Angela Johnson, a Pulaski County voter, plans to vote early with her daughter this November. She attended the county clerk’s Vote Fest on Sept. 17, 2024 in Little Rock. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
An estimated 200 Pulaski County residents submitted voter registration forms at various voter drives across Arkansas’ most populous county Tuesday, according to preliminary data from the county clerk’s office.
The Pulaski County clerk’s office organized a “Vote Fest” event near its Little Rock office on Tuesday to recognize National Voter Registration Day. Seven other pop-up events were also held at colleges, universities and a high school in the heavily Democratic county where local organizations encouraged new voters to register themselves for the upcoming general election, educated some on restoring their voting rights and checked the registration status of others.
Arkansas’ deadline to register to vote is Oct. 7, which is about three weeks away.
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“The upcoming election is extremely important because voters will be casting ballots for not only the President of the United States, but also for local, county and statewide offices that have the most impact on their daily lives,” Pulaski County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth said. “Additionally, there will be local and statewide ballot issues to decide on, and your vote on these matters.”
Historically, Arkansas has reported low voter turnout.
Pulaski County Clerk employees Marisha Twillie and Ternesha Womack engage with residents at Vote Fest on Sept. 17, 2024 in Little Rock. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
The state had the lowest voter participation in the nation during the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with 62% of eligible citizens registered to vote and 54% voting, according to the Arkansas Civic Health Index report. The national average is nearly 73% of citizens registered to vote and about 68% voting.
“Let’s come together as a community and help our state move up from the bottom of that list by voting,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s our civic duty.”
Reproductive rights and immigration policy were among topics county residents said were priorities when considering how they will cast their votes this November. Attendees to Tuesday’s events also highlighted the importance of researching all candidates and voting for the person who represents their values.
Angela Johnson, a 50-year-old Pulaski County voter, ate her lunch and danced to the DJ’s mixes while the nearby Vote Fest attracted onlookers. Johnson said she plans to beat the lines and vote early on Oct. 21 with her 29-year-old daughter.
Johnson said she sometimes has to convince her daughter that her vote does count in Arkansas, a state that has voted Republican for the last decade. Johnson intends to vote for the presidential candidate with “common sense,” which she said is currently Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This cycle, [I’m looking for] a president that’s for the people,” Johnson said. “That their agenda is to not to turn our democracy into non-democracy. I don’t want one ruler. … I don’t want to vote for anyone who’s trying to take [our democracy] from us.”
Johnson said reproductive rights are most important to her this election. Arkansas voters, however, will not have the opportunity to vote on a proposed ballot initiative that would have restored some abortion rights in the state.
In August, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that a paperwork issue would keep the measure off the ballot. The decision came after several back-and-forth arguments between the secretary of state’s office and the group that supported the measure, Arkansans for Limited Government.
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Tobias Peoples, who also attended a Vote Fest event, said he thought the proposed statewide measure was thrown out for “bull— reasons.”
Peoples, 27, said he intends to vote for Harris in the upcoming election and doesn’t think “we could come back” if former President Donald Trump was reelected. Peoples was one of 112 people who signed a card at Vote Fest indicating their intention to vote this November.
At the local level, Peoples expressed dissatisfaction for the way the Republican-majority government was leading Arkansas. He said it “is not working,” and he hoped things would improve.
With the abortion amendment out, 44-year-old Bryan McGee said he only intends to vote on the statewide initiative to expand medical marijuana access. As someone who uses cannabis for pain management, McGee said he is supportive of the proposed changes in the measure, especially extending the duration of valid medical cards.
Bryan McGee, a Pulaski County voter, said he intends to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. He attended the Pulaski County clerk’s Vote Fest on Sept. 17, 2024 in Little Rock. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
About eight years ago, McGee’s life was permanently changed after a motorcycle crash. He now has T-12 paraplegia and uses a wheelchair to get around. Medical marijuana helps his condition, he said.
McGee said he may skip over some local races this year, but he plans to cast his vote for Harris in the presidential election.
Victoria Stallings-Wright, a 38-year-old registered to vote in Pulaski County, said she will make a plan to vote early this year, with reproductive rights, affordable education and immigration at the forefront of her decisions.
Stallings-Wright said that the United States is a country made up entirely of immigrants.
“Yet, the people who come from immigrants have a problem with immigrants,” she said. “I think that says a lot.”
Stallings-Wright did not want to say who she intended to cast her vote for in the presidential election.
Javin Burrell and DeCarlos Nora Jr., members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Philander Smith University, work to engage potential voters on Sept. 17, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
DeCarlos Nora Jr., a volunteer with the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Philander Smith University, also said immigration and the way presidential candidates speak about related issues is important to him.
Nora, 20, said he thought Trump was “over fabricating” things when it came to immigration.
As a young person, Nora also spoke to the importance of getting to the polls.
“From my perspective, I feel like young people are the least likely to vote,” he said. “We are missing out on a lot of votes. I feel like young people have the most complaints on things that are going on in the world, yet they aren’t going out and voting to make those changes.”
Arkansans can check their voter registration status by calling their local county clerk or by visiting www.voterview.org.
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