Even after Michiganders approved an amendment to the state constitution last year to expand voting rights, any potential efforts to suppress the ability to cast a ballot still remain a concern for some, especially for communities of color.
WKAR's Sophia Saliby spoke with Ponsella Hardaway who is the executive director of the community nonprofit MOSES (Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength) based in Detroit. She has also served as co-chair of the Defend Black Voters Coalition.
Interview Highlights
On voter outreach
The biggest part of what we're doing is really educating people about the right to access to actually get an absentee ballot with no excuses, that they can actually take time in their own homes, and actually review what's on the ballot, do a little research and submit their ballot without having to go to the polls. However, we know there are some diehards who just gotta go to those polls, which I totally understand. So, we have to learn what it means when we do cast our ballot at the polls.
On the struggles of getting people to the polls
The hardest part, I think, as an organizer, is getting people to still believe that their vote counts, right? And so, we can't do that focusing on candidates, we have to get them to understand their values, the things that they encounter every day, and connect them to the policies that are being proposed in Lansing, in D.C., the county commission, the city council, that they're holding those individuals accountable to those issues that are important to them.
On looking ahead to 2024
The biggest piece is we have to really educate people on these lengthy ballots. There's also judicial races that are happening. Those are really critical in communities of color. And in the past, many times, we vote the top ticket, and then we bypass all of the judicial races, and we want to make sure everybody votes the whole ballot.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: Even after Michiganders approved an amendment to the state constitution last year to expand voting rights, any potential efforts to suppress the ability to cast a ballot still remain a concern for some, especially for communities of color.
Ponsella Hardaway is the executive director of the community nonprofit MOSES based in Detroit. She has also served as co-chair of the Defend Black Voters Coalition. She joins me now. Thank you for being here.
Ponsella Hardaway: Thank you for having me.
Saliby: Can you talk about some of the work you do when it comes to voter outreach?
Hardaway: The biggest part of what we're doing is really educating people about the right to access to actually get an absentee ballot with no excuses, that they can actually take time in their own homes, and actually review what's on the ballot, do a little research and submit their ballot without having to go to the polls.
However, we know there are some diehards who just got to go to those polls, which I totally understand. So, we have to learn what it means when we do cast our ballot at the polls. So, I learned that eight o'clock on Election Day doesn't stop. We have to watch and wait after making sure the votes are cast and counted.
And I learned that in... the 2020 election. All the years I've done this work, I've never thought about what happened after 8 p.m. until 2020. And now it is a part of our DNA that we are making sure that we're deploying to different polling sites as ballots are being collected and that we're able to be in the room when they're being counted. So, we see that as really important as well.
Saliby: How would you characterize the state of voting rights for Black Michiganders right now?
I think we get lost in personalities and sound bites and all the polarization that happens in the public arena when it comes to candidates, you know, vying for these different offices, and we lose sight of the issues that are at stake which is where we are now.
Hardaway: We can't focus so much on candidates. We have to focus on the issues that we care about, and then actually match who's running and care about the issues we care about. Because I think we get lost in personalities and sound bites and all the polarization that happens in the public arena when it comes to candidates vying for these different offices, and we lose sight of the issues that are at stake which is where we are now.
There are so many things that are being seeped through without us really knowing that this is what's happening in terms of a lot of variety of issues. I think, last year, how the reproductive freedoms happened and how it really elevated a lot of people to really focus on the issues.
The hardest part, I think, as an organizer, is getting people to still believe that their vote counts, right? And so, we can't do that focusing on candidates, we have to get them to understand their values, the things that they encounter every day, and connect them to the policies that are being proposed in Lansing, in D.C., the county commission, the city council. That they're holding those individuals accountable to those issues that are important to them.
So, changing the dynamic that is not about the candidate. It's about our quality of life, and who do we want in office, and who do we hold accountable to make sure that happens.
Saliby: Are there any kinds of legislative changes you're looking at that you'd like to see to encourage voting and civic engagement?
Hardaway: I wish that we could vote electronically. I wish that would be one element of opportunities for us to vote. But I think that, how do we make sure it's accessible? The polarization of voting is eliminating that everybody has a right to go to the polls. And that we should take the fight of democracy out of the mouths of people who are running and out of parties.
This is a right and a welcoming right for everyone, and that all barriers are removed, and there is no prejudice about who has access to the polls.
I think senior citizens still struggle in terms of their rights. I think, you know, that if people want to go to the polls, and we want to take them via car, we should be allowed to do that.
Saliby: You mentioned sharing that message to people who maybe don't think their vote matters, that their vote does matter. How do you explain that to folks?
We can take a few elections where there were certain candidates that have gotten in by margins by a few hundred votes or a couple of thousand votes, and then look at the number of people who actually are registered to vote that didn't vote in that same election, right? Our vote does count, so sometimes showing the numbers consistently like this, it does matter.
Hardway: So, we can take a few elections where there were certain candidates that have gotten in by margins, by a few hundred votes or a couple of thousand votes, and then look at the number of people who actually are registered to vote that didn't vote in that same election, right? Our vote does count, so sometimes showing the numbers consistently like this, it does matter.
The second thing is let's not take our eyes off our values and not get lost into the political debates. Let's really think about, okay, what do we really care about? And who's going to help us get there? Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves.
And I think, as grassroots organizers and people on the ground, this is the job that we have. And this is probably a heavy lift that we have to keep investing in and making sure even the generation coming up that they realize that their vote counts as well as young people.
Saliby: Looking ahead, what do you think will be some of the major statewide issues that voters in your community will be focused on for the 2024 election?
Hardaway: So definitely, I know in Metro Detroit, there's a mayoral race [and] there's a Senate race that are really important. But tying those to the issues. So, let's talk about the issues.
So, there could be a potential issue around transportation. I think transportation is a connector of communities. I think we can't keep moving our region without having adequate transportation.
The other thing, I'm hearing that there's an issue around land value tax that's happening. I know there's an effort right now in Lansing to push that into the 2024 election. We don't know that it will happen, but that has huge implications on what's happening in Detroit. What does that really mean? Do we understand what's in the language of that legislation that's being proposed? We'll see what happens.
It's really yet to be known as to what's going to be rolling out, like you said. We won't know until, like, May of next year, what's actually going to be hitting our ballot. And the biggest piece is we have to really educate people on these lengthy ballots. There's also judicial races that are happening. Those are really critical in communities of color. And in the past, many times, we vote the top ticket, and then we bypass all of the judicial races, and we want to make sure everybody votes the whole ballot.
Saliby: Ponsella Hardaway is the executive director of MOSES in Detroit. Thank you for joining me.
Hardaway: Thank you.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
