Texas Ridesharing Program Driving Report Voters In Polls: TheGrio

Two years ago, Sarah Kovich and Jody Johnson connected about democracy and it started after Kovich’s then 17-year-old daughter noticed huge differences in our government choice.

“It became clear to her that the people here in Texas neither went to vote nor had any means of transport to vote in the elections,” Kovich told the Grio in an interview.

In the same year the two merged RideShare2Vote (R2V), an organization that provides free round-trip transportation to polling stations for voters who support Democrats and progressive candidates in elections.

Read More: Texas Early Voting Exceeds Total All Ballot For 2016

The organization aims to address the chronically low level of eligible citizens who exercise their right to vote. Fast forward to 2020 and the gap between those eligible to vote and those who actually cast a vote has already narrowed.

The Rideshar2Vote driver takes the voter to vote. (Photo: Instagram)

For example, in Texas, where the R2V crew is headquartered, nearly nine million people have already cast a vote. That is more than 51 percent of registered voters, according to the Texas Tribune.

“We don’t discriminate on our rides, which means we get everyone to the polls who want to go because we don’t ask who they vote,” says Kovich, founder of RideShare2Vote.

In Texas, however – specifically Harris County – The state’s largest widespread voter suppression plagued the state in the months leading up to the 2020 general election. “There are significant barriers to keeping people out of the polls and our drivers will drive anyone anywhere and it doesn’t matter how far it is,” said Johnson, president of RideShare2Vote.

Voter suppression is one of the driving forces behind why the women behind the ride-sharing scheme are intrigued by making democracy work for everyone.

“Our mission is to combat voter suppression and increase voter turnout so that the people we serve are usually oppressed voters, people of color, low-inclination voters, the majority of whom are younger, lower-income voters and are people who feel left out of our government, “says Johnson.

In Kovich’s case, the idea that people are not allowed to vote because of their socioeconomic status and race struck near their home when she was reminded of her teenage daughter questioning how the political game was played.

“Injustice is the driving force for me and keeps me in this work and in a personal way. My daughters were adopted from Guatemala, so our families don’t all look the same. When I was little, it became very clear to me that systemic racism is insidious in our country, ”says Kovich.

Read more: Meghan Markle says she is “very concerned” about the suppression of voters

Recent news events in the state are pushing them even harder to get the people to vote. The Texas Supreme Court Governor confirmed earlier this week. Greg AbbottThe order limits the districts to one delivery point for postal votes.

The court’s ruling concluded that the governor’s proclamation gave voters in the state ample choice in the November election, but the ruling did not satisfy either Kovich and Johnson, or any of their drivers, who say people are more vulnerable in some states Communities remain discarded. The verdict is the latest attempt to prevent people from exercising their voting rights.

People cast their ballots at a polling station in Austin, Texas on October 13, 2020. (Photo by Sergio Flores / Getty Images)

The Texas Supreme Court decision didn’t hold back R2V or its mission. In fact, the organization has received requests for help in getting to the surveys. Demand for driving in America in the days leading up to Election Day has passed the five hundred mark, and leaders expect more calls to come in as Election Day approaches.

Read more: Voting email scammers disguised as PACs to steal personal information

“There are significant barriers to keeping people out of the polls and our drivers will drive someone anywhere they need to go and it doesn’t matter how far it is,” says Johnson. This includes satellite branches of the organization that include some parts of North Carolinawhere more than four million people cast ballots, and West Virginiawhere early and absent ballots exceed more than two hundred thousand.

“I can’t stand to see all of the things that people will do to try to deprive someone of their right to participate in the democratic process of choosing our government,” says Johnson.

Turnout in this election cycle has already reached unprecedented levels. More than 80 million Americans are already casting ballots, either in absentia, by mail, or in states that offer early voting. Volunteers who wanted to help get people to the elections but their training was already in place and with additional COVID restrictions, these volunteers were told to wait until the next round of elections.

Kelsey Minor is a 2x Emmy Award winning freelance journalist based in New York City. He can be followed on Twitter HYPERLINK “https://twitter.com/theKELSEYminor” @ theKELSEYminor.

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