Souls to the Polls campaign draws voters to Orlando's Amway Center
Tye Gee stood outside the Amway Center on Sunday and angled his smartphone camera so that the “I voted” sticker on his T-shirt was visible in his selfie.
The 60-year-old Baldwin Park resident was among scores of Orange County residents who cast their ballot Sunday inside the arena, with many heading across the street for food, music and speakers as part of Souls to the Polls, an annual voter-turnout initiative led by Black churches.
COVID-19 nixed the Souls to the Polls tradition of congregants arriving on packed buses at polling sites after Sunday services. Another Souls to the Polls drive is expected to happen next Sunday, two days before Election Day.
Instead, attendees stood in line to have their temperatures taken at kiosks before entering the grounds and being directed by volunteers to nearby hand sanitizer stations.
Gee, who moved to Orlando in 2016 from Pennsylvania, said he was surprised at the low voter turnout among African Americans in Florida in the last presidential election. He believes the opportunity to vote for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 motivated Black people to show up at the polls.
“In 2016, that kind of excitement kind of waned a little bit," he said. “But with all the things going on with social justice, things going on with the COVID situation, the economy, I think the turnout will be particularly high this year.”
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-souls-to-the-polls-2020-20201025-ypsrrshyibferadlqhrzotgs4a-story.html
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