DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — According to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice, the turnout gap between White and Black voters has increased over the last 10 years.
“If you don’t vote it's like cutting your breath off,” said Willis Fuller Jr., Harrisburg resident.
Fuller Jr. says he wasn’t able to vote until the age of 21, when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. He says today, he’ll never take voting for granted.
“This is the only time we have an opportunity to show the government which direction we want to go. And if you sit at home, you have no reason to complain about what’s going on in the government. And especially, [when] there was a time we couldn’t vote,” said Fuller.
Fuller says misinformation is one of the reasons he believes Black people are going to the polls less. Others say there are different obstacles at play.
Marvin Kenley, also from Harrisburg, says he had to come to the Dauphin County Bureau of Elections building to correct his voter registration three times.
That's a barrier that he says couldn’t stop him from making his voice heard.
“I’m going to get my vote in. I worked hard for that,” said Kenley.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, strict voter ID laws, and long lines on Election Day also act as barriers for voters.
Harrisburg city council member Lamont Jones says the Black voting numbers that they’re seeing in the city are a testament to the disparities.
Jones says that we’re seeing a decrease in the African American voting numbers because the candidates are not seen in the communities that they’re asking for votes from.
“That’s why you have trouble with registering people because they’ll say that the government doesn’t care or the people don’t care or my vote doesn’t matter. That’s because we have to do better as elected officials and in our governments in the cities and the states that we serve,” Jones explained.
He says every election has consequences, which is why people need to vote on Nov. 5.
“I’ve seen people here locally lose an election by one vote by 40 votes. Every vote counts,” said Jones.