Church voter registration drive kicks off

Prince George’s, Montgomery officials look to add unregistered voters

‘‘All of the work [King] did included getting us the right to vote,” June Dillard, the county’s NAACP president said. ‘‘All those civil rights leaders were jailed and beaten just for trying to get us to vote.”

Churches such as Faith Missionary Baptist Church, St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in Capitol Heights, Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Forestville and Gethsamene United Methodist Church in Suitland are part of 17 participating churches in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

Mykel Harris, chairman of the Prince George’s County Republican Party, said the United States is one of a few nations with the power to affect leadership and residents should not be surprised if the way their government operates does not change if they are not willing to change.

Harris added Prince George’s County Republicans are outnumbered six to one when it comes to voter registration, but people are choosing to complain rather than register.

‘‘If you’re tired of throwing things at the TV, get off that couch, sign that piece of paper and take charge of your government,” Harris said.

June Dillard, the county’s NAACP branch president, said the group has a goal of registering 1,000 high school students who will turn 18 before the Nov. 4 election. Dillard said she has visited several schools to spread that message.

Gustavo Torres, CASA of Maryland’s executive director, said CASA’s goal is to increase voter registration by 30 percent in Maryland’s Latino communities and register 1 million Latino voters nationwide. Henry Halistock, Montgomery County’s NAACP branch president, said he hopes to register 1,200 youth and 2,000 adult voters in his county.

At Faith Missionary, associate minister Rosetta Lee Skates waits after both Sunday services, a Monday night bible study and Tuesday evening prayer service to register members to vote. Skates said she even leaves voter registration packets at the church for the church clerk to hand out to interested churchgoers.

Yet so far, Skates has registered approximately 10 members to vote. Seven of those members are either 17 or 18 and registering for the first time. Faith Missionary has more than 700 members.

‘‘One of the major concerns is the older person who has never registered to vote, or relocated and never registered to vote,” Skates said. ‘‘That’s the concern. How do you encourage them to register to vote?”

Skates said she does not know if there is a stigma attached to voting or if older adults feel embarrassed that they are not already registered. However, Skates said she hopes the historical significance of this election — which could potentially mean a minority president in Barack Obama or a female in Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) — would encourage adults 40 and older to vote.

‘‘A lot of people don’t think their vote counts,” Skates said. ‘‘This would be a good time to see your vote in action.”