DAYTON, Ohio — Volunteers are working 14-hour days to get more Black voters to the polls. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Ohio Unity Coalition has been knocking on doors for months to try and get more Black voters to the polls 

  • The coalition has been working with partner agencies like the NAACP to help go up against barriers like polling location changes that could keep voters away

  • The coalition is planning to go to neighborhoods in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati next 

Deidra Reese and her crew are trying to get to as many houses as they can before Election Day.

Reese is the program coordinator who has a volunteer canvassing team with the Ohio Unity Coalition.

“We basically look at past voting patterns, we talk to people who live in the actual cities,” Reese said.

They go to neighborhoods statewide, but this time they are targeting neighborhoods in the Dayton area. They have been going door to door and trying to get more Black voters to the polls. 

“We care about Black people having a voice in the system, and we don’t like things being imposed on us,” Reese said.

She said many times, voters are skeptical, and it takes some explaining.

“We believe that by voting we have the ability to influence who is making decisions about how we live our lives,” Reese said.

It’s the reason they have been canvassing neighborhoods across the state for months leading up to the midterm election.

The coalition is also working with partner organizations to help. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is one of them. 

NAACP leaders say they’ve been working to break down barriers that can block Black voters who are trying to get to the polls. 

“Here in Montgomery County where they’ve changed the polling places, so we’ve met with our local board of election, I’ve met with other units across the state to do the same thing to make sure we’re aware of those changes,” said Tom Robers with the Ohio Conference of Branches of the NAACP.

For some, simply hearing about this election through the canvas team is enough to get to the polls on Nov. 8. 

“This election is very important because it affects you locally,” said Ohio Unity Coalition Lead Canvasser Sandra Lewis. “All that goes on that you don’t care for, you’ve got a voice, make your voice known.”

The coalition is planning canvasses in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland areas in the next week leading up to Election Day.