Rallies, leafleting and door knocking all part of effort to urge voters to cast ballots in Alabama Senate race

BIRMINGHAM — Catrena Carter and her two sons spent Sunday morning driving from church to church in the Birmingham area tucking leaflets in the cars of churchgoers and placing signs at busy intersections urging people to vote.

Carter, a community activist, was on a mission. 

"We really want our people to get out and vote,'' said Carter, who runs a program called Women of Will that helps train women to run for office. "I think a lot of people have lost hope.''

She said it's important to remind people "your one vote matters.'' 

Carter was among the many people who spread out across the state this weekend to knock on doors, visit churches and attend rallies to urge voters to go to the polls Tuesday.

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Carter later attended a get-out-the-vote rally hosted by the Alabama NAACP at the historic Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, the site of civil rights rallies and demonstrations in the 1960s.

In a state with a troubled history of access to the polls for African Americans, the NAACP and other civil rights groups are holding rallies and knocking on doors across the state in a last-ditch effort to urge more blacks and others to vote.

“We’re trying to stir up people to see that they cannot just sit this one out," said Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. “This election is just as important as the presidential election, just as important as midterm elections next year."

The competitive Senate contest pits Democrat Doug Jones against Republican Roy Moore. The special election, which has garnered national attention, is Tuesday.

Simelton said the NAACP, which is nonpartisan, invited Jones and Moore to speak at the rally. Neither of them came.

In addition to the rally in Birmingham, NAACP chapters have hosted GOTV efforts in Huntsville, Mobile and Tuskegee. The group is also using social media, including Twitter, buying ads on Facebook and airing ads on local radio stations.

“We’re trying to work all angles,” said Patricia Mokola, spokeswoman for the Alabama NAACP. “We’re trying to reach not only African Americans, we’re trying to reach millennials as well. They will be instrumental in this election … We’re not telling people who to vote for, but their vote is their power."

NAACP representatives also plan to go to polling sites Tuesday to make sure voters don't run into problems.

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Emily Allergrezza and her father, Jeff, braved the cold Sunday to attend the NAACP rally across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church, where four girls were killed in a church bombing in 1963.

"I think it's real important to be politically involved when there are issues I care about,'' said Allergrezza, a political science major at Mississippi State, adding that she's concerned about healthcare, education and gay rights. "I've been reaching out to everyone I know telling them to go out and vote.''

Both are independent and plan to vote Tuesday.  

“I don’t want Alabama to go backwards,’’ said Jeff Allegrezza. “We have an ability to do the right thing. I know who I’m voting for. I’m not voting for some pedophile I’ll tell you that.’’

Hezekiah Jackson, president of the Metro Birmingham NAACP, helped kick off the GOTV rally. "We're at a crossroad in the city, in the state, in the country,'' he told the crowd.

A few blocks away, Doug Jones, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., kicked off a rally for the Democratic candidate at one of his headquarters.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, a Democrat, left that rally after spending the morning with Jones visiting about five churches.

“For us, it’s not just two names on the ballot…,’’ she said. “What’s on the ballot is women’s rights, human rights, the 1965 Voting Rights…It’s important that people get out and vote.’’

Booker, Sewell and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are also traveling the state urging African Americans to vote. Caucus members, mostly Democrats, are stumping for Jones, but said it’s important for blacks to show up in force at the polls and to get more politically involved.

“I’m here to try to help to get some folks woke," Booker told a crowd Saturday at a rally for Jones at Alabama State University, a historically black college in Montgomery. “Now to get some folk woke you got to let people know that democracy is not a spectator sport. You can’t sit on the sidelines rooting for your team - red or blue. You’ve got to get into the game and understand that democracy is and always has been a full contact participatory endeavor.’’

In Montgomery, a county Jones needs to win big Tuesday to have a chance, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., framed the election as a choice between policies and personalities.

Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, criticized the tax bill pending before Congress as a prelude to cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Richmond also praised Jones for “having a track record of doing what’s right when no one’s looking.”

“The whole world is watching Alabama,” Richmond said. “The question is, what will the history books and what will the world encyclopedias write about where Alabama stood in its toughest decision in a very long time.”

Canvassers were given flyers and signs to take with them on their rounds Sunday. Laurie Dill of Montgomery said “people need health insurance” when asked why she was canvassing.

Terry Robinson of Montgomery said he saw the campaign as historic.

“I think this is an important turning point in the history of Alabama, and I want to make sure it turns in the right direction,” he said.

Simelton said the NAACP has ramped up its outreach focusing more on phone banks with each branch targeting people who don’t regularly vote. A group of volunteers from outside the state is helping make calls.

The NAACP is also working with local groups, including the Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice.

The organization received more than $50,000 in contributions for its GOTV efforts, Simelton said. He said he's also getting calls from groups outside the state asking how they can help.

“People see this election has national importance," Simelton said. “It’s almost more important than a presidential race because there’s more at stake than just a Senate race in Alabama. This has far reaching impact on the future of our country, everything from criminal justice to education to health care … It’s important that everyone get out and cast their vote on the 12th."

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Contributing: Brian Lyman, USA TODAY Network