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NAACP encourages African Americans in Georgia to vote in runoffs

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Published  November 10, 2020 11:35pm EST
2020 Election
FOX 5 Atlanta

The Black vote and the Senate runoffs

The NAACP is working to get Black voters to the polls for January's Senate runoffs.

ATLANTA - Last Tuesday was not the end of the election season in Georgia as both Senate races have gone into runoffs scheduled for early January. The NAACP is working to get the word out among Georgians.

The president of the NAACP said the association spent millions of dollars to get people engaged with the voting process and intends to keep fueling people to vote in Georgia’s January runoffs.

With two Senate runoffs looming in January, all eyes are still on the Peach State as those seats could determine which party has control over the Senate, or if the chamber will split 50-50.

“This is a different runoff process and we do know when there are runoffs. We see a drop in voter turnout in all communities. That’s just a fact," National Political Director of the NAACP, Dominik Whitehead said.

That’s not lost on local and national NAACP leaders, who said a record number of black voters turned out for the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 3 by voting early, in-person on Election Day, and by absentee ballot.

Whitehead said the increased Black turnout in November’s election stems from strong partnerships across the country and especially in the metro Atlanta including efforts from historically Black Greek life organizations and well-known politicians.

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Whitehead said it is clear the participation strategy in Georgia must shift in order to see African-American participation in the runoff increase as it did in November.

"If we can get more people registered by December 7th, that’s just more people who are eligible to participate in the January—the runoff election," Whitehead said.

"The NAACP is nonpartisan. We don’t encourage people to vote for or against any particular candidate. What we’ve done up to this point is encourage voters to fully engage and participate," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said.

The president of the civil rights organization said they’re reassessing funds now, to determine the best means to reach any untapped voters, as Georgia’s election cycle continues.