Wilmington’s ‘Souls to the Polls’ march encourages early voting
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A crowd of people marched from St. Luke AME Zion Church to the MLK Community Center in Wilmington, chanting “Go vote” and encouraging community members to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
The march was part of the New Hanover County branch of the NAACP’s annual “Souls to the Polls” event, which brings community members together to promote civic engagement and voting.
Several candidates running for office joined the march, including Democrats Jessica Bichler, Deb Butler, Rob Zapple and Kimberly Hardy.
NAACP New Hanover County Branch President LeRon Montgomery said promoting voting is one of the organization’s main missions.
“We promote voting, period,” Montgomery said. “And that’s what the NAACP is. That’s one of the main missions, to promote voting. Voting is where things change. It’s who we are, where we see the changes.”
According to the New Hanover County Board of Elections, early voting turnout as of Sunday, Oct. 25, was up 43.5% compared with the 2022 midterm elections and 45.3% compared with the 2018 midterms.
Montgomery said seeing people from across the community come together to vote was encouraging.
“It makes me very proud to see the community come out together and vote,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you want. No matter, you see all different colors, races, creeds, religions, all of us came together and vote.”
The event also carried historical significance as Wilmington approaches the anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington coup, when a white supremacist mob overthrew the city’s multiracial government and suppressed Black political participation.
Board of Elections data showed that nearly 3,500 people who registered as Black or African American had voted early as of Sunday.
The 128th anniversary of the coup falls one week after Election Day, adding significance to the event’s message about protecting voting rights and honoring those who fought for political participation.
“We’re here to keep that right. And we don’t plan on returning backwards,” Montgomery said. “So, as we commemorate 1898, we remember those whose lives were lost, those of African descent, those relatives of those who are here. We can remember those. And that’s part of casting our vote today, to keep that legacy alive and keep using our right to vote to make change in this world.”
That message is also reaching younger generations.
Wilmington residents Kaleb Jones and Kinzlee Clark, who are not yet old enough to vote, said they hope to see more young people in their communities participate in elections when they become eligible.
Jones said the march served as a reminder of the sacrifices people made to secure rights that many exercise today.
“It just shows, like, how many people died for us to be able to do what we did today, from what we can do today — vote, go to the store, buy cars, buy whatever,” Jones said. “That just shows how many people took risks and were able for us to go out and do stuff in the world.”
