This is Ozarks at Large. I’m Matthew Moore. Early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 19, in Arkansas. And in Washington County, a group of volunteers is offering free rides to the polls for any registered voter all the way through Election Day, Nov. 3.
Herschel Hertford is the vice chair of the Washington County Democratic Party. He says if it weren’t for the collective effort he’s helping to organize, this sort of service probably wouldn’t happen.
Hertford: I know there are individuals who help neighbors out getting to the polls and that sort of thing, but on a large-scale basis over Washington County, this has not been something that has been a regular project as far as that goes. And we believe that voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and that only has meaning if you have a way to get out and vote.
Moore: When you think about a community like this, who needs some support, needs some help, needs accessibility in this way, what does it sound like when these possibilities aren’t available for people?
Hertford: Too often people don’t complain, too often, because our society tends to ignore folks without transportation availability. Folks are just shut out and they’re shut out of the process to vote. They’re shut out of the process to go to meetings. They’re shut out of the process of exercising their voice in any way if it doesn’t fit with what the norm of the community is. Folks get left out.
Moore: When did this become something where it was more than just, you were someone who I’m sure needed this sort of opportunity. You yourself are pretty outspoken about needing accessibility. When it becomes something that was bigger than just I myself need this, and we need to make sure this is available to everyone in our county?
Hertford: Well, I think the biggest thing is that, and it’s not just about folks who need accessibility issues in wheelchairs and that sort of thing, but we have people in this county who are registered to vote who don’t have a way to get to the polls.
And elections are the place where people get to hire the people who are going to work and work to build and grow this community. And if we’re not able to get to there and share our voices and to elect the people who meet the needs that we’re looking for, then our voices are unheard. And people continue to ignore folks who are without transportation.
Moore: This is not just limited to people who are wheelchair, need access because wheelchair. Perhaps it’s people who don’t have driver’s license. Perhaps it’s people who are no longer able to drive themselves as well.
Hertford: Right, right. It can be any means. Your right to vote should not be limited by the fact that you don’t have a set of car keys in your pocket. And we have to realize that everybody’s voice matters.
Moore: The Community Volunteer Ride initiative is starting on Monday of the first day of early voting across the county.
Hertford: Right. It goes from the north end of the county to the south end of the county, from the west side of the county to the east side of the county. We’re looking at rural folks. We’re looking at folks in areas that are more urban, if you will. It’s a complete saturation that we’re trying to give people the opportunity to make their voice heard.
Moore: There’s two components to a project like this. One is making sure the people who need the access know that the access is available. But another part is making sure that people who can provide that access are volunteering to do so. Let’s talk about that second half real quick.
Hertford: Sure.
Moore: What does it look like for folks who are volunteering to provide rides or for people who want to volunteer to provide rides?
Hertford: Sure. The folks that want to provide rides, a lot of folks have reached out. We have over 45 people right now who have reached out to provide rides. We’re very clear about what our expectations are, that they must meet certain guidelines.
They have to have a driver’s license. They have to have a working, safe, registered vehicle. They have to be available to pick people up and take them to the polling place, wait for them and take them back home again. This is so folks are signing up for their times when they’re willing to do that to make those efforts possible.
We want to make sure that people feel safe. So if somebody gets a ride to the poll and they want to feel safe by having a family member or another individual ride with them to the polls, we’re working to make that possible for them. If we don’t have a ride for them, we’re going to look for ways that they can find rides throughout the county.
And it’s just a matter of people getting involved because voting drives democracy. And so we want to drive voters to build that democracy.
Moore: Yeah, absolutely. So that’s the one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is people reaching out and saying, “Hey, I need a ride.” What does that process look like?
Hertford: We have an email address. It’s washcoelectionpollrides@gmail.com, and we ask them to provide an address, a name, when they want to go to the polls and which polling place they want to go to. If they don’t know where there’s a polling place near them, we have that information available so that we can help them find that place.
That information comes in to us. I mark it with our volunteers to who’s going to drive these people at these times. We set that up. Their information remains secure. It is removed after the ride has taken place. We have a record of when they were picked up, when they come back. All of those things available there.
We also want to make sure that we’re letting everybody know that, even though the Democratic Party of Washington County is the one coordinating this, we’re not here just to take registered Democrats to the polls, or candidates who are voting for one candidate or another candidate, or one party or another party. These are nonpartisan rides. We are trying to get out the vote of Washington County registered voters. Everyone is welcome.
Our drivers have been instructed in their volunteer instructions that these are nonpartisan rides. They are not discussing candidates, issues, anything during the rides. They’re simply to pick them up, be cordial, take them to the polling place, drop them off, pick them right back up at the polling place and take them home when they’re done.
Moore: What does success look like for you in this endeavor?
Hertford: Quite frankly, success looks to me like one more voter getting a chance to share their vote. I’d love to have lots of people lined up. I’d love to be able to say I need more volunteers because we have so many folks that need this service.
But what I am going to say is that one vote makes a difference. And that vote could be happening with the person who’s getting a ride to the polls who couldn’t get to the polls any other way.
Herschel Hertford is the vice chair of the Washington County Democratic Party. He joined me yesterday in the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio Two.
He says it’s best to make the request for a ride 24 to 48 hours in advance so that they can coordinate your ride, and your rides will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you want to volunteer to provide rides or you would like to request a ride, send an email to washcoelectionpollrides@gmail.com.
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