Organizations rally for voter education event before Nov. 8 election
Photos: Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Phyllis Waller, left, president of the League of Women Voters in Washington, chats with fellow league member Antoinette Fitch, while helping with voter registration applications at an event Saturday at the LeMoyne Community Center in East Washington.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Union organizer JoJo Burgess speaks at a voter education event Saturday at the LeMoyne Community Center in East Washington.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Union organizer JoJo Burgess speaks at a voter education event Saturday at the LeMoyne Community Center in East Washington while Ada Gay Griffin listens next to him.
In an effort to battle disinformation while building interest in the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm election, several community groups gathered Saturday at the LeMoyne Community Center for a voter education rally.
“It’s a right to vote, and everyone should be voting to let their voice be heard,” said Phyllis Waller, president of the League of Women Voters in Washington. “Every person or organization doesn’t tell the truth. That’s part of the problem.”
To combat that, Waller and fellow league member Antoinette Fitch on Saturday sat at a table inside the community center in East Washington with voter registration forms, mail-in ballot applications and other election information.
“Disinformation seems to be very pronounced this election,” Fitch said. “It’s good to be (here) in person to help people get the facts.”
The non-partisan event was designed to engage younger people who may be disinterested in politics and have never voted before ahead of the Nov. 8 election. That was on the mind of JoJo Burgess, a union organizer living in Washington, who said he thinks the “lackadaisical attitude” of young people is beginning to change.
“We need to have events like this to engage the youth vote,” Burgess said. “Why does your vote count, and why do people want to suppress that vote?”
He said his 26-year-old daughter, Emily Sherman, who lives in Florida, asked him for advice on which party to choose when she registered to vote for the first time this year. Burgess, who has appeared at multiple events this year with President Biden, including on Thursday in Pittsburgh, said her party affiliation doesn’t matter as much as her paying attention to the policies put forward by the candidates.
“That shocked me, because she’s never been engaged,” Burgess said, adding his daughter registered to vote over concerns about abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
“I’m starting to pay attention,” he recounted his daughter telling him recently.
There were other organizations offering support that went beyond voting, including the Washington NAACP, Washington County Gay Straight Alliance and the Center for Coalfield Justice.
A few feet away, Barbara Griffin, an attorney with the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, was offering expungement assistance or pardon applications for people with criminal records. She said people with misdemeanor or felony convictions need a pardon to have their criminal records erased, although people charged with crimes but never convicted or those with summary offenses that are five years or older can have them erased. But she also wanted to remind the public that people convicted of felonies on state charges who are no longer incarcerated are permitted to vote in Pennsylvania, along with people who are currently jailed on misdemeanors.
Beyond the legal side of her work, Griffin is encouraging everyone to vote in this upcoming election, regardless of how many competitive races there are on the ballot because the results ultimately will have some effect on their lives.
“There are other people on the ballot, and those positions are important,” Griffin said. “I remain hopeful, for some reason. I remain hopeful, and that’s why I’m here.”
Today is the final day to register to vote for the election, and Nov. 1 is the final day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot. Voter registration applications must be turned into a person’s county elections office by 5 p.m. today, or people can visit vote.pa.gov to register online before the deadline.