Building the Black Vote for 2022 Starts Now
By Cash Michaels –
An analysis.
The NC Democratic Party has new top leadership in the person of Chairperson Bobbie Richardson, a former state Representative from Franklin County and the first Black woman ever to hold that post. Richardson’s work is certainly cut out for her, given that the 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner. And in light of the mixed results for Democrats in November 2020 general election statewide, observers say mistakes made then cannot be repeated now.
Even though Black voter turnout in the November election actually went up 4% from the 2016 election, voting by Black youths 18-25 was nowhere near as dramatic. In fact, according to William Munn, a senior policy analyst with the Health Advocacy Project at the North Carolina Justice Center, “In an election that a lot of people billed as a transformational one—and one where we broke all types of turnout (records)—it is up everywhere,” Munn says. “But in terms of African American voters who are younger, it’s just a significant drop off.”
In fact, young Black voters have shown a 12-point drop-off since 2012, Munn notes.
Part of the reason is the failure of evidence for Black young people that voting actually helps change their immediate circumstances when it comes to improving opportunities to better themselves. Another reason is simply not feeling part of the political process.
Coupled with that shortcoming is the fact that the Democrats’ get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts, particularly in rural areas of North Carolina, were woefully weak last year compared to the Republicans’ work. As a result, the GOP maintained control of the NC General Assembly and won several top judicial seats on the state Supreme and Appellate courts.
It’s true that the coronavirus pandemic hindered much of the Democratic GOTV efforts for 2020, resulting in Republicans being able to deliver more of their voters to the polls by Election Day. Voter registration was also hindered.
But in some rural areas of the state, like Lumberton in Roberson County, Blacks no longer automatically vote for Democrats. Those who have become more conservative in their views and values often switch and support Republicans.
What Can—and Should—Democrats Do?
So what can be done to better mobilize the Black Democratic vote in North Carolina for 2022 and beyond?
Observers say while each state is different, lessons can be learned from Georgia and the massive success community leaders there—most prominently Stacey Abrams—have had in consolidating and mobilizing the Black vote. Unflagging efforts and determination led Georgia voters to elect the first African American, and the first Jewish, US senators in the state’s history: both men won in special runoff elections in January.
First lesson—legally challenge any and all state-imposed barriers to voting that cripple the Constitutional right to vote. Abrams was able to file suit and win a federal consent decree that eliminated such barriers that Georgia legislators implemented to suppress the Black vote.
Second lesson—make sure that as many people who can register to vote, are registered. Thousands of previously registered voters who had been purged from voting rolls were re-registered, and tens of thousands of first-time voters were also registered.
Third lesson—build close relationships with voters in communities, talk with them about their hopes, dreams, and policy concerns. This work entails making sure they know they’re being listened to, hiring people within communities to do the work, and connecting with others when needed.
Other factors certainly point toward additional steps that can be taken to improve Black voter turnout numbers for the 2022 midterm elections. But with Democrats holding a majority in the US Senate by a razor’s edge, and by only a ten-vote margin in the US House, Democrats can ill-afford to wait for the pandemic to totally blow over.
They will have to do all the things they did not do during the 2020 election, starting now.
