Black voter turnout in the 2016 general election was 59.6 percent, according to the Pew Research Center, down from the record 66.6 percent who say they voted in 2012. It was the first time in 20 years that Black voter turnout declined in a presidential election year. The numbers for Black millennial voters were even worse, with 50.6 percent turnout, down from 55 percent in 2012.
Though there is a hotly contested Senate seat on the ballot in Indiana this year with incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly trying to fend off Republican challenger Mike Braun, it’s unreasonable to expect that voter turnout will surge significantly without a presidential race. But Black progressives are still trying to churn up enthusiasm among young Black voters.
BlackPAC, a Black-led national organization that works to build sustained engagement among Black voters, partnered locally with Progressive Thought Matters in September to hold a series of focus groups, including with Black millennials.
“People are deeply concerned about the direction of the country,” Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, said of the focus group. “People are angry.”
Racism and discrimination are among the chief concerns for young Black voters, Shropshire said, but there are also issues like jobs, education and police accountability that these voters are looking for from candidates.
“There are issues that younger voters recognize as being critical to their participation,” Shropshire said. “These are motivators for actually turning out and participating.”
For candidates, having command of these issues is one thing, but the process of packaging and delivering them to young Black voters is a different challenge. With so much of the political arena populated by whites, Robin Winston of Progressive Thought Matters suggests candidates diversify their staffs.
“You can’t rely on people who don’t have a natural affinity telling you how to reach that population,” Winston said.
That includes getting information to voters.
“If you’ve got a job that requires you to be out of county or on the site for a long time you may not even know where to get an absentee ballot application or where to go,” Winston said.
Though voters are inclined to do their own research, there is a plethora of information out there, and most of the responsibility should fall on the candidates themselves, Shropshire said. But that also involves getting candidates to engage young Black voters in a substantive way.
“The challenge is that many candidates see Black voters as just [Get Out The Vote] turnout voters,” Shropshire said. “We just have to talk to them at the end and make sure they vote, and not that they have to have an actual conversation with them.”
Once voters have that information and connection, according to Shropshire, they are more likely to participate in the political process.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 and follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Who’s running?
The following is a list of candidates running in Center Township.
U.S. Senate
Joe Donnelly, Democrat*
Mike Braun, Republican
Lucy M. Brenton, Libertarian
Secretary of State
Jim Harper, Democrat
Connie Lawson, Republican*
Mark W. Rutherford, Libertarian
Auditor of State
Joselyn Whitticker, Democrat
Tera Klutz, Republican*
John Schick, Libertarian
Treasurer of State
John C. Aguilera, Democrat
Kelly Mitchell, Republican*
U.S. Representative, District 7
André D. Carson, Democrat*
Wayne “Gunny” Harmon, Republican
Prosecuting Attorney of Marion County, 19th Judicial Circuit
Terry R. Curry, Democrat*
Benjamin D. Strahm, Republican
Marion County Circuit
Court Clerk
Myla A. Eldridge, Democrat*
Kyle Leffel, Republican
Marion County Auditor
Julie Voorhies, Democrat*
Caarn Heir, Republican
Marion County Recorder
Kate Sweeney Bell, Democrat*
Paul Annee, Republican
Marion County Sheriff
Kerry Joseph Forestal, Democrat
Brian K. Durham, Republican
Marion County Assessor
Joseph P. O’Connor, Democrat*
Center Township Trustee
Eugene (Wally) Akers, Democrat*
Judge of the Marion Small Claims Court, Center Township
Brenda A. Roper, Democrat*
IPS School Board, At Large
Susan J. Collins
Joanna Elizabeth Krumel
Mary Ann Sullivan*
IPS School Board, District 3
Evan Hawkins
Michele Lorbieski
Sherry Lynne Shelton
IPS School Board, District 5
Dorene Hoops*
Taria Slack
Indiana State Representative, District 89
John Barnes, Democrat
Cindy Kirchhofer, Republican*
Indiana State Representative, District 96
Gregory Porter, Democrat*
Indiana State Representative, District 97
Justin Moed, Democrat*
Indiana State Representative, District 98
Robin Shackleford, Democrat*
Indiana State Representative, District 99
Vanessa Summers, Democrat*
Indiana State Representative, District 100
Dan Forestal, Democrat*
*denotes incumbent
Black progressives
