Voting tour: Poor people will prove their power in NC
Power to the people: Bishop Barber, Repairers of the Breach lead North Carolina nonpartisan voter organizing tour starting this week
Aim is to help poor people, low-wage workers see they can make a difference in 2022 midterms
IF WE EVER NEEDED TO VOTE FOR DEMOCRACY, WE NEED TO VOTE NOW
The numbers don’t lie, and they show that poor and low-wage low wealth people have the power to change North Carolina’s political landscape when they vote.
About 3.4 million poor and low-income people in North Carolina are eligible to vote with 2.2 million voting in the 2020 presidential election, according to the study titled “Waking the Sleeping Giant: Low-Income Voters and the 2020 Elections.” released in October 2021 by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
This shows that over 60% of them voted but over one-third did not, meaning it’s imperative to get these non-voters to the polls. In addition, 2 million North Carolina workers make less than $15 an hour — that’s almost 50% of the state’s workforce. And 1 million people are uninsured.
“Any candidate regardless of party who ignores poor and low-wage, low-wealth voters is engaged in a strategy that is morally indefensible, constitutionally inconsistent, politically inept and economically insane,” said Bishop William J. Barber II, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach. “They are the constituency with the power to elect candidates who care most about ensuring living wages, health care for all, women’s reproductive rights and voting rights.”
The Mass Mobilization Organizing Tour of NC Congressional Districts, sponsored by Repairers of the Breach, the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign and other partners, opens with a statewide virtual rally broadcast from Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of ) Christian Goldsboro at 7 p.m. Aug. 26.
The organizing meetings will be held:
Aug. 27: Greensboro, noon, New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 408 MLK Drive. Greensboro is part of the 6th Congressional District.
Aug. 27: Wilmington, 6 p.m., Warner Temple AME Zion Church, 620 Nixon Street. Wilmington is part of the 7th Congressional District.
Aug. 28: Wilson, 5 p.m., Saint James Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1739 MLK Parkway SE. Wilson is part of the 1st Congressional District.
Aug. 29: Winston-Salem, 6 p.m., Union Baptist Church, 1200 N. Trade St. Winston-Salem is part of the 6th Congressional District.
Also, a national service will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 28 at Greenleaf.
In addition to Repairers of the Breach, co-sponsors of the meetings include Fight for $15, Beloved Community Center, The Justice Coalition, Forward Justice, and the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign.
Along with impacted people, moral leaders and all candidates are welcome to come and see data and hear from people.
The agenda of the meetings includes discussion of what must happen to convince people that their vote matters. In addition, local leaders will discuss GOTV programs in their counties, and poor and low-wage, low-wealth people will tell their stories.
On a national level, the study about low-income voting showed that of the 158 million people who voted in 2020, over 50 million – or nearly one-third -- were low-income, meaning they have an estimated annual income of under $50,000. The 2020 presidential elections saw the highest voter turnout in U.S. election history, including among low-income voters.
“This cuts against common misperceptions that poor and low-income people are apathetic about politics or inconsequential to electoral outcomes,” the study’s executive summary reads.
In North Carolina, 44% of people are poor or low-income—a total of 4.6 million residents. This includes 53% of children (1.2 million), 46% of women (2.3 million), 58% of Black people (1.2 million), 67% of Latinx people (699,000), and 36% of white people (2.2 million).
This coalition plans to hold meetings in each of North Carolina’s 14 congressional districts before the 2022 midterm elections on Nov. 8.