North Carolina voter engagement takes grassroots effort

PAUL WILLIAMS III | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith University professor Jasmine Corbett-Warren encourages students to learn the connection between politics and their everyday lives in addition to taking an active role as voters and advocates.

This series was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.

Political novices are welcome – and encouraged – in Jasmine Corbett-Warren’s classroom.

Corbett-Warren, a professor of communications, rhetoric and culture at Johnson C. Smith University, engages students who often are unfamiliar with government and its impact on daily life. For many of them, their knowledge is limited to the White House.

“They just think it’s all about the president,” Corbett-Warren said. “I’m like, ‘no, no, no, no.’ It’s judges. It’s the school board. It’s city council. It’s the county commission. If you don’t like the roads in Charlotte and your car is being torn up, then who’s in charge of that? If you don’t like that [the price of] groceries are high, what does it look like in Raleigh? What are they doing in Raleigh that’s helping all of North Carolina?” 

Young adults are historically less likely to vote than older people. According to the Civics Center, less than 30% of 18-year-olds on average since the turn of the 21st century registered to vote in midterms according to census data, and their average registration rate is less than half in presidential cycles. In 2024, only 44% of 18-year-olds were registered compared to roughly 75% of Americans age 45 and older. 

Registered voters between ages 18-24 turn out at higher rates in presidential election cycles, though, at more than 75% since 2004. Much of the disinterest, Corbett-Warren believes, is a combination of unfamiliarity and mis- or disinformation.

“A lot of these kids don’t know, especially in college,” Corbett-Warren said. “A lot of them may migrate to college, so they don’t consider this place to be their home if it’s a midterm election, or they say, ‘oh you know the president doesn’t really matter. Other people are going to choose who that’s going to be.’ I care to get the wrong information [taken] out. I like for them to know what’s true.”

That means encouraging students to participate in nonpartisan voter literacy fairs and complete research on how presidential elections are determined by the electoral college instead of overall vote totals. Another is interviewing their oldest woman relative as well as the youngest girl for their opinions on voting. 

“That’s my favorite assignment,” Corbett-Warren said. “I do women because I spend a lot of time on women’s rights issues and how white and Black women were fighting for the right to vote and what that looked like. “It was very different, and they need to know the difference.”

Corbett-Warren grew up in a family where politics was part of the conversation. She’s carried on the tradition with her son Elijah, 13, in addition to academics. Her goal is to empower people by removing the mystery and intimidation.

“Voting has always been something that was talked about in my household, and I take my son to each election, even when I was pregnant,” Corbett-Warren said. … “He goes with me to every election because I want him to know this is what I do to express my voice in a civic way, how I try to fight for things that matter to me and my family, and even if my candidate doesn’t win, I at least say that I exercised my right. I used my voice.”

Bullet, ballot and citizenship

Daryl Atkinson helps the formerly incarcerated regain full citizenship.

Atkinson is the founder of Second Chance Federation, a Charlotte-based nonprofit law firm and organizing hub involved in civic engagement, leadership development and policy advocacy. Among its services is the restoration of voting rights. There’s no charge to clients, but they’re asked to contribute their time to civic activities like phone banking, neighborhood canvassing and educating other formerly incarcerated people about their voting rights.

“We’ve got over a half a million people in North Carolina who’ve been convicted of a felony,” Atkinson said. “At any given time, roughly 50,000 or so are on some form of felony community supervision. That means there’s a universe of 450,000 potential voters that have a past justice history that we’re trying to reach and organize around second chances for people with records.”
Atkinson personally identifies with his clients. Thirty years ago, he was incarcerated in Alabama on a drug charge and after release rebuilt his life and ultimately earned a law license. It was a difficult road, but proof that restoration is possible.

DARYL ATKINSON

Charlotte attorney Daryl Atkinson is founder of Second Chance Federation, a nonprofit law firm that advocates for the restoration of rights to the formerly incarcerated.

“In 1996, I was convicted of a first-time nonviolent drug crime … drug trafficking,” Atkinson said. “I was loosely connected to post-secondary education at that point in my life, and I could have easily been redirected back on the right path, but I faced a very brutal and rigid sentencing system that didn’t allow any type of probation or discretion for the judge, and I was sentenced to prison – 10 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of 40 months. If you did the 40 months with reasonably good behavior, you would get released, and during this time, this was 1996, two years after passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, which ended all Pell Grant assistance for people inside, so I pretty much languished inside.”

For the formerly incarcerated, returning to civilian life can be challenging. Employment, housing, education and health care are likely higher priorities than voting, but Atkinson insists it’s key to setting policy as well as citizenship. 

“I can identify with and understand their cynicism because government has failed people on many levels, particularly Black and brown folks,” Atkinson said. “They have no reason to believe in a system that has consistently failed them and at the same time, it’s the only dirty game to play.

“Malcolm X said so many years ago it’s either the ballot or the bullet, and we know we don’t want to choose the latter option, because that’s basically self-destruction and suicide. So, we have to play in this electoral system, and you can say I don’t do politics, but politics is doing you every day with regards to everything from your utility rates to what your taxes are spent on, to a litany of other issues that impact your daily life. So we’re trying to educate our folks to be good civic stewards because that right to vote is one piece of currency that they can use to try to create change.”

Turnout from the ground up

Elections are referendums on candidates and causes – specifically those that excite voters to cast ballots. Deep-pocketed political action committees and donors pour billions of dollars into campaigns across the nation, but grassroots efforts play a significant role as well. As national politics have become localized, homegrown activity – “the ground game” in campaign-speak – is stepping in. 

“It’s a hectic time,” said Alanna Joyner, communications director at Progress North Carolina, a nonprofit center for research and data-driven messaging on issues like reproductive autonomy, energy policy and education equity. “We’ve been working and supporting a lot of these local efforts, so there’s a good variety of people who are definitely motivated to get folks informed and educated around voting as there’s been more of a focus on down-ballot races.” 

PROGRESS NORTH CAROLINA

Alanna Joyner is communications director at Raleigh-based Progress North Carolina, a nonprofit center for research and data-driven messaging on issues like reproductive autonomy, energy policy and education equity.

That’s the Charlotte Black Voter Project’s goal. Founder Colette Forest, a longtime organizer and former president of the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg said in-person canvassing and conversation opens the door to involvement.

“We’re having neighbors talk to neighbors,” she said. “Nobody listens like the people that you live with. We’re having neighbors talk to neighbors: ‘Hey, have you been paying attention? Are you registered to vote?’ That’s what we’ve been doing – having neighbors talk to neighbors.” 

Because no two people or issues are alike, voter turnout is as much art as science. For organizations like ProgressNC, it means getting going into communities and engaging people face-to-face on what motivates them to act.

“As we’re doing these events, we’re making sure folks are informed about down-ballot races like the state Supreme Court,” Joyner said of the campaign between incumbent Democrat Anita Earls and Republican challenger Sarah Stevens, a former state representative. “It has gotten a lot more attention this year because of what’s at stake, and of course, one of the seats is up.”

Focus on the present and future

Corbett-Warren believes converting young people into lifelong voters requires more than a sense of civic duty. It also means connectivity to issues that resonate. For college students, access is also part of the process. As North Carolina has eliminated or shifted polling away from campuses, Corbett-Warren works with community partners to organize transportation to Allegra Westbrook Regional Library near JCSU. The goal is to remove a major barrier for people who want to cast a ballot.

“If you’re registered here in Mecklenburg County, we can take you to vote, rain or shine,” she said. “We can take you to go exercise your right. We’ll take you there; we’ll bring you back. It’s not a bad drive, but we even talked about how they moved the site from Beatties Ford Road Library. There was a ‘why’ to that, and they need to know so even in remaining nonpartisan, I do think it’s important.”

Voting rights advocates hope the 2026 election cycle can be a turning point in terms of interest not only in politics but public service. As scandals and perceptions of corruption become the norm in federal government, more people are interested in preserving democracy by voting. Joyner for one, believes it’s sustainable.

“I think so, only because of the way in which we’re seeing a lot of these advocates who are becoming more vocal, who have a personal story,” she said. “They have an experience, and their issue either is being talked about more, and/or they’re just tired and they want to change the system.

“They’re out here, as you’ll definitely see in the next couple weeks. … I think we will see more and more people activated in the coming years, and 2028 is going to be a pretty big year, too. There’s a lot of seats up for grabs, and then of course we do have the presidential [campaign], so I think a lot of folks will definitely carry on.”

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