Voter Empowerment Plan Proves Successful on Election Day

On May 11, OVEC’s collaborative work in Huntington’s District 5 paid off, as many community members – lots of them newly registered – came out to vote in the primary election.

OVEC's Abe Mwaura confers with NAACP Youth Council.

OVEC, the Huntington/Cabell Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the NAACP Youth Council worked steadily for several months to heighten interest in the electoral process among District 5 residents. Volunteers from NAACP Youth, Marshall Action for Peaceful Solutions and OVEC canvassed over three weekends in preparation for our April 13 Meet the Candidates forum and for a special get-out-the-vote idea planned for Election Day.

Driven by their concern for a better quality of life and with questions about public health and safety, over 100 people attended our Meet the Candidates 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 also attended.

An audience member at the forum mentioned the issue of increasing utility bills. City council candidate Brandi Jacobs, 27, noted that some cities have managed to buy back control of utilities from multinational corporations. To vocal approval from the crowd, she proclaimed, "Lexington did it; so can we!" (Many of West Virginia’s waterworks are owned by WV-American Water, a subsidiary of Germany’s RWE Aktiengesellschaft.)

Water was not the only issue community members were interested in. Many were concerned about the lack of security and a police presence in District 5. All of the candidates explained their plans to increase the number of police officers in the city in order to combat crime.

A few weeks later, OVEC and the NAACP conducted another canvass of District 5. We wanted to get people excited about participating in democracy, so we offered limo rides to the polls! We encouraged community members to register to vote in the upcoming primary and we offered them the chance to arrive at the polls – in style.

Many were enthusiastic about the prospect of arriving at the polls in the limo. "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 steering in and out of tight alleyways and streets. He later remarked that were it not for the limo, many people would not have voted – some of his passengers 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. If you are not registered to vote, please contact the OVEC office at (304) 522-0246 and we will send you the simple form.

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 we want change, we had better, at the very least, vote!