Voting, voting, voting! Everyone has something to say about the 2022 Midterm Election Cycle. We are all tired of ads, phone calls, and text messages. This is a reminder that early voting ends on Friday, November 4th. If you haven’t voted, please make a plan to vote during this last week of early voting. I reached out to Reverend Timothy McDonald from First Iconium Baptist Church. McDonald is part of a multi-denominational voting initiative called FAITH WORKS.
Faith Works has hosted rallies in large and small cities across our state to encourage and educate the faith community about the importance of voting.
I ask McDonald how FAITH WORKS came into being. The group informally began during the 2020 election and was officially incorporated in July 2022. I asked McDonald why the group continued after the 2020 cycle. He mentions SB202, known as the Georgia Voter Suppression Bill. He talks about FAITH WORKS engaging with over 1,000 churches on a weekly basis. They have also organized chaplains to be on hand as poll workers on November 8th.
McDonald speaks about the Southern Leadership Christian Council, a faith-led organization that advocated and marched for the right to vote. He also speaks about the NAACP's faith-based component and the faith community's history of leading civic engagement for our community. When asked how long this fight will last, McDonald speaks about the John Lewis National Right to Vote Bill that didn’t pass in the Senate. He says that this fight will continue until there is National Protection for our right to vote. He emphasizes the need for Constitutional Protection for the right to vote for all citizens.
McDonald encourages everyone to take advantage of the early voting dates and not wait until election day. He personally experienced “suppression shenanigans” on the first day of early voting in Henry County when the printers and scanners were down for three hours.
For more information about FAITH WORKS