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Students March, Vote Early in Fla.

By Vineta Woodum
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Tara-Lynne S. Pixley/The Famuan William Upski Wimsatt, president of New York�s chapter of the League of Pissed Off Voters, gave an animated speech at the rally in front of the Leon County Courthouse.

Hundreds of college students in Tallahassee, Fla., marched to the Leon County Courthouse to vote early in the 2004 presidential election, and 1,569 -- most from the march -- voted, according to elections officials.

Students from Florida A&M University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College participated in the Oct. 27 event.

"This is the second-largest group that we've had since early voting began. The majority of the voters came out with the marches," said Heather Hinst, who serves as absentee ballot coordinator and early-voting coordinator at the supervisor of elections office.

Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor estimated that about 2,500 students participated.

The largest group to vote early did so the previous Sunday. Then, 1,584 people voted when former Vice President Al Gore was in Tallahassee.

"I'm glad to see that so many people came out," said organizer Brandon A. Johnson.

Johnson, a fourth-year history education student from Detroit, and Derrick Wright II, took on the march as a class project for an Introduction to Political Science class.

"This is a dream come true for me," said Wright, a fourth-year marketing student from Detroit.

"We saw different organizations doing voter registration drives, which is good, but it doesn't mean anything if the people don't vote," Johnson said.

Johnson and Wright, both 21, distributed national and local press releases, stormed dorm rooms and apartment buildings, met with different clubs and organizations and passed out about 1,600 fliers.

The Coalition for Active Voter Education at Florida State had originally organized a rally for the same day.

"We found out that FAMU was also doing something on the 27th (of October), we got in touch with Operation Wake Up and decided to do something together," said organizer Gabe Pendas, a senior physics student from Miami.

Florida State students arrived at the courthouse around 1 p.m., chanting and beating buckets and pans. Others joined FAMU students as they marched throughout the Florida State campus and as the group traveled up Macomb Street and College Avenue.

Commuters shouted from their cars and blew their horns in support of the march. Officers from the Tallahassee Police Department served as escorts, halting traffic and controlling the crowd. The Red Cross provided water for the marchers, and others donated bag lunches and pizza.

"I feel like we're making history, people are really getting involved in this election," said Shannon Williams, a senior graphic design student from Tampa.

Vineta Woodum is a student at Florida A&M University who writes for The Famuan. She can be reached at [email protected].

Posted Nov. 1, 2004