On Midterm Election Day 2018, I worked with the GroundTruth Project to track voting issues in Jacksonville, Florida as part of a project called “GroundTruthing the Midterms.” Nearly 60 other college journalists were in cities across the country were out doing the same thing.
I traveled to five different precincts across the sprawling city of Jacksonville, most of which were located in the poorest neighborhoods in the city. I interviewed voters as the left precincts, asking them about any issues they may have had in voting, the importance of participating in democracy, and whether or not they feel voters’ rights are being respected in Florida, and in places like Georgia and South Dakota, where more pressing voter suppression issues were reported.
I contributed videos and posts to the GroundTruthing the Midterms blog, which was updated throughout Election Day. I wrote the posts, edited the videos and uploaded them from the field.
Here are the three contributions I made throughout the day, which appeared on the blog, and are reproduced here:
IN ONE FLORIDA PRECINCT, VOTING IS NOT ONLY A RIGHT, BUT AN INHERITANCE
November 6, 07:19 p.m.
By Katie Garwood
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — For Kenneth Thomas Sr. the right to vote is a cherished inheritance from his grandmother and then his mother and one that he now passes on to his children.
Thomas, 55, said he had a relatively smooth experience at the polls today, aside from a minor technical difficulty with the ballot reading machine which was quickly resolved.
He said he’s been coming to this precinct at the Westside Church of Christ for the past four elections he’s voted in. The necessity of voting has been instilled in Thomas since the 60s, when he went with his mother and grandmother to the polls. He said he now instills the same values in his daughter and two sons.
GroundTruth student reporter, Katie Garwood is a senior at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida majoring in journalism and media production.
A REGISTERED VOTER IN JACKSONVILLE DISCOVERS HE’S NOT ON THE VOTING ROLL
November 6, 01:42 p.m.
Reporting by Ground Truth student reporter Katie Garwood:
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — In the state’s too-close-to-call election for governor, every single vote will count.
And that’s why Derrick Thomas of Jacksonville is so frustrated with his local polling officials.
Thomas said he arrived at his precinct at Regency Square Public Library in Jacksonville this morning to find he wasn’t on the voting roll. He said he was registered to vote, and never had an issue voting before. He was denied the ability to vote this morning in the midterm election.
“They said you’ll have to wait until next time to vote,” he said.
He said he hadn’t heard of this issue happening to anyone else in the area, but said “I’m sure it’s more than just me.”
“It’s disrespect,” Thomas added.
In speaking to campaign volunteers at a precinct in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville, similar issues to Thomas’ were reported in the primary election in Springfield. He said some voters who came to the precinct didn’t appear on the voting roll.
GroundTruth student reporter, Katie Garwood is a senior at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida majoring in journalism and media production.
“WHAT ELSE IS THAT, IF NOT SUPPRESSING THE VOTE?”
November 6, 12:45 p.m.
“You have native Americans who live on reservations and they have post office boxes, they don’t have physical addresses, but they are required to have a physical address to vote. What else is that if not suppressing the vote,” said Sheila Jackson a voter in Jacksonville Florida who has followed the issue of voter suppression.
Katie Garwood 