Black voter turnout in Duval county ahead of general elections

Princess Jhané Stepherson
·2 min read

Action News Jax gets real about Black voter turnout as the general election gets closer. A national tour called the “Arc of voter justice” is pushing to get 10 million Black voters to the polls. To do so, the tour has visited 14 states and 25 cities.

Action News Jax followed the group on its last stop, which was right here in Jacksonville.

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With the general elections less than three weeks away, the “Arc of voter justice” tour made multiple stops throughout Jax. Those included one of the city’s most historic Black colleges, Edward Waters University.

“I found out how serious voting is by losing my son through three racial white men and a corrupt DA,” said Marcus Arbery Sr.

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The father of Ahmaud Arbery was one of many advocating for African Americans to vote. He says the justice system doesn’t work the same for black people after his son was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime in February of 2020.

“If they want changes and to make it better for our children in the future they had better think about voting,” added Arbery.

According to data from The Florida Division of Elections, voter turnout among African American’s and other minorities has been low. Duval county has over 1 million residents but only 656,406 voted during the August primary. Of that, only 183,659 were Black voters.

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Black residents make up 31.1% of Duval’s population.

Daryl Jones is the board chair and co-leader of the Transformative Justice Coalition. He explained why he thinks Black voters aren’t heading to the polls.

“You’re not seeing the results that you want when you’re using the electoral process and there’s a frustration, an anger that exists,” said Jones.

If you would like to make your voice heard you can do so by voting early this coming Monday or on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, when the polls open.

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