With civil rights, racial equity and the future of Black America at stake, voters across Chicago’s Black wards flooded the polls during Early Voting this week to cast ballots in a consequential election where Vice President Kamala Harris is in a tight race as she seeks to make history as the nation’s first Black woman president.
In the final days before the November 5 election, voters across Chicago’s Black wards on Tuesday, October 29, flooded the polls and jammed parking lots on the city’s South and West Sides, intending to make their votes count in national, state, and local elections.
At the South Side YMCA on Stony Island in the 5th Ward, campaign workers for political candidates blanketed the parking lot where many drivers were forced to wait for a spot to park.
Among the many voters that day were Kelly Hodges, 33, and Cozell Echols. They came to the Early Voting site together to cast their ballots, as they have done for years. Though Illinois is not a swing state, Hodges and Echols said they still felt compelled to vote in person early before Election Day.
“It’s very important to vote,” Echols said. “I’m beyond words to say how important it is to get out and vote.”
Hodges said, “There’s a lot of other political races besides the presidential race. I always vote because numbers matter.”
Echols said she voted for Harris because “she’s the real deal. She represents everybody and not just a select group.”
In the 4th Ward at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center, 4314 South Cottage Grove, Paul Johnson, 70, said he was concerned about the future of democracy in America, having Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a close race, attempting to win a second term again following his 2020 election failure. Johnson didn’t say who he voted for, but he gave a big hint.
“I’m against the Supreme Court refusing to punish Trump for January 6,” Johnson said, referring to the violent insurrection where Trump incited thousands of supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol where they tried to overturn the 2020 election. Trump still falsely claims that the election was stolen from him.
In the 28th Ward at the West Side Learning Center, a security guard directed traffic in the parking lot as a steady stream of drivers struggled to find a spot.
Floyd McGhee, 85, said he voted for Harris because he’s concerned about Trump becoming a dictator should he win the White House again.
“To me, he seems prejudiced [against Blacks and minorities.]”
Lisa J., 55, another voter in the 28th Ward, said she voted for Harris because she wants to see fairness and equality “across the board” in America.
Lisa said she voted early to make sure her vote counted.
“I’d rather come in and vote because I don’t trust those ballot boxes,” she said.
In the 9th Ward at Palmer Park, 201 E. 111th St., WVON 1690 radio host Perri Small said she voted on Sunday, October 27, but she told listeners on her daily Midday Madness show she had to wait two hours to cast her ballot.
With election season in high gear, several Black leaders and institutions plan to hold last minute get-out-the vote rallies to boost turnout at the polls.
Chicago State University scheduled a “Stroll to the polls” on Thursday, October 31, in the 9th Ward. Officials there plan to host a rally in the school’s quad before the CSU band leads voters with a march to the campus’ Early Voting poll precinct.
Congressman Danny Davis will host a get-out-the-vote rally and fundraiser at the Medstar Auditorium, 4531 W. Harrison St., in Hillside, IL.
On Saturday, November 2, the Bronzeville Children’s Museum will instruct a class that will teach kids the importance of voting.
Howard University in Washington D.C., Harris’ alma mater, will hold classes remotely on November 4, the day before the election. On Election Day, classes will be canceled at the school, and Harris will hold an election night watch party on campus.
On Tuesday, October 29, about 75,000 people attended a rally Harris held at Washington D.C.’s Ellipse, a public park near the White House.
Harris and her supporters continue to campaign in key swing states.
According to the latest New York Times opinion poll, Harris leads Trump 49 percent to his 48 percent. But in the must-win state of Pennsylvania, Harris trails her opponent by one percentage point. Harris leads Trump by one point in Michigan and the two candidates are even in North Carolina, and Nevada. Trump leads Harris by two percentage points in Arizona and Georgia.
In Nevada, Reverend Al Sharpton on Wednesday, October 30, held a get-out-the-vote rally in Las Vegas.
Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, met with religious leaders at Wealthy Place Ministries in the Historic Westside. He told leaders to encourage their congregations to get out and vote on Election Day.
“I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, but to vote for who is in your best interest,” said Sharpton.
“Clearly, there are forces out there that want to rob our right to vote and want to bring us backward in terms of equity and fairness.”
