 Good afternoon and welcome to the event. My name is Molly Martin, and I'm the director of New America Indianapolis New America as a nonpartisan non-profit think tank located in DC But I make my home in Indiana and do my work across the Midwest Welcome to yes, you can vote the first in a series of conversations New America Indianapolis will be having about voting rights Voter access and the folks who make it possible We're so happy to be here today with our partners at the Indianapolis recorder and with my co-moderator Oshia Boyd who is the editor of the Indianapolis recorder and also of Indiana Indiana Minority Business magazine We're joined today by Ashley Taruno at our partners of the ACLU of Indiana and Ashley is the community engagement and policy advocate there But we're also so pleased and honored to be joined by Rod Bohannon who is the co-chair of the legal redress committee of the greater Indianapolis NAACP Today's conversation is meant to be informative, but also interactive So I hope that you are planning on asking us some questions in the chat You can also join us on Twitter with the hashtag. Yes, you can vote So please share your questions at any time But first I'd like to hand off to my co-moderator Oshia to tell us a little bit more about herself about the recorder and to introduce our panels Thank you, Molly. It's a pleasure to be back on the air with you So again, my name is Oshia Boyd I'm editor of the Indianapolis recorder newspaper and Indiana Minority Business magazine The record is 125 year old African-American owned newspaper started in 1895 as a two-page church bulletin Indiana Minority Business magazine is a 16 year old magazine focused on diversity Lifestyle business magazine and it goes all across the state unlike the recorder which focuses on Indianapolis's black community And this issue of all it is very important obviously to the recorder As we know Well that are sisters fought for this right for us to vote for many many years. We still are still in the struggle since It's seen under the airs that they're trying to oppress and suppress people's voting rights. So we want to have our voices heard and voted that so I Want to also say that this is the way we participate in government. We we were we vote for who We want to represent us in our interests and that's why voting is so vital to our community. So thank you, Molly Excellent. Well, let's get started with our guests today So we have with us Rod Bohannon of the greater Indianapolis chapter of the endable ACP and actually Toronto and community and policy Advocacy at the Indiana ACLU. So Ashley I'm gonna come to you first and ask you to tell us a little bit about your organization and why you would be at the Table when we're talking about voting rights Definitely. Well, thank you all so much for having me today and I'm excited for this conversation Like you said where I'm with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. We're a national nonprofit non-partisan organization dedicated to Defending your civil or civil liberties and our constitutional rights So we we do that. We like to say we do it in in the state house in the courts in the streets We we protect people's rights in in a lot of forms and we've been around for about a hundred years Protecting people's rights across the country. So we have affiliates in every state Were the Indiana affiliate located in Indianapolis, but serve all of Indiana And yeah, we fight for voting rights all year round on an election year not on an election year We're always dedicated to make sure Everyone can exercise their right to vote because we know the strength of in our democracy lies in every American Exercising that right to vote Thank you so much Ashley So Rod people might know a little bit about the NAACP or they might not so I'd love for you to tell us a little bit More about the organization and why you would be at a table when we talk about protecting voter rights. Okay. Thank you The NAACP was founded 1919 We're more than a hundred years old. We have chapters in all states. We have chapters in South Africa England South Korea There's a new chapter being formulated in Syria, which is interesting And so we're all over the country and we're all over the world as a model to deal with issues civil rights Civil rights of all we do everything from education issue housing issue house discrimination Advocacy for Equal justice and the law criminal justice. We have a national branch with the national basis in DC It is a 5-1 C3 The branches are C4 and that's important because the C4 allow us to become active. I Am co-chair the legal redirects committee and we take on legal issues that come before the branch for example I'm glad to talk about voting issue because we just Won one issue that we're now having a second should we hope we went on we recently appealed a Statute that the legislature here, which would not have allowed Anyone to go to the court to ask for extension as to the right to vote voting time so that if you were in line and Six o'clock came and you weren't in your shoe But you've been standing for an hour and an hour and a half You could not go to court after court to extend With that precinct or for the county to vote and the court disagreed and struck down a statute We're now Bringing a second lawsuit in the state along with the ICLU and Bill growth regards to your ballot Because the way it stands now that if your ballot is not received by the clerks By 12 o'clock on the day before the election between October 2nd Then remember second remember second therefore your ballot would not be counted And we're saying that's crazy given that the clerk's office has no control As to when the mail is delivered Pacific as you notice in the last couple weeks have been all of those issues about the post office The ability to deliver mail ability to deliver ballot When the fact they cut the staff They not doing overtime and so we're saying just that you're at the statute itself We'll borrow a whole lot of people from being able to Participate but not having a ballot counted This afternoon just recently the clerk of the court, which is I'm saying ahead of time just since I said that announcement Asking people to get their ballot and so I've taken a point to make a point now check your ballot Because in the back of the ballot should be two signatures or two initiatives one for Republic and one for the Democrat and The clerk just admitted that they've sent out a number of ballots people's called in and you know They've now have something I said like 30,000 ballots are sending out even more That many ballots you can have error and so the problem is that they may not have signed the back of the ballot with both parties in issue People mail the ballots in and all of a sudden their ballots not counted for an error They did increase we may be going back to the court to address that issue But that's what the legal adjust community do we take on a little both issues both political legal internal voting Education issues with lawyers with non lawyers people just believe in equal opportunity to law Thank you so much rod. That's really interesting and obviously thank you for your work So I'm going to ask a couple questions before I hand off to ocean. I'm going to start with a simple one I think I don't know. I'm not sure anything simple anymore Yesterday marked a week out from the voter registration deadline as I understand I'm actually coming to you first If you could give one piece of advice to someone out there who is not registered to vote To get them ready to make sure that if they want to cast a vote they can what would that advice be? my advice would be that I recognize there's a lot of reasons why you know voters might not be Encouraged to to really get involved in the process. It is a A draining process. It can it be a lot, you know, it's in the news every day. It's in It's been a topic of discussion for a long time this election specifically and you know, there's so much around it And it can I hear it a lot. They're like, actually, why do I vote if? You know, my vote doesn't count my vote isn't going to make a difference and what I would say is that every Every change we want to see starts with one person. So we all hold our own individual power as You know residents of Indianapolis of Indiana We all hold specific power specific individual power And voting is a way to express that and it can be the first step To get involved in the process or a step to get involved in the larger process to see that that change So I would encourage them to you know, recognize their own power and recognize the power They have within their own community That is that is very, you know, we all hold it And and to get registered and encourage other people to get registered You know in Indiana, it has to be a month in advance to register and in a In a perfect world. It'd be awesome to see to be able to have You know same-day registration and not have to Not have to do it not have to have a barrier like that Um But I would encourage, you know, that is the system we're in now and I would encourage them to you know If they have any issues registering to reach out to their county clerks Um and get in contact, um, you know, there's we have a lot of resources on our website aclu-in.org On how to register to vote and who can register to vote so definitely would encourage that and and Encourage people to talk within their loved ones and with their family members to To talk more about like if you're not registered. Why aren't you registered? You know, are you not excited about the process? How can we talk about it and recognize the power that we do hold in our community and exercise that that right to vote Thank you, ashley And we will be going into the chat here momentarily to share some of the Links and resources and we will keep repeating that date. October 5th is the registration deadline But rod, I come to you with the same question. What piece of advice would you give someone in this last week before the deadline? First of all Go online and check your registration I don't care if you thought you voted didn't vote it have voted vote last precinct I say that because my daughter who voted the last precinct because we both went to post together The last election she went to check and laudable whole her name was not on it Don't know why but she called the clerk's office and they said well We got you listed in the books and said but I went online It's not there. They went online sure enough wasn't there. So she had to put it back on. So I'm saying If you vote in the past the last election thought you voted Check your registration to make sure they did correctly. You do not want to show up to post and find out you can't vote second of all Grab everybody and anybody in your family here And go online with them and say let's go online. Let's see if you register So they give you some nonsense about I'm registered very easy to check on it And you can have them embarrassed right then and there if they're not said I'm looking online and you're not registered So let us register you right now The two of the internet is wonderful If you can do a lot of things third after your register vote Go online and look at the ballots Because people aren't paying attention as to the ballots not enough on the top of the ballot meaning the president There's all the things underneath that Two most important number one the supreme court Justices are up for Reaffirmation You got to reaffirm them they get to get a certain amount of votes to get reaffirmed You can go on the line and read everything you can about the difference the supreme court justice and what you want to reaffirm In maryon county, they screwed up the maryon county process now the judges now are no longer elected They're now reaffirming They're now appointed by a commission And then every six years they're reaffirming you go online and check the box that you want to read reappoint them by building Check on the bottom see what the judges are and you can read About each of the judges and the bar association their opinions and everything about know who they are I say they're important to the african-american community I've been around long enough to tell you that half we had to fight to get black judges If you don't retain them don't complain later because what happens is sequential numbers of votes does impact And so if you have a game for mark of Pratt Who's now taken over and reformed the traffic court? So there's less cumulative Much more because people are going to drive they're going to drive to work and go get stopped And you think the good judge you need to retain him need to vote on them And third school board This is going to be a critical issue school board this year The issue of equal funding the issue of equal funding in terms of traditional public schools and charter school is not new But it's going to be even more important this year because of funding with more people out of work Less money if the state is taken in You got to figure out how to how to pay The schools to stay in existence But those who stay on top of the news you saw in the vote who is trying to take all the money out of U.S. Department of Education And send the charter schools as a way of and private schools to maintain their stability So that's going to be a critical issue IPS is an example It'll be a big issue about what are the future IPS? Will it be charter school will be traditional school? Those are critical issues. So i'm saying to folks when you vote Just don't go vote and ignore everything else. Those are critical issues we need to deal with Thank you so much rod. So a really important reminder both about checking your status and also about engaging down ballot So i'm going to hand over to oshea and go and share some of these resources in the chat I know she has some good questions in the offing oshea Oshea, I think we've got you on mute Go ahead and hear me. We've got you Okay, you got me now Okay Can you guys hear me now? Okay, thank you. So as you were talking right and actually I was just thinking about when I was a child And voting seemed to be like the be all end all when you turn 18 was everyone was so excited to be to the vote um Didn't realize that when I got older there was so much going on around voting That there seems to be so many issues making it difficult for some people to vote So you you guys were kind of hitting on it, but I wanted to you guys just touch on why should a person Vote why is it so important to vote because it seems like people often say why should I vote my vote doesn't count But then you have to count that with obviously it must count Because there's a whole lot of people trying to make sure that you don't vote So can you guys hit on why it's very important for us to get out there and vote not just for the president as you said right? Full board judges, you know We have all these other people on the down ballot And we all have to always get excited about voting during the presidential election, but there's so much more going on When it comes to voting I'll start with you right. Okay It's kind of time any question. I just had the discussion last week Back last Saturday with my daughter and her six of her friends We were on a zoom conference and the discussion was does my ballot count And I had to remember, you know that sometimes I wanted to say, you know what don't but don't complain later when stuff happened But then I didn't realize that I need to take the time to explain to them So the first question said to me I keep hearing well, we had a black president He didn't do anything and I said to him, you know If I was Obama, I'd tell the black community Leave me alone You're the president. He told you we had in school The three branches of government that I realized talking to one of my daughter's friends They never had at a school and I realized the generational about What I had in high school in elementary school, but the branches government. It's not being taught So they understand that when the president was elected as president, he only controlled the executive branch He needed the legislative branch congress and the senate So when he asked everybody to show up in 2016, we didn't show up We didn't understand the importance of maintaining the congress So he lost the senate and went to the senate to block everything he wanted to do So I explained to him that that's the power likely or not. This is the destruction we have in america And if you don't participate, you don't get anything So I say to him, let's look at your streets How many of you understand the important turn of your state led your city kind of council and how to reach to the Make sure your streets get paid you complain in maryland county the northern part of maryland county On meridian street and ill noise street and 56th street and second six all get paid And you get paid because they know to do the second things required as a citizen A voting that would be Contact your elected officials and protest and keep in tag with them So that's the power of voting It's just a voting point voters I mean the legislature wants to get elected and they look at votes I say to people at a time that the minority the majority party may win But they look in terms of of their candidate who lost How many ballots they got because they recognize if the trend is changing they can lose their seat They recognize the number that they got a Countdown to the minority party So the issue that you can't even win but they look at the votes. So that power makes people respond to you That's why you vote. That's why you participate Yeah, and I would echo a lot of the same things. I would say um, you really hit the nail on the head when you said, you know Voter suppression wouldn't be alive and well if um, your vote didn't count, right? voter suppression is Is alive and well Throughout the whole country. Um, and like I was saying earlier, you know, we have to register a month in advance there are states that have same day registration who make it um a lot easier to access the ballot and and We we do have barriers here in indiana And we also don't um a big focus of our work is letting people know if you've been previously incarcerated You have the right to vote in indiana. We're only one of 16 states that allows that That gives that right. Um, so if you think about it, the majority of states Are cutting out an entire population of justice involved citizens who don't have A say who who don't have access to the ballot or who can't vote So there's so many efforts and they're ongoing To make it harder to vote when voting is a right and it should be as easy as possible To vote, right? Um, so that's what I would say about How alive and well voter suppression is and that only re-emphasizes the point of how important it is to if you If you do have that right to exercise that, right? Um, I think about my family a lot when when people think when people talk about voting I'm a first generation american daughter of Really resilient and crogwin immigrants. Um, so you know growing up they Weren't citizens and didn't have the right to vote and there are 11 million undocumented Residents in in this country who don't have the right to vote too. Um, there are plenty of people who you know Are in our communities are impacted by the decisions our politicians make but don't aren't eligible to vote um Like I was saying in a lot of states where previously incarcerated folks aren't but in indiana they are so Having that right to vote is so vital to to have a say in in participating in this In our democracy and and exactly like how rod was saying it's it's a step. I mean it's it's not the The only thing you can do it's not going to be a one Solution to everything because no one politician can fix everything, right? It's it's going to take all of us It's going to take Um us all being engaged at the ballot box, you know during the legislative session with our state legislature In our city councils With our school boards like at every level of government they're making decisions on our behalf and The more engaged we are throughout the whole process the more our voice will be heard So voting is a step and an important step And I don't think it should end there. I think it's a it's a great way to get people involved and get it get engaged but To yeah recognize your power and and keep building on that power You know, you can hold them accountable. What after you say you vote for someone and you? You know really agree with what they said during their campaign and really agreed with what they're going to do Okay, once they're in office, you can hold them accountable to that and say hey I voted for you because you said these things. Are you actually doing these things? So it's it's a it's a process and then if they don't do those things Then you have the power to not vote for them the next time around And like I said, that's at every level local state federal We have representatives at every level that are elected to serve us and to to Be held accountable as well. So that that's what I would say to to anyone who might feel Yeah, a little Hopeless in the in these times because it is easy to feel that way But I think it definitely does start with recognizing our individual collective power and how we can all Work together and and like I said, it's going to take all of us So I want to Drill down on that for a minute. Ashley. We have someone watching on youtube who had a question about justice system involvement and being formerly incarcerated and being able to vote it To be frank seems a little antithetical to some of the other ways that we have voting barriers here in indiana So what are the specifics there? If if I am a waiting trial if I'm on probation are there specifics I need to know where my family members need to know about my voting status Yes, so thank you for asking this This is a question we got a lot prior to launching our voting rights campaign And we got this question so often after the election right like after the fact like oh, I didn't vote because I have a felony record and I thought I couldn't and I was afraid that you know, I'd I'd be put Back in prison if I voted as that happened or has happened in other states so in indiana We are like I mentioned we're one of 16 states that allows people who've been previously incarcerated the right to vote So individuals on parole probation home detention In jail awaiting trial all are eligible to vote. So if you're in jail awaiting trial, you can vote absentee If you're in home detention, you can vote absentee if you're in a variety of community corrections programs You can vote. So I think that's that's the biggest thing that Voting rights are restored or automatically restored when you're released from jail or prison Anyone who is justice involved should check their registration Because if they you know, we're recently In in prison or in jail. It might have gotten cancelled. So it's it's good to check that registration once you're released and re-register if you need to But yeah, if no matter, you know, no matter what your record might be, no matter if you had a felony record or Any kind you have the right to vote and so like I was mentioning earlier, that's the main focus of our of our campaign is letting people know That that that's their right. We have billboards across the state. We have radio ads a video add on some, you know, some television ads We're really trying to to let people know because there is a lot of misinformation out there because Of how laws vary state to state. Um, and you know, we even heard it from From officials who who really thought that was um, how it was here in indiana, but um No, yes. Yes, you can vote if you have been um previously incarcerated Let me add on to that as a power broker You don't realize that that return citizen. I like that word versus ex-offenders Return citizen it is said that america county at least 60 people returned out of the hard sale out of the prison america county every day You add that up per year And all the folks who have returned to citizenship That They were the vote who begin pushing reform As a block If you thought you got misrepting them by because you thought the top defendant had no resources and couldn't do good job That's a voting block You see the judge it was unfair. That's a blow to block So my response to a person who's raised the question is Why aren't you helping to organize? The power you have The force to change you think they're unfair to you Things happen because you push them know the reason you say nothing nothing changed But you start a little pebble down the hill it gather speeds and gather others with it So my question to you or my instructions with make sure you vote Find all your friends that you knew that may have been with you behind the wall probation Whatever make sure to vote and get to the vote and begin organize themselves As of as an entity get involved But you have that power And you because of your experience No first hand And therefore when you talk about police reform Talk about bail reform Talk about talking to the judges you had to build it say let me tell you my experience and why I'm asking it Every lawyer is trained as a lawyer To have empathy for your client. So when you start your case You start your case by explaining your client and presenting it to you to the juror or the judge Understand of your client who manages you before you get to legal issue I'm saying you had that ability use it What a fantastic reminder and I think at America and I know at the recorder We're both very committed to the ideas of racial and economic equity And justice involvement is one of the great economic and racial equity questions of our time And I'm going to go and share that stat rod. I think just think 60 people a day re-entering That's a powerful powerful thing. Oh shia. I think you have another question Well, yeah, I just wanted to piggyback on that you say that is just very powerful I never thought of it that way that people who are most affected by the criminal justice system actually can create A voting block to make change and I think if we just talk about that to those people more They will realize the power which in which they have as well. I just think that is just really really amazing But I'm thinking about As we as we're talking about voting in absentee ballots and getting down there And the challenges now we have another challenge We have a new challenge to voting Um COVID-19 And there's a lot of talk about safety And voting will I be safe when we're voting? We know the indiana will not have uh apps There will not be an excuse for COVID on the ballot for absentee uh voting So there's still some concerns. We've been reassured by our elected officials That we uh that that this will be safe even though it seems like the constituents Want uh it to be able want to be able to ask them to vote Um, so how do we what do we say to those who are very nervous? About their safety and who don't want to go out because of COVID-19? Are we afraid that they people may not turn out? Um, what what are you guys hearing about that? I'll start with you actually Yeah, I would say definitely the pandemic has had an impact on On access to the ballot, you know, we're already seeing we're already seeing that across the country And we definitely saw it during the primaries as well um so what I would say is to Anyone who is unsure is to make a voting plan is to walk through your voting plan and and see what is the option that you You know, you want to take how do you want to vote? Do you want to? You know, there's 12 reasons. I believe on absentee ballot that you can pick from on you know, if you're 65 or older if you're um Working the polls that day if you don't transportation on election day There are reasons you can you can pick on an absentee ballot and I would do that soon as possible earlier the better um because of you know issues with the mail I would say and the number of people Voting absentee so I would and I would check with your county clerk to see if okay if you do get an absentee ballot Can you hand deliver it? um to them so you don't have to You don't have to go to the polls but you can Or you don't have to worry about the mail and you can go and deliver in person Or if you're voting, um, if you're worried about long lines on election day voting early and um, you know vote early voting starts october 6 In indiana so there will be options for To you for to go vote early and you know, if you're worried about there being you know Lots of people at the polls you can go during a time where maybe not a lot of people are out there um And and figure out what your options are within your county Because I think it I think it is yeah I think making a plan is the best route right now because there are so many options and because it'll look different for everyone um, I think figuring out what that plan is but making sure you have some sort of plan so you Follow through with that so it doesn't come november 3rd And there's um, you know something came up or something happened Just making sure you you you get your your ballot in um in the way that you know safest for you and um The what what's available to you? I could duck tail on that It's a it's a it's a NHP right now. We're struggling with that same issue Our initial response with nation national or it was to ask people to go and Get absolutely a ballot and send it in And now we're struggling internally because we're seeing what the post office is concerned about If it doesn't get to what does it do? Our governor did a formal voter suppression. I'll put it out there If you remember the precinct during the primary it was pushed back because of fear kovat And so they pushed it back the numbers if you look at the day's number It is almost equal to what the number was when they pushed the primary back and he knew that And he knew that two years ago He made the announcement that they were almost a month ago When it went to election board, they said no now. It's funny point the election commission did not meet personally They've met by zoom And i'm saying if you didn't meet personally Because you're afraid of kovat Why on the world would you subject the citizens of indiana to vote personally when you were afraid of meeting personally after election commission So you knew And so with the form of suppression saying the number of voting by people not going I hear this point turning to being fear The numbers i've looked at the numbers in across the state except for wisconsin In milwaukee, which had like maybe 12 cases most of places where people voted for it did not see a rise of kovat That may be because people outside waiting along lines because the time period inside But it wasn't that large number. I understand the fear Second we've had six Early voting sites If you start going from the time that voting sites were early The look the closer you get to november 3rd the more likely people are going to have more people show up The earlier you are the less likely Make a point for early in the morning Because most people don't like going early in the morning Little nine o'clock show up I hear it. I hear your concern All I can say is that this election is so critical I saw someone on line someone faced me said that if I got to go on a hat mask suit iron boots iron gloves A shield around me. I'm going to vote Because unfortunately, I know every election we say is important This one really is important after the soul of the nation And where we going And so all I can say to folks is I hear it. Take your man. Take your gloves Take your chairs Take your lunch But if you go early enough you want to worry about that and if you are going to vote after season My point of being before you mail it in check it Make sure your name is signed data signed Do not check a box until you show it. That's what you want because you can't trade the box with your spoiler ballot And by god, don't wait to the week before the election and mail it out You get it today fill it out today put in the mail If you need to have your daughter son cousin next to the neighbor Drag you down to the club's office and handle it When the last election the primary there were people who showed up with the athlete ballot and so the clerk has said The day will have a line that you have the athlete ballot You did mail it and you can take it there and they'll handle it at the at the election site There really is no reason But you're not to vote I hear the fear cove it We do not let it drive you to point that you don't participate And we have to then be sorry for the outcome of the election That is sobering that it's an excellent reminder and uh, I think it would be great if you're online with us right now And you would respond with your own voting plan. What are your plans? Are you looking for help? Are you looking for a ride to the polls? Are you planning to take your chair? Take your lunch? Send your granddaughter to turn in your ballot. I think those are important questions so I want to dig in on that a little bit in terms of voter suppression and the way that it can be covert and overt and one of the covert Potential voter suppression actions that you mentioned rod is something we got a question about even before the event and that's about judges So I've voted in three different states in the 25 years. I've been voting and this is the only place I've ever lived with a similar approach To judges and you mentioned that maryan county has changed their policy the question we got asked Why do maryan and lake counties have different processes for judges? And do we see implicit racial bias in those actions? And I wondered rod if you'd be willing to speak to that answer is yes The legislature decided And and I don't want to go back history, but it's important when I first moved here in 1976 And I was young whip of snappers a young lawyer and got involved in trying to elect black judges The judges were then appointed by a committee And you had to go through the different kind of party and in a repugnant party and then that commission decided Yes, I know where you appointed the bench that time we had municipal court judges the appeal court judges So we had a hard time getting African-american and women appointed for so we sued But then it went to an electronic process when you voted in That was a whole different ball game to itself in terms of you know, we said not getting bullet Meaning that you made it one slating but then somebody at the at the party level said well Yeah, they made one slating, but don't don't don't election could the judge got elected by the american numbers So the popular narrative the numbers get you elected If you got less vote, you chance to got locked out if you got the top vote you got you got to judge you And then their decisions made that well, we no longer want the People because people don't know enough. They really don't understand judicial process. They don't know the judges So we're not going to let them elected manure. That was done by republicans out in mary county Who got the state legislature so that? south bend Vote lane and in and out was the only three cities and it's just enough those are three to have what democratic judge of mayors in a large significant democratic population in large significant african-american population So the state legislature changed it And because the voters here didn't pay attention. I said earlier Your elected fish you pay attention to you Have folks had called us mary county representatives. They don't you dare because you do would make sure you don't get reelected And wouldn't it happen? So they changed the now so now the judges are now appointed by commission And then they have every six every It almost two years you have the judges rotate off and you get reaffirmed i.e. by the ballot So you don't vote for them. You simply confirm and not confirm So for example, if i'm up and I get the last number of votes, I may not get we reaffirming the judge But yeah, it was part racial Because there was a push begin pushing terms of african-american judges espadri judges Muslim judges the way the coalition began looking at issue of saying how does the bench reflect mary county So we now gotta figure out a new way or push back at state legislator, but the answer to that is yes Thank you for the insight rod. That's really helpful Actually, I want to come to you next because we've talked a little bit about voter suppression when it comes to racial identity And presenting race. There are other populations that we worry about a lot at a time like this in terms of suppression And some of that's at the heart of the yes, you can vote campaign Can you tell us a little bit more about others that we want to make sure feel empowered to vote? If they're eligible and wish to participate Definitely and yeah, thank you for bringing that up We are the focus of the campaign is really to dispel any misinformation that there are that there is and Really making it clear what voting rights? What your voting rights are in indiana? so Also, if you're recently naturalized ensuring people Ensuring that people know that you have those same rights as you know, someone born in the u.s. You are you're eligible to vote Um, if you are a recently naturalized citizen, um, I think that's that's a big p key Point as well that there a lot of this information isn't available in different languages And that's something really near and dear to my heart because you know, if you're recently naturalized You can take the citizenship test in you know in spanish and other languages after a certain age And then it then What you you're eligible to vote, but you everything's in english I don't I I think there needs to be the better language access when it comes to voter information and And at the polls too because you can take a translator to the polls But not a lot of people know that And I've done that before I've translated for recently naturalized citizens at the polls before and it really helps Helps that barrier of like what exactly does this say? How how does the process look like? I mean the process to vote How to vote how you vote in other countries is very different than how you vote in the u.s Especially for a lot of latin american countries. Um, knowing for my own family um So I think that's a population. We try to you know, all of our voting rights information is also available in spanish to try to get that information out there to um the latin x community in indiana and then also You know transgender hoosiers knowing if your gender doesn't match your id that um, you're still eligible to vote and you can You know your name must match, but um, there issues with photo id like voter id Laws are a form of voter suppression and that isn't talked about enough. I don't think because they seem unobstructive. They seem Like a small thing, but photo id like government issued id's A lot of a lot of communities of color lack those So especially within, you know, black community that a lot of people don't have Government issued id's because even in indiana it might be free to get a state id But what's not talked about is the documents to to get that id And especially within. Yeah, the transgender. Who's your community that that's a big issue as well um, and then individuals with disabilities as well What does accessibility look like at the polls and um, what are your rights? to you know Two exercises are right at the polls and making sure it's accessible. Um, so we have some information on that that we partnered with Or some of our partners in indiana the indiana disability rights They have a hotline that um that you could that Folks if they run into any issues can call and um, you know, they have a team on hand on on election day to help address issues There as well. So we try to push that information out on election day as well Because there can be a lot of barriers as well and it's not talked about so um, so yeah, I would say sometimes People might assume that it's really easy to just go to the polls and vote But that that isn't the case for every community and there are there are serious. Um, there are serious Barriers like I mentioned with photo id with language access with accessibility and all of these um All of these really matter because a lot of the times voting is talked about like, you know Folks just need to get more educated and you know, just get involved, but it's not always that easy for everyone It's not always that information is always available. So or accessible So I think that's that's a big um part of our campaign too is kind of Trying to get that information out there and really meeting people where they're at because um, I I really don't think a lot of people Just don't vote just because they don't you know, because they're lazy or you know Misconceptions and assumptions that people think um, or they're uneducated I know I think a lot of the time it's because voter suppression is alive and well today as we were mentioning earlier Oshia Oshia, have we lost your volume? You lost me again in my back now Perfect Okay I have too many things going on here with trying to be on the phone and the computer at the same time with audio So I was saying actually You made a lot of good points. I think we often think about voting in terms of how easy the access is for me to go I did wake up and go. I know a lot of times when we were when the voter ID laws were talked about There's a lot of feedback saying well, it's easy to go get an ID. Well, maybe for you But not for others Excuse me So I want to kind of talk about Where do we do if we see something that's not right doesn't seem right when we're voting where do how do we address that? Yes, so what we push out? we're National partners with the election protection hotline, which is 866 our vote It's a national nonpartisan election protection Coalition that was formed to ensure all voters have equal opportunity and you know It can participate in the political process. So there's it's made up of about a hundred state and national partners And the hotline is available in a lot of different languages as well. So I think that's a really great place to send people if they run into issues and the secretary of state's office They also believe has a hotline And as I was mentioning the indiana disability rights hotline as well to address any issues And we actually have a small graphic that we Share through our social media accounts that kind of goes through all those different numbers on like who to call if you If your rights have been violated at the polls And I wanted to reiterate that you can take a translator With you to the polls. Yes, I've asked people don't know that And how then do you get a translator if you don't know how to get a translator? Yeah, I don't think there's like a formal process. Um, as far as I'm as I know, um, I did it through You know friends and family, but I believe Yeah, I'd have to get back to you on that. I don't believe there's like a formal process As far as like them like the poll polling location providing a translator for you But I do believe you can I mean I've done it You can just call with with someone so you can take someone with you. This is right We have to use our friends Our friend we have for for some time with my room Elders the clerk of the court caller And her deputy and say look here's an issue how to resolve A subtle suppression that used to be hasn't seen in a while, but I remember that um, when George Bush ran And it was really really hard push even obama ran We had to have discussion with the sheriff's department and impd To make sure they weren't hassling the homeless and taking the id But they would take the id And then they go find is I don't know I deal with it and then folks were trying to do all of a sudden Couldn't find our id and then trying enough to vote when we thought that was a voter voter suppression Um, the issue of turning the example you're saying how do we get an interpreter? I think it's called Myron's saying to it. Look, I think she sent out destruction But we could just send an email to assist. Look, we're trying to make sure that for various communities What do they need to do and are you going to send out instruction to your? um Precent captains when it's for the voting person whoever's had their voting site because it's going to be 161 voting sites 161 there's a lot of voting sites in mary county So we're only to send a letter to myron says how are you going to deal with two issues? a Folks indeed interpreters they can go in with them to help them vote Or b if they need to do it ahead of time What's their process? And then how we make sure that either the person who's it's going to be the interpreter has been notified Or the voter So we can get that resolved. I think I think we can do that very quickly We have friends in high places Myra's easy to deal with she's not going to be buffy when it she'll do that So sometimes we just need to use you know our friends And have a resolved the issue for us And I think I need more friends like rod to help me with these questions So we we talked a little bit about the concern in about kind of covert voter suppression in some of these COVID responses as important as it is to to protect ourselves and our most vulnerable neighbors One of the potential fallouts from that we saw yesterday in the news Which is that indiana has had a steep drop off in the registration of 18 to 19 year olds The steepest decline from 2016 to the present of any state Do you have some additional insight and actually i'll start with you and then we'll go to rod About what could be driving that and do you have any advice for those of us who Might encounter the odd 18 or 19 year old in our days and be able to maybe motivate them to vote Yeah, well, I mean, I don't I'm not sure if I have a great answer for that I would say through my own community outreach. I would say something that um You know a lot of people might not know is you know You can vote you can register to vote if you're 17 and turning 18 by the time the election comes You know by the time it's it's election day So that's something I have stressed a lot, especially within our own within my latinx community here in indianapolis is Because you know it like like me i'm the first generation american a lot of families are that way You know your your parents might not be eligible to vote But you are eligible to vote or are about to be eligible to vote But something I talk about as well as you know growing up I as a first generation american I didn't really I didn't go to the polls with my family and friends Like it wasn't an option for us. It wasn't an option to you know as a little girl, you know go to the polls and accompany My parents like some people do so it wasn't necessarily like In our You know on our radar all the time we weren't always talking about voting definitely talking about what's happening and what was You know what was going on but the actual like specifics of voting is something You know once my mom became a citizen, you know, I saw her vote and then I learned from there and That there might be a disconnect there too of you know, or with families who You know aren't as engaged in the process because of voter suppression or because of other areas where it's You know, maybe maybe they work or they work long shifts and Voting isn't necessarily a priority So I think it's I think it definitely goes deep because some you know, some communities have More access to the polls as our whole conversation has been Which I really appreciate of you know kind of recognizing that and And I think it's it's yeah, it's kind of like getting getting that whole culture of voting into more of our communities because Historically, I mean we've been silenced and pushed out of the democratic process so much and all of the processes You know, we have to push for our rights to vote We've we continue to have to push for our right to vote. So I think that culture of voting can It can be a lot right like it can be it can be a lot to figure out if you're an 18 year old and you're not necessarily talking about it with your family or friends or You know, it's all kind of new to you and and you're starting to learn what the process is so I think it's like Meeting people where they're at and understanding that you know, it might be for a lot of reasons that why they Don't know about the voter registration deadline or my You know, never never been to the polls with anyone before and might need to Yeah, get get into like get into the conversation of why it's important to vote and Kind of the conversations we're having before recognizing my own power and exercising that power and and voting can be a good step in it, but Yeah, that's terrible news to hear that that that's happening in indiana and I wish there was something, you know, that I wish there was like a silver bullet for it, but yeah, I think it's I think it's very complex This is let me wrap if I could tell I think comes here. Let's happen one coven kids out of school And so some of the mechanism that you would have gotten starting for the primary because you will start getting involved in the primary in terms of Getting participating they used to get credit A lot of schools used to have credits the kids got involved in the election process the primary process voting day They got credit from school. So that has changed a lot of that I think generational has changed I said because When I was president of branch president for 10 years It was easy to be going to school because I knew the principals. I knew social worker teachers. I knew the social teachers and they would Have me come talk to the class or they would have postures come talk to class Or they would have them go volunteer stuff I don't know these new duty teachers. I'm not sure that the younger teachers are pushing that So that's changed. I think third we rely too much on this We keep thinking that's going to get the information that's forced in the old way and turned up the shoe and gum We got to get our shoes on the ground and go talk to them And so we've gotten away from that um I remember one of the kids I used to go my mother to vote my mother my dad Really to go to work at seven o'clock and open and work at six o'clock He would drag me with him because I had to go to school seven thirty with him walk up the pole plate and then go to school My mother would just drag us and we'd go to polis. So we we learned to vote them by going and we had Old machine you had clothes and you had to flip the level stuff and so you saw that and she would explain to me I was why she voted for who she voted for In my community in New Jersey for about the project Everybody voted Everybody knew what the poll and if it didn't you got talked about I mean talked about The bars there to hang out when I was when I was in college didn't vote you couldn't come in that day They knew who went to they knew because well, you know, you know your precincts So you look to say right. I ain't see the precinct today So you can't come and devoted to came came to have a drink today. Goodbye So there was a lot of public saving that made you vote Your community made sure you voted folks who go together And in my house with my kids were younger and they got 17 18. I told them no vote I don't know you eat tonight, but you're not in here so my kids understood the consequences of not voting and We spend time my kids would tell you they spend just as much as our 10 returns that we get together And we have discussion in politics And so I think that what has gotten away from us having that discussion Having no social dinner discussion Have discussion what's happening in youth and why and understand the connection And so if we're going to do that, we have to do a bunch of things and so I'm going to put some things in the recorder and say that you and TLC may have to start doing a whole new issue in terms of what is citizenship. They've been taught People do not understand the role of government. They do not know the level of government They don't understand how to call their own priest. They own us Elected officials to the county council You call and say, well, I don't know what it is. Well, how do I reach them? So we may really have to after this election An entire year from basic one on one And I'm going to end this story and turn it first on when I went to Cuba as a young kid And college where there's still another good doing Cuba. We win Cuba changed a literacy rate because they had on a billboard And they start from a and then you see an a and then an apple and then what happened They took that word and they broke it down, you know, how to say apple And then it went to b and c and d and it took them a whole year to do that as to getting people Basic fundamental and turn the literacy They did the same thing and turn to their health pregnancy the picture was a side picture A newly born a new a woman who says she's pregnant. She's got family members all around her rubbing belly. You knew she's new and then they portioned out turns over a nine week period the whole period it turned nine months And in each of this it was interesting watching because some all over the island One who was drinking smoking and one who was people who was not And at the end of the campaign was one with a healthy baby and the other was presented at the cemetery It was powerful and turned to saying to folks Which do you want? And so their literacy rate dropped And the whole health issue changed because they did the magical numbers of Putting in front of folks information and made you think of saying folks We may have to go back to do that with our young folks in terms of understanding the power of vote Why they need to vote and we may have to shame them Because there's an issue like I said I spent You know almost an hour and a half or so with my my my daughter friends And I finally said to him Do you remember and say call your call your grandma and call your mom and ask me about birth control pill And ask him how horrible it was and how hard it was to get And then I pulled up the article said you remember this whole issue that came out a couple years ago about the morning after pill And I put up an argument about why it also disappeared And I said to him here's the lawsuit that has happened turned all across the country On black women who want the hair the hair color short hair cut Ears in the ring no stuff and employees are saying you I'm not hiring you And I said this is so you don't want to vote So when your employee comes to tell you how you need to dress I'm not hiring you because I don't like you look Don't come to me as a lawyer complaining to me about can you sue because I'm going to say to no you didn't vote And so you let I think we've got to make it that plain to folks You want to vote don't complain no food stamp. Don't want to vote. Don't complain to house care Don't want to vote. Don't complain about your schools Because you're powered to make sure you have it's in your hand. And if you don't want to use it We may have to be that hard knows about it. I hate to say it You know, I have friends in my way discussed all the time As to some communities And some countries say if you don't vote I was in South Africa Couple years ago voting you didn't have your thumbprint Guess what? Some of the public service that day like some of the places that church used to get food So there's your thumbprint. Sorry. You don't get served today Because you didn't you didn't go vote Now when I first saw I thought that was harsh But in retrospect, I understand what they're saying That you have you have a responsibility to participate in democracy If you're not willing to participate in the pocket of democracy You shouldn't ask the democracy to support you when you are in need and I'm I'm I'm probably preaching to choir, but That's my two cents Rod you brought up a couple a lot of good points not just a couple but a lot of good points um I was talking to someone who lives in michigan recently and they actually have Students get involved and work at the polls Do we have that kind of program in indiana at all do students work at polls? Would that be a way to get more youth involved? Yes. Myra loves it. She's a lot of schools have them That's what's in the problem with cove is that the busy to get in to get the information get people in is changed Because she's been a good job. I've never heard of such a program Oh, yeah, we hear When all for the interfere and you say have kids all the time go work the polls A lot of schools gave kids the day off and got credit So they got credit for doing so um We don't have the money now, but at one time when i'll print in his p We had money put that people church gave us when we paid people stifling they were working the polls So there was a lot of program for used to work at the cove a lot of politicians Would go recruit um I know that for example internships That did that the legislature have both republicans and democrats at the state legislator you interned a lot of kids Who got involved in working at the polls and then they would say well, you want to be intern with me this this this semester Oh, sure And so one day a week they went down to legislature, but that's how they came out in that So a lot of the politics you now people of our politics you talk to they'll tell you they got interested working at the polls It's a basic level understanding So there are programs to do that the problem is what we have to now do is have a discussion with our superintendents And say to our superintendent wear this program. Why aren't you pushing it? At you at your school district to make sure that every kid with the junior and seniors participated That's the fundamentals we have to do It's just what I said We're going to go back and change and not keep assuming That this system is going to educate folks because it's the information of what you know how to use it is useless I agree and i'm also on board with you with the whole Educated people on how to be a good citizen. I have been talking about this for the last Probably six seven months about ways to make sure that people recognize What you can do because like you said people don't know who to call They don't know where to go. They complain to each other That seems to be the thing that you do is you complain to each other But you never complain to the right people Actually do something like you mentioned streets on meridian game page while streets, you know, 38 street Sherman drives never gets paid. You know, how do we fix those problems? And it's because you need to talk to the right people to make it happen You need to vote for the right people first of all And then you need to make that happen. I think is that do you guys think that is part of the problem? We don't see the connection of elected office to our daily lives Yeah, I would say I would say there is definitely a disconnect and You know, I would kind of push back a little bit on on the idea that You know, some people are just misinformed and just um, you know need to be Shamed into voting. Um, I'm of a different opinion. I think that you know, it's If you don't see yourself represented in your government, um, it is it is easy to get discouraged and um Not in no interest in getting involved. I I kind of see it a little bit more as We really have to meet people where they're at. Um, if you don't see yourself represented in In your government, if you don't have a lot of faith in your government, why would you get involved? I think we have to kind of take a step back and look at the bigger picture and say There are a lot of systemic issues. Um, that we need to address that aren't going to be solved by voting One time in one election. It is a longer term Fight and it's it's a marathon not a sprint and to get people involved in that marathon I think it yeah, these vital conversations need to be had where it's You don't necessarily You you kind of come at it with a little bit more compassion and say hey, I recognize where you're coming from I recognize that there isn't a lot of representation in our government. There has been a lot of Um, disappointments and and I understand that you you know might feel powerless and feel hopeless It's like how can we build power together? How can we build community together? And how can we all educate each other together in a way to meet people where they're at and say You know if if you know if there is a disconnect if our elected officials You know only reach out to us every four years or every time they're elected or every time they want You know, they want your vote, but don't really talk to you any other time Then how can we how can we start addressing those issues and how can we Make sure they are reaching out to us and they are You know talking about our communities our neighborhoods our streets out like how can we make sure we're a priority on their minds as well And making sure it's like that's the fight that we're in and it's it's It's not just I I kind of see it a little bit more complicated. Like it's not just like a Oh, I'm disinterested. I'm disengaged. It's it's like I I don't feel a sense of belonging within my government And I think that's that's the bigger issue and especially in immigrant community I think a lot a lot a lot of that happens within immigrant community because um You aren't taking into it. You aren't being taken into account a lot of the times And decisions are being made on your behalf But you don't really necessarily Feel represented in those decisions. So um for recently naturalized citizens for you know folks who You know are going to be first time voters. I think there's a lot to be said that Of recognizing our individual and collective power and building community together and and kind of recognizing Why people are where they're at and not making assumptions of you know, people are Are this or that I think it's just like having those honest conversations and even if they're a little uncomfortable Getting a little uncomfortable and saying and recognizing that yeah, like like we've been saying it That process looks so differently for everyone So thinking about meeting people where they are There are some very basic premises that we've covered to get people registered. But let's Take it all the way down to ground level. Make sure we meet people where they are if I have never registered to vote Ashley, I'll start with you. What do I need to gather and take and where do I need to go before october 5th? Yes, so you want to go to indiana voters.com that is the location where you'll have all the information to Register to vote you're going to want your state id Indiana state id if or indiana state driver's license to register there if you don't have either of those You'll have to register through the federal form And you can do that and through like directly with your clerk's office or there's you know, we've been pushing people to we know common cause which is a A partner of ours has a register to vote tool on their website That you can use alternate forms of id so Yeah, having a having a a id because that's required in indiana if it's a state or federal issued id you can also vote at the polls with A student id from an indiana state institute from a state institution like a state university If it meets all the requirements of having like your your your name your flicture your an expiration date So I think that's yeah, that's what That's important to know indiana voters.com is where you'll go to get all of that information get registered see who's on your ballot like rod was mentioning so important so so important and Seeing where the voting locations are in your in your county and and figuring all of that out You you set me up perfectly rod. I want to come to you Where where do I vote? So, um, this has actually changed a little bit here in recent years So let's say it's it's november and I don't vote early although you can starting october 6th. Where on earth do I go? All right, if you before november 3rd, there's six there's six Of voting sites early voting sites that I don't know I'm off hand, but I can get that to you Um, the only towns I think high township and franklin with only two that doesn't have them but You can either go age ride downtown to clerk's office 830 to 5 Every day and I think she's doing a weekends also You could early vote No, you need to bring with you it's your id and uh driver license identification card If you have a military id which is interested in military IDs because recognize there was some discussion where the hunter and and and and a hunter's license or gun restoration or for my d but I would not get that that issue right now the simply id Take it with you you stand in line and it's fairly quickly and you can vote On election day, there's 161 sites and I know that my role will be printing them out In this in the newspaper ibj star. I believe she will also record is going to have all the sites On the nhcp website. I think the acru website. I think the urban lee website probably quoted what I have listed On that day, you're gonna have a bunch of folks. I know the legal women voters will be open And then it is feel for real open Think the acru offer be open. I think the early off the open I think we're in for change the variety of folks are going to be open going to say What do you hear the site that would be to tell you what site it's closest to where you live at that you can go to 2161 sites Um, so that's what you do in a voting day Take somebody which is already voted go with someone who's already voted So there's non intimidation And so they're in line with you They go to practice with you and they walk through with you. You can see them and you can I've done that The last election Firm right took somebody who didn't vote with me Was never voted one of firmer and I had him walk with me and I explained to people how she's never voted And they said okay, and I sat next to them They went through stuff with the kind of keeping calm And then they went to the voting booth and I went to my voting booth and then the woman said if you need to help I'll come help you Because they will let me do it because it my law that couldn't and it was done So takes a month to vote it just so you have somebody on that day to kind of chat with you kind of walk you through that lead your fear And it really is not that complicated. It really isn't it's just simply going Prep time finish the time You know the times of which people are gonna well may change this time because of the election, but normally Early morning you get a Early sludge between a sister clock to about 7 30 people who are going to work And then by 7 30 by 9 is kind of slow and you get the next group and you get a group people by lunchtime And usually from about one to about three is kind of slow And then from three on to seven to six seven six It's it's swap time because people come up work So you got to just gave but they may change because the importance of election that it may be steady all along And though that's what I keep saying go early go to early voting site. It'd be less stressful Get in and out But it's not that complicated. It isn't like a lot of places And you other than sign your name verify your name with registration. That's it Now the question becomes if you get to what do we do in turn if you get to and then not You can't find your name or something to happen Then you ask for a Can't think of a name or ballot that's um, this is a federal election. You can fill out the Ask to help me out with the ballots for The provisional ballot as a ballot. Yeah, the provision of ballot Um, and that will allow you to vote for the I noticed my discussion might have provisioned ballot also do everything That's not being cleared to the election board yet, but at least for the presidential stuff You can vote for the president's election on the prison ballot So that will allow you to put it if it puts aside. I've done both in turn at counter I've done as a prison community person. I've done in turn the you know countered The whole nine-yard and turn your voting stuff and hold nine-yard and turn the election process So, you know, but you at least can vote So what we need to do is probably Um, you get stressed with folks if you show up what you asked for Probably recorded probably need to get together with the with tlc and the stressful if you show up And you're sure that you register to vote I asked for this form And at least voted and at least they'll they'll put it aside and then check the register to vote And see if they find your then their ballot get counted, but at least you don't walk away. So sorry just walk away That's helpful And we'll be putting all of these tips together in a guide including some of the resources that folks have been sharing here and on Twitter, so as she I want to come to you to ask the last set of questions as we near the end of our time Yes, I wanted to make mention that I did put in the chat the recorder recently put a little guy of where to vote Um, we published a little guy so you can kind of cut it out Keep it with you putting your wallet putting your purse carry it pass it around copy it Bring take a picture send it to your friends. So people know we listed the vote the early voting sites time Deadlines Practicing teed deadlines for to apply to vote all that good stuff So it's a little handy dandy little guy that you can keep with you. We wanted we wanted to be a friend to voters So we kind of made it short enough so that you could keep it with you Um, I just want my last question is it's not really a question It's kind of a conversation more. I wanted to kind of You guys to kind of share a voting story with our audience By something that stands out in your memory of your maybe your first time voting or a great Experience in the voting booth. I know for me, we were talking about taking your children I've always taken my children into the booth with me. I guess I did miss a part when I didn't tell them Who I was voting for or why? But I always took my children especially when we actually had booths my children are 13 years apart So my son could actually go into the booth and see me Push the lever and it's been a lot different for my daughter But that's one of the great memories I had is like going to the booth with my kids I didn't do that with my parents. I know they voted but I never went with them So I wanted to share that experience with my children. So I just wanted to kind of hear from you guys Some a great voting story that you had Well, I'll start with not a voting story, but important why I learned important to vote Um, I've already voted the time I was able to vote my family voted it but no, I took it for granted My senior year senior university. We had to do a senior project And so myself and five other folks decided to go work and voted campaign. We went to mississippi I went to work with fellow named dr. John Connor who was trying to get elected as the first elected black state senator since reconstruction of Mississippi And I saw firsthand The whole year that we were there So we were doing classes sent to by mail and then you send itself But we had all the corrective stuff Why was it doing all your stress and stuff and I saw the suppression I'm talking about where folks walk up to say sally may Does your employer know that you're not here trying to vote? Or Steve Don't you get paid tomorrow? You don't want that paycheck missing do you? So you saw This the intimidation to turn the people vote You saw where you try to take him into the Of the Richard office, and he would close the day or having lunch come back two hours So the kind of impediment that we saw over and over trying to reciprocate the vote and the direct intimidation We had almost got charged addition And for those those addition me and treason is the state And they wanted to charge of saying that we was addition because we were trying to register people vote Jack Greenwood who then who's passed away the Greenberg which passed away with a woman where What these defense fund Had to come in the state and said that the act of thinking to vote is a protective act under voting right act And that to me gave me as I understand that the power to vote Is a pressure to vote and why you voted because I realized then as a college student That the folks are going out of this way to intimidate And even for us to come and try to help people vote could be one to run be elected That told me that this important to vote That there must be something in it for people to behave the way to behave And so that's part of me. I'm so passionate about voting because I saw it That is stay with me for 50 years Well, I don't have a great story like that For for me. I think I kind of already mentioned it is when I was able to translate at the polls for You know some first time recently naturalized voters that For me kind of just went full circle You know talking about within the immigrant community how You know when A lot of decisions are made on your behalf, but once you are you're able to have that right If if and when you know, you become a citizen and you have the right to exercise it It's so so powerful. I think about like during that time when I was able to help, you know folks Get understand was on their ballot and bow and all that it it is such a power I understood in that moment just how powerful it is to be able to have that right because Like I said, I mean, there's so many decisions that are made on our community's behalf that we don't get to have a say And then when you do have that right, it's so powerful to say You know, this is my decision. This is me speaking on on behalf of my community And on behalf of also a lot of folks who who don't have the right yet So or don't have the right to vote So I think that that was the moment for me that was during the 2018 midterm elections and Seeing so many people come out to vote during that time was was really powerful too because people were really engaged In a midterm election when you know, that doesn't usually happen It's usually presidential elections when when people are like, oh, I got to vote again. It's been it's been four years, but No, I elections have been really frequently and and getting involved in that process and Yeah, I think that that was a powerful moment for me to realize that like as a first generation american I have a lot of power and privilege and off on to speak on behalf of my community as well and with my community and Voting for for people who might not have the right to vote as well But still, you know, I know I know what my family Believes in and and kind of what we're all fighting for together. So I think that's it's just so powerful to be able to To exercise that right and and like I was saying earlier, it's the it's the first step It's a step of a longer process with Longer civic engagement that we can all have and hold our government accountable and hold them accountable to really represent our communities Well, I'm not sure anyone could have a last word better than rod and ashley just did that was an excellent question Oshia, we are going to go ahead and wrap up this conversation. We are so grateful Certainly to the indianapolis recorder for their continued partnership. Oshia boy Is the best co-moderator in the business and I was so honored to have her with me today Rod bohanan the co-chair of the legal redress committee for the greater indianapolis endable acp Thank you for your perspective as as a person and as an activist Ashley as an activist and a professional from the indiana aclu We are so lucky to have you as well If you are joining us today or with us on youtube or watching this after the fact I hope that you'll watch new america.org Slash indianapolis for this video for highlights from this video and you can catch highlights from this event at the hashtag Yes, you can vote hashtag indiana Please do watch the work of the n double acp the indianapolis recorder and the aclu of indiana for more voter protection tips We hope you'll share your voter plan and voting stories with us You can reach me at at molly g martin on twitter or at martin at new america dot org Thank you all so much for being here. Thank you again to my guests my co-moderators and our partners and don't forget to vote