For Immediate Release: September 25, 2018
Contact: Jennifer R. Farmer jfarmer@faithinaction.org
In honor of National Voter Registration Day the group outlined their voter outreach campaign plans in 20 counties and 75 locations across Georgia.
ATLANTA – The New Georgia Project (NGP), a state-based partner of Faith in Action, is celebrating National Voter Registration Day by launching a “Vote by Mail” campaign and a multi-county voter registration drive. The voter registration drive will be held in 75 locations across 20 different Georgia counties. The NGP discussed their voting initiatives during a September 25 media conference call, which is accessible here.
The ‘Vote by Mail’ campaign is co-sponsored by Justice Clergy 100, the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, Wheat Street Baptist Church and by the three largest Methodist bodies in Georgia — African Methodist Episcopal, Christian Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal Zion. The registration drive is sponsored by the New Georgia Project.
“Voting is another way to march,” said the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and chair of New Georgia Project. ‘Vote by Mail’ frees congregants to help get other people to the polls on Election Day. It’s another way to pray with your hands and feet.”
“This is the first time that the bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) bodies in Georgia [African Methodist Episcopal, Christian Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal Zion] have encouraged their congregants to ‘Vote by Mail,” said New Georgia Project Executive Director Nse Ufot. “We know that voters of color consistently face barriers to the ballot box and we aren’t leaving anything to chance. We are not only registering people to vote, we want to facilitate their participation by encouraging them to vote by mail.”
By the end of the voter registration period, the NGP hopes to register 50,000 people to vote, which is a part of their 10-year voter registration goal of registering 1 million new voters.
“We’re trying to build a culture of voting and transition infrequent voters into super voters,” Ufot said. “When you’re thinking about how to change behavior you look to institutions who have had success with it. Through different movements, the black church has changed behavior and that’s why we’re so excited to partner with the AME church on Vote by Mail. Separately, Vote by Mail is one of the few ways that Georgia voters are able to vote and have a paper trail.”
In addition to Ufot, call attendees included Rev. Billy Honor, Jr. director of faith organizing for the New Georgia Project, Bishop Mildred Bonnie Hines of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Bishop Reginald Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Ebenezer Baptist Church.
“We will maximize every avenue to deliver as many people to the poll because so much is at stake,” the Rev. Dr. Warnock concluded.
For more information, contact Jennifer Farmer at jfarmer@faithinaction.org.
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