LEXINGTON, Ky. — Election day is one week away and voting is already underway in the Commonwealth. Lexington faith leaders, elected officials and the local NAACP are encouraging a high voter turnout.
The Transformative Justice Coalition says its mission is to create change, specifically, with racial justice and human rights causes through public education and engagement initiatives. The national organization is coming to Lexington on the first weekend in November with a message.
“We will start the voter-cade here, and it will be led by our wonderful state representative Mr. Brown, and the voter-cade is representative of John Lewis’, “make good trouble” voter-cade which will be directly behind him, and will line all the cars up to have signs,” said Walt Whitaker, with the Lexington NAACP.
The voter-cade encourages black voters to take advantage of early voting and to show up on election day. They also stress that every vote counts.
“The issue is that one reason that people don’t want to vote is apathy, it is that nothing changes when they vote but also the processes has been difficult in the past so we’re trying to get that streamlined and a lot of people just don’t know where to go how to go or what they candidate stand for,” Whitaker explained.
The last stop is at Consolidated Baptist Church with a “Party at the polls.” The church itself sits beside the Lexington Public Library’s Northside branch.
It’s a location that will be open for early, no-excuse voting Nov. 2-4.
Richard Gaines is the pastor of the church. He says it’s important to make your voting plan. “Encouraging people to be involved in the community and society at large by participating in the governmental practice of voting in elections because to do so, I think allows a person to state who they are in an action kind of way,” Gaines said.
The last day to vote in Kentucky is Election Day on Nov. 7, when the state’s six executive offices will be elected.