The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative today celebrated National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), a civic holiday meant to encourage voters to register to vote. The collective, which organizes across the South to improve the material conditions of Black people, pledged to register thousands of voters on NVRD and beyond. They also vowed to address long-standing barriers to the ballot such as felony disenfranchisement, voter purges, and intimidation at the polls. The group released the following statement:
“This National Voter Registration Day comes at a time of increased strife in Florida. Numerous formerly incarcerated persons who regained the right to vote have been viciously targeted for attempting to do just that,” said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida. “This year, our organizing and efforts will go to ensuring that all people who are eligible to vote – including returning citizens – are able to do so, free of intimidation and fear.”
