Souls to the Polls in Gainesville on Sunday will feature members of the Georgia Mass Choir

As the midterm election is under way, several organizations are coming together to host an event designed to bring souls to the polls.

The Souls to the Polls voting initiative, which began during the civil rights movement more than 60 years ago, will once again be held in Gainesville as a part of the

Black church community coming together to encourage church-goers to go out and vote after attending church.

Souls to the Polls event to be held Sunday in Gainesville

This election cycle's Soul to the Polls event will be held from 2-5 p.m. Sunday adjacent to the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office at 515 N. Main St. Election Day will be from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday at voting precincts throughout Alachua County.

It will feature free food, prize giveaways and performances by award-winning gospel artists Punch Baldwin and the Rev. Milton Biggham of the Georgia Mass Choir.

The event will be organized and sponsored by Black Voters Matter, Alachua County Branch of the NAACP, Community Impact Corporation, Florida Forward, Community Outreach and Empowerment, Vision Ministries and 98.9 Jamz-FM.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” said Rev. Karl Anderson, pastor of Upper Room Ministries. “Our votes are our power. Don’t wait till after the results to complain. Vote now and change the narrative. Put people in office who really care for us."

Through seven days of early voting in the 2022 General Election that began on Oct. 24. in Alachua County, 12,310 people voted in-person early. During the same election cycle in 2018, 21,150 people had voted early in person, said Aaron Klein, the Elections Office's director of communications and outreach.

However, in 2018 during the midterm election, 32,222 people voted by mail.

"Already in this election, we have received more than 19,000 vote-by-mail ballots," Klein said. "Our office is encouraging voters to make a plan to vote in this election. They can deliver their vote-by-mail ballot in-person or mail it to us, vote early, or at their assigned polling place on Election Day."

Before you return your ballot, be certain to seal it in the return envelope provided and sign the voter's certificate on the back of the envelope. Most voters choose to return their voted ballot by mail. Voters may also choose to return their voted ballot sealed in the signed return envelope to the Elections Office in person, or have someone else deliver it to the office. Vote-By-Mail ballots may not be dropped off at the voter’s precinct on Election Day. All Vote-By-Mail ballots must be received in the Elections Office at 515 N. Main St. by 7 p.m. on Election Day, according to the Election Office's website.

Voters may also return their vote-by-mail ballots to any early voting site during early voting hours or to the white, secure dropbox, located outside the Elections Office.

Early voting at all early voting sites will be from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. through Saturday. The early voting locations are:

• Supervisor of Elections Office: 515 N. Main St.

• Millhopper Branch Library: 3145 NW 43rd St.

•Tower Road Branch Library: 3020 SW 75th St.

• Orange Heights Baptist Church:16700 FL-26 in Hawthorne.

• Legacy Park Multipurpose Center: 15400 Peggy Road in Alachua.

• J. Wayne Reitz Union: 655 Reitz Union Drive, UF Campus.

• Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center: 23100 W Newberry Road in Newberry.

If you are not sure where your assigned polling location is, go to VoteAlachua.com or call 352-374-5252.

Souls to the Polls movement began in Mississippi

According to The Fox 5 Digital Team in Atlanta, the idea for "souls to the polls" goes back to the civil rights movement. The Rev. George Lee, a Black Mississippi entrepreneur, was assassinated by white supremacists in 1955 after he helped nearly 100 Black residents register to vote in the town of Belzoni.

It reflects a larger effort in the Black community to leverage the church for voting rights, said Dartmouth history professor Matthew Delmont, according to the Fox 5 Digital Team.

In addition to motivating potential voters, pastors provide the "logistical support to get people to go directly from church service to go to vote," he said.

“These initiatives and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped increase national Black vote  turnout  from 40% in 1960 to 60% in 1984,” according to political scientist Dr. Zulema Blair, a professor at City University of New York.

The redistricting map changed earlier this year and some voters are now in different assigned precincts, said Klein, who encourages voters to verify before election day where they must go to vote on election day.

“Make sure to know your assigned precinct,” said Klein, adding "you can see the votes as they come in on Election Day by visiting votealachua.org."

The League of Women Voters Nonpartisan election resource and one-stop shop is available at  Vote411.org.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Black churches encourage parishioners to attend Souls to the Polls