Muslims offer rides to polls from mosque
The American Muslin Advisory Council will take voters to the polls on Friday, as leaders urge members of the Muslim community to take part in the political process.
Muslims have been at the center of this political season's debates and it is important that their votes be counted and that Muslims become more engaged as American citizens, said Kalimah Azeez Rashada, program manager for AMAC.
“The more engaged you are the more you try to improve your neighborhoods, cities and states, the more you are welcomed into different factions of government, the more you are seen as an everyday citizen,” she said. “We are a viable part of society.”
Muslims voters are both native-born Americans of all races and immigrants representing countries across the globe, she said.
"We are doing a big push to encourage Muslims from every walk of life, from every race, and national origin, come out and vote and show your neighbors, show the city of Memphis, that we have the interest of this country in our hearts,” Rashada said.
A 15-passenger van will leave Masjid Al-Salam, 1065 Stratford, at 2:30 p.m. on Friday after prayer services to take voters to the polls at Berclair Church of Christ on Summer Avenue.
“We are going to leave our mosque and go vote in a church. That’s America right there," Rashada said.
By "close of business" Wednesday, 112,487 people had voted early, said Robert Meyers, Shelby County Election Commission chairman.
That puts the county "right on top" of the early-voting record set in 2008, Meyers said.
That year 243,123 voters cast early ballots, with 399,208 total voters from Shelby County.
The high number of early voters bodes well for Election Day, Meyers said.
"I think they forecast a vigorous turnout on Election Day," he said. "We're projecting around 150,000 voters on Election Day."
Thursday also was the first day earlyvoting sites opened at 9 a.m. instead of 10 a.m., a decision made by the election commission on Tuesday to help alleviate lines.
"There were still lines at some places, but I don’t believe they were as long as when we opened at 10," Meyers said.