Power to the People: Voter Registration Soars in Ferguson
Protesters brought national attention to the widespread racial disparity between residents and city officials in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown this summer. Many fended off tear gas and rubber bullets in a protest against police brutality and racial profiling, and Ferguson’s citizens have now found another way to create long-lasting change—by registering to vote.
In the six weeks since the unarmed black teen was fatally shot by a white police officer, sparking racial tension in the community, 4,839 people in St. Louis County have registered to vote. It’s unclear whether the surge in voter registration is along racial lines, but of those new voters, 3,287 are Ferguson residents, USA Today reports.
Liberal activists set up makeshift voter registration booths in the days following Brown’s death, focusing on areas of protest and those with historically low turnout.
Two-thirds of the city’s residents are black, but the local government lacks diversity. Five out of six city council members, the entire school board, and the widely criticized mayor, James Knowles, are white.
“It doesn’t give justice to the Michael Brown family, but it will in the future give justice to how the administration is run in a local municipality like Ferguson,” Anthony Bell, St. Louis 3rd Ward committeeman, told USA Today.
Of the 12,096 registered voters in Ferguson, only 1,484 showed up during municipal elections in April. Activists plan to capitalize on the surge, using the momentum to bring newly registered voters to the polls on Nov. 4. The position of county executive will be up for grabs next month, and three city council seats will be up for reelection in April.
Related stories on TakePart:
• When White Cops Police Black Communities
• Tactics and Toys: The Dangerous Militarization of Local Police
• As the Protests Wind Down, Here’s How You Can Help Ferguson, Mo.
• From Tear Gas to Empathy: How Capt. Ronald Johnson Transformed the Scene in Ferguson
Original article from TakePart
