Activists seek to `Make Your Vote Count'
As the voter registration deadline approaches on Oct. 9, three Oklahoma City women are making it their personal mission to ensure everyone has access to a ballot box come Election Day.
With COVID-19 raising concerns from some about in-person voting or whether mail-in ballots will be counted in time, Ayanna Najuma, Debbie Oliver and Sherrie McNall are getting the word out through their campaign, Make Your Vote Count. Their message: Register before the deadline.
“We have a working group that started last year when we decided we wanted to go out and register people,” Najuma said. “You can't just sit on the side lines of life and not do anything to contribute to making the world better .... Someone said you know we need to be doing something, so this is what we did.”
Make Your Vote Count has handed out yard signs and has sent flyers to churches, mosques, synagogues and community organizations inviting them to join in the effort.
“We realize that time is running out,” Najuma said, “but it's not about being political. It's about utilizing your God-given right to vote cause you're gonna be electing the leaders of this country come November. Who is going to best represent you, your voice, your community, your city, your state? It' s important that people step up.”
The idea for Make Your Vote Count came from Sherrie McNall, co-chair of the effort. After working on a state question campaign in 2019 and learning about voter purging — when state and local officials remove citizens from voter rolls — McNall said she wanted to create a campaign t hat would ensure people were accurately registered to vote.
“Last year, I was working on the( SQ )802 campaign and I went all over town getting signatures for that,” McNall said, “and I noticed a lot of times people didn't even know how t heir names were on their voter registration. So I thought people needed to check their voter registration and make sure everything's OK before they get to the polls.”
McNall said she has always been interested in getting people registered to vote. She volunteered last year at the state fair to register new voters and has knocked on doors in years past.
But the objective with Make Your Vote Count is to inform people how to check their own registration, remind them to get registered, if they are not already, and encourage people to sign up for an absentee ballot.
Her co- chair, Debbie Oliver, said this campaign isn't about who you plan on voting for; it's about encouraging people to register regardless of where they stand on certain issues.
“I' ve campaigned for different candidates but this is not revolving around candidates ,” Oliver said. “This is just helping people get out to vote. ... Everyone's voice needs to be heard no matter which way they vote.”
Voter registration has risen for Oklahoma County since the last presidential election.
In 2016, the total number of registered voters in the county was 383,155. The most recent total was recorded in 2019, which counted 411,356 voters.
Najuma and Oliver are working to ensure the total for 2020 continues to rise. Part of their work includes educating people on the different ways they can vote, ensuring they are part of t he process even if they are unable to cast an in-person ballot this year.
“It' s very critical that people request the absentee ballot( if they think they may not be able to vote in person),” Najuma said. “We don't know what November's weather gonna be like. Secondly, we have a lot of elders who really want to be involved in the process, so by them requesting an absentee ballot, that allows them to continue to vote even if they can't get to the polls. And with the pandemic being what it is, we don't want to put (anyone) in jeopardy.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot in Oklahoma is seven days before the election. For the Nov. 3 election, that date is Tuesday, Oct. 27. Absentee ballots must be received by t he county election board by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
What Lies Between Us
When Ayanna Najuma began holding bi-weekly meetings two years ago at Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City, she did not think it would lead to a voter registration campaign. Najuma created What Lies Between Us, a group that reads books focusing on social justice issues. Those discussions prompted a call to action for Najuma and those who attended.
“What Lies Between Us isa conversation al platform on social justice ,” Najuma said. “I grew up in the civil rights movement and moved back (to Oklahoma) almost eight years ago and realized there was a lot more work to be done. ... We've got a lot of issues as a society right now, but we also know we have to create and be a positive voice for change. This is probably gonna be one of the biggest elections we've ever had.”
Najuma was the youngest of the children in civil rights activist Clara Luper's sit- in efforts to desegregate Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City more than 60 years ago.