Newark Activists Rally Community On National Voter Registration Day

NEWARK, NJ — A community advocacy group in Newark is paying tribute to National Voter Registration Day by launching a drive in the Brick City on Tuesday.

The People’s Organization For Progress (POP) said its members will be helping to register voters from 1 to 5 p.m. on the corner of Broad and Market Streets (near 777 Broad Street) in Newark

“On this day that highlights the importance of the right to vote, we felt it was necessary to give people another opportunity to register so that they can vote in the upcoming presidential election in November,” POP chair Lawrence Hamm said.

“All elections are important but most people understand that this one is especially significant since we will be voting for the person who will be running the federal government and leading the nation for the next four years,” Hamm said.

“Voting is the democratic right of every citizen,” he continued. “It is the cornerstone of democracy. Every citizen should register and vote in every election.”

Hamm said that voting is a right that was hard-won for many people in the U.S.

“African Americans, women and other segments of our population had to fight and struggle to obtain this right,” he said. “However, if we are not vigilant in exercising and guarding our right to vote it can be weakened and even taken away.”

Hamm said that in recent years, hundreds of bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country to interfere with, impede and even prevent some people from voting.

“With all of these efforts designed to suppress the participation of African-American and other voters in society voter registration and participation becomes even more critical,” he said.

Tuesday’s driver isn’t the POP’s only voter registration effort. The group has been hosting what it calls “Empowerment Saturdays” – which includes voter registration – nearly every weekend since March. Weather permitting, the group’s members plan to continue this activity every Saturday until Oct. 15, which is the cutoff date to register for the general election on Nov. 5.

For more information, contact the People’s Organization For Progress at 973-801-0001.

Learn more about voting in New Jersey here.

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