“What’s On Your Ballot?” Workshop

On Saturday, October 26th, CWS Senior Community Organizer, Rodrigue Makelele led “A Guide to Voting in Virginia: What’s On Your Ballot?,” workshop about the voting process and importance of being informed on ballot choices. The workshop wrapped up with a visit to a local Early Voting site, celebrating our collective civic engagement!
 
Rodrigue shared,
 

“The importance of this [workshop] is the fact that we have many people that have become naturalized or citizens of the U.S. and this election being very important for many people that have the right and the opportunity to make a decision about who are going to be our leaders in the future.

So we wanted to make sure that people learn more about who is in the ballot, the process of voting and how they can vote so that their votes count. So that is mainly the idea, but also to show collective power of the immigrant and refugee community when we come together for issues that we care about the most and we try to make a difference.

So that’s why we did come today to literally show our collective power and vote together.”

“I think it’s powerful, inspiring, because a lot of people want to vote. A lot of people that do not have the voice are represented through those that have voice to vote. That’s one. And having people able to cast their ballot and feel comfortable and get that support that sometimes you need with language or information or just knowing what is going on.

It’s really great, it’s powerful, it’s inspiring, but also because many people come from places where they’ve never voted in their lives. So being able to vote for the first time for many people, not only in the U.S., but in their lives, for those that come from refugee background and countries where they fled before they had the right to vote. It’s great and I want to be a part of that.”

“Everybody should go out and vote and make sure that their voice is counted and heard.”

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