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Black churches mobilizing voters despite virus challenges

Bebeto Matthews/AP

A woman and child walk past Laurae Caruth, right, volunteer with Christian Cultural Center Social Justice Initiative's voter registration drive, as she sits at a table where she registers voters, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. "I'm out here volunteering because of how important it is to exercise the right to vote," Caruth said. In recent election cycles, predominantly Black congregations across the country have launched get-out-the-vote campaigns commonly referred to as “souls to the polls.” But instead of packing buses and vans to shuttle people to early voting sites this year, church leaders say they are organizing caravans for absentee ballot drop-offs and in-person early voting. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

By: AP Newsroom

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NEW YORK (AP) — Voter mobilization in Black church communities will look much different in 2020, due in large part to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected millions across the U.S. and has taken a disproportionate toll on Black America.

In recent election cycles, predominantly Black congregations across the country have launched get-out-the-vote campaigns commonly referred to as “souls to the polls.” This year, churches are organizing socially distant caravans with greatly reduced capacity for early voting and Election Day ballot-casting.

Volunteers are phone-banking and canvasing the homes of church members to ensure mail-in and absentee ballots are requested and delivered before the deadlines.

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Black churches mobilizing voters despite virus challenges

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