Souls to the Polls campaign continues pushing Black and Latino churchgoers to vote

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A voting tradition leading into the midterm election will take place Sunday afternoon. Souls to the Polls is a decades-long campaign that mainly pushes Black and Latino voters to the polls.

Last year, some feared it would come to an end during the legislative session. This was due to attempts to drastically reduce Sunday voting hours, which ultimately failed.

The campaign essentially calls for parishioners to go out and cast their ballots after church. In previous years, the polls would open up at 9 a.m., but some Republican lawmakers tried to move the start time to 1 p.m. last year, citing that fewer people were showing up during the earlier part of the day.

Advocates said this was just one of the many efforts to make it harder for Black and Latino communities to cast their ballot, a demographic that already faces barriers to equitable voting.

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On Sunday, the Houston NAACP and their president, Bishop James Dixon, will lead a caravan of voters to the polls and encourage them to cast their ballots at the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center.

Church leaders and elected officials, such as Mayor Sylvester Turner, Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and Rep. Jarvis Johnson, are also expected to join.

They are expecting hundreds of cars to participate. Early voting hours in Harris County will take place from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

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