Power the Polls: Why we Need Poll Workers Now More Than Ever

Reverend Dr. Jerry Lytle Cannon

CN Jenkins Memorial Presbyterian Church

State Director Proctor Power the Polls

People are nervous about this year’s election and rightfully so. Covid-19 has compounded the fear in voting in person and the current political climate has compounded the fear in using mail in ballot. Voter suppression comes in many forms. Not having enough poll workers would lead to sites being closed and much longer lines. I recently spoke with Reverend Dr. Jerry Lytle Cannon, Pastor of CN Jenkins Memorial Presbyterian Church and State Director for Proctor Power the Polls about why he chose to participate in this year’s election as a volunteer and community leader. We discuss the importance of visibility this year about how to make sure we have enough poll workers for the upcoming election.

Tell me about the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and why you chose to get involved as the North Carolina State Director or the Power the Polls initiative. 

The conference is organized by faith leaders to unify the community to nurture, sustain and mobilize African American faith communities in coordination with philanthropic efforts. It’s really about putting faith into action. The church has always been action oriented as the genesis point for civil rights meetings. Churches, funeral homes and barber shops have always been important.

Tell me about the goal to recruit 7,500 local poll workers. Why is that the target goal and what kind of people are you looking to recruit?

Recruiting Poll workers is just one of the strategies in regard to presence where Covid has put the normal people out of the room, since poll workers are visible, that’s why this is a strategic area of focus. We could have easily had phone banks but people are receiving information differently now. For example, state lottery, Powerball and mega millions. How many are buying a ticket vs. how many are winning. If the same technology goes into making the lottery work without fraud, (people play the lottery every day), then people should be able to trust the mail in voting process.

The idea to flood the field with persons who have a conscious effort to remember the sacrifice that voting is a right; not to throw stones. If you don't know your history , you’re bound to repeat your troubles. These efforts help us remember the sacrifices of our ancestors to vote freely and openly.  

What challenges have you faced in your efforts?

Because of Covid, we haven't been able to resort to things we normally do like rallies and large meetings with thousands, meet the candidates and make the rounds at churches. Churches are not meeting and candidates are not coming. For democratic candidates, the yard signs are lacking in comparison to the GOP. they did the research and decided not to knock on doors, that’s a turn off for people during this time.

I go to Krispy Kreme because the light is on. Visibility is so important and we are not seeing yard signs like we normally do. We cannot go door to door like we normally do, so we have to think of new ways to increase visibility of Black and brown voters during early voting and on election day.

I recently attended a small group of clergy coalition with Vice President Joe Biden in Charlotte and answered questions about the importance of connecting with Black voters and the former VP confessed that he is polling well in African American community but not with males aged 20-35. How do we get this demographic engaged? Who can bring that group out? Also, The reality is you’ve got the metro (urban) areas, but you don’t have Rocky Mount and Roseboro, Statesville, for example. We are using connections with the proctor conference to get poll workers out to the Salisbury and to into Yanceyville.

How are you using your ministry to advocate for civic awareness and engagement? (i.e. Souls to the polls, Black voters, etc) 

Though we are not meeting, we are asking people to make the phone calls and doing virtual souls to the polls. Help us call the next person. Get the radio station to do waiting lines updates. Call the radio stations to get the updated wait times during early voting and on Election Day. Can we use our network to get updates on waiting lines on the different polling stations during early voting? We should go above and beyond Souls to the Polls.

Want to get paid to work the polls? Sign up at proctorpowerthepolls.org today.