Souls to the Polls inspires South Floridians to go straight from church to voting booth
By AUSTEN ERBLAT and SUSANNAH BRYAN
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL |OCT 25, 2020
As rain clouds loomed over South Florida, hundreds of voters and volunteers turned out to vote and show support for local and national candidates at “Souls to the Polls” events on Sunday.
The events, held throughout the state and organized by the national faith-based organization Faith in Florida, encouraged voters of all ages to go straight from church to their polling place.
“Even with the rain, today was a success,” Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel as things were wrapping up at the Atlantic Village Center in Hallandale Beach. “We’re covering 20 counties and have 100 locations. We had over 5,000 people show up at three different events today in Miami-Dade County.”
In Broward County, dozens of voters gathered at a Souls to the Polls event in Hallandale Beach on Sunday to rally for the chance to be heard on Election Day.
“We’re celebrating getting out the vote,” said Katrice Johnson, a Hallandale Beach resident and organizer with the non-partisan group Faith in Florida. “We don’t care who you vote for. We just want you to vote.”
The crowd included a 6-month-old baby boy and an 82-year-old woman and every age in between, including millennials, Johnson said.
“They are so important for this election,” she said. “We need them to vote.”
Earlier in the day, a caravan of 70 cars drove a few blocks south to the early voting site near City Hall to deliver their mail-in ballots.
Minister Tim Griffith, of Pembroke Pines, took the stage and encouraged the crowd to attend next Sunday’s Souls to the Polls event at Hopewell Baptist Church in Pompano Beach.
“It’s bigger than you,” he said of the upcoming election. “Tell your sons, tell your daughters, send out a mass text message [to get out the vote].”
Griffith says the group is visiting barbershops and nail salons in an effort to get people to the polls.
“Breonna Taylor’s blood is on this ballot,” he said. “Ahmaud Arbery’s blood is on this ballot. Jacob Blake. George Floyd, Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin.”
Griffith reiterated that no one is telling anyone how to vote.
“We’re telling the millennials since [George Floyd and other Black people who died in police custody] are not here to vote, we need you to vote for them.”
Hollywood teenager Shaniya Wood, 16, was one of the youngest people at Sunday’s event in Hallandale Beach.
She may be too young to vote this year but she has every intention of voting in 2022.
“I think everyone’s voice is important and voting is just one way to get your voice out,” said Wood, an 11th grader at Hollywood Hills High.
“It’s important for people to see what’s going on in the world and how they can change things.”
Hallandale Beach resident Emmanuel Robinson, a 32-year-old millennial, plans to cast his vote this week. It will be the first time he’s voted in years.
A convicted felon, he served five years in prison after being convicted of selling fake prescriptions.
“I was released from prison in January and got my rights restored in July,” said Robinson, who attended Monday’s event with fiance Lazetta Lowe, 31, of Fort Lauderdale.
Robinson plans to talk his buddies into voting too.
“I’m trying to get other people out to vote who’ve never voted before,” he said.
In Riviera Beach, the Wells Recreation Center saw a steady stream of early voters Sunday afternoon, but no long lines like those seen at other sites in South Florida.
An unarmed security guard directed foot traffic and enforced social distancing in the building and in the line outside.
Kelvin Bledsoe, the parliamentarian of the Palm Beach chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council that collaborated with Black fraternities and sororities, was handing out water to voters, workers and other volunteers.
“Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you get thirsty,” he said.
Bledsoe showed up with 1,000 water bottles and had already talked to about 100 voters at 2 p.m. Sunday and was expecting another 200 to 300 later in the day.
He said his group doesn’t tell people how to vote, but wants to make sure people are safe and hydrated when they come to cast their ballot.
Maria Cole, a volunteer with the Democratic organization Blue Wave Coalition, handed out ballot information, masks, snacks, coffee and water to voters.
“I’m feeling good,” she said of Sunday’s turnout. “The thing for us, especially in Riviera Beach, is community engagement. It’s really important that we don’t just show up at the last minute asking people for their vote, but that we’re here all the time, talking to people about the issues.”
Margaret Bess, 66, of West Palm Beach, showed up to encourage people to vote.
Joe Biden got Bess’s vote because he cares about people more than money, she said.
“The economy is important, but it’s not the most important thing,” she said. “People matter, no matter what color or ethnic race they are.”
Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was a big factor for Bess, who said she thinks Biden will be more receptive to the advice of public health experts.
“A lot of people have died as a result of the virus,” Bess said. “People are still dying, and there will probably be a lot more people dying, based on what medical science says.”
West Palm Beach resident Richard Ryles, 58, said he voted for Biden because he thinks the former vice president is more aligned with his values.
In past elections, he has voted for Democratic and Republican candidates, but said this year that every Democrat on his ballot better represented his stances.
“[Biden] offers the country a better opportunity to fix some of the things that are systemic that need changing,” he said.
“As an African-American, we have to understand the importance of this election and that neither rain nor sleet should keep us from voting.”