The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition recently announced that they are sending their lawyers and law students to multiple states as recruiters for Black Americans’ votes in battleground states.
First announced by the Associated Press, the recruiters are being sent to four main states, namely Michigan, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia. As part of the new initiative, they are currently helping educate Black voters on the disadvantages they might face when registering and going to vote. The lawyers and students are also creating groups for voters to join if they feel exasperated or unheard, allowing them to join a space where they can be listened to when it comes to voting.
The initiative first began back in February with the tour beginning in Michigan. Targeting places such as churches, barbershops and union halls, the tour will continue this month in Texas and North Carolina.
“I think what makes us unique is that we’re new messengers,” said the civil rights lawyer and founder of the Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition, Abdul Dosunmu, per AP News. “We have never thought about the Black lawyer as someone who is uniquely empowered to be messengers for civic empowerment.”
The announcement by the organization comes days after the rate of young Black voters expected to vote during this election was predicted to be lower than last year.
Per a new poll conducted by Washington Post-Ipsos, overall, 62% of Black voters said they would be heading to the polls this upcoming election; the reported number marks a decrease from the last election when 74% of Black voters said they would be going.
YBLOC, a grassroots group, empowers Black voters by engaging young Black lawyers in focus groups to understand and address voter suppression in key battleground states. https://t.co/eP9wtdTXtO
— Defender Network (@defendernetwork) May 9, 2024
The decline was found to be particularly drastic among young Black voters between the ages of 18 and 39. While 61% said that they would definitely vote in the last election in 2020, only 41% of Black voters in this age range said that they would be voting in November this year.
In comparison, 70% of Black voters from the ages of 40 to 64 and 88% of Black voters in the 65 years and older age range are expected to go to the polls.
Throughout the years, Black voters have been targets of disenfranchisement cases. Just recently in April of this year, two conservative election frauds were found guilty of going after Black voters in the 2020 election as part of a robocall campaign.
In a scheme that targeted approximately 5,500 New York voters, Black Americans were victims of voter intimidation as they received phone calls that attempted to sway them from voting by mail to prevent personal information from being leaked.
As part of the case, the frauds, Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman may need to pay up to $1.25 million to the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Office of the Attorney General, and the plaintiffs involved.
