceful Solutions and OVEC canvassed over three weekends in preparation for our Meet the Candidates forum, and for the special get-out-the-vote idea planned for Election Day.  

Over a hundred people attended the forum. We hosted all of the candidates for mayor, and the candidates running for city council in District 5 and at large. Individuals running for other local and state offices attended as well. The crowd energetically responded to the candidates’ various answers regarding public health and safety. The audience questions were driven by people’s concern for a better quality of life.

A few weeks later, we followed up the forum with another canvass of District 5. This time, we encouraged community members to register and vote in the upcoming primary election. We gave everyone the chance to make use of the OVEC/NAACP-sponsored limo ride to the polls. We wanted to get people excited about voting!

All those who took advantage of this limo ride were excited about the prospect of arriving at the polls in style. “They all loved it,” said John Rutherford, the driver hired to perform this unusual task. Mr. Rutherford spent the day, running his limo to and from the polls, through the target neighborhood, knocking on doors, and sneaking the limo in and out of tight alleyways and streets. He later remarked on how many people would not have voted otherwise. There were even some who had not been to the polls in as many as 35 years.

OVEC and the Huntington / Cabell Branch of the NAACP will continue our voter empowerment work through the election.  If you are not registered to vote, please follow the links in the sidebar for easy, on-line registration. 

After all, civic participation is where the rubber meets the road: sustained, positive social and environmental change only comes about through active community involvement. If you want change, you had better, at the very least, vote!

 

Sylvia Ridgeway, president of the Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP lays out the ground rules and agenda for the community meeting.

 

Jeremy (seated, far right) and other NAACP  members listen to candidates' responses to questions.