LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the past few weekends, volunteers have been canvassing neighborhoods trying to make sure people have all the information they need to vote in the November election.
Dee Muldrow, President of the Theta Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. said he’s not surprised when he encounters people who aren’t registered to vote.
“No, not at all because that’s a part of voter suppression,” he said. “It’s not put out there. It’s not promoted.”
If people don’t come to them, organization members go to the people to deliver information on voting rights. They go door-to-door, providing registration information, places where you can vote, and the different ways you can vote.
Volunteers also hand out pamphlets and flyers so if someone doesn’t have time to fill out the information at that moment, they can do it later.
John Riley, chair of the chapter's Voter Registration Campaign, said people appreciate the personal delivery of this important information.
“They’re quite grateful, because they didn’t know,” Riley said.
Shortly after he took office, Governor Andy Beshear said Kentucky had the third highest voter disenfranchisement rate in the country. Nearly one in 10 Kentuckians, and nearly one in four African-Americans in the state were not allowed to vote, according to Beshear. The governor then signed an executive order restoring voting rights to more than 140,000 people in the state. Before that order, Kentucky was one of only two states in the county that imposed a lifetime ban on voting for anyone convicted of a felony, including non-violent ones.
The group plans to go out one last time this weekend to make sure everyone is registered to vote. The last day to register in Kentucky is Oct. 5.
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