Опасаясь вмешательства в внутренние выборы, демонстранты расовой справедливости работают над тем, чтобы превратить протест в голоса

The tens of hundreds of protesters who took to the National Mall Friday, marking the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, showed the ability of the hobble in opposition to police brutality that has mobilized all over The united states this summer. But the demonstration became tinged by issue that efforts to suppress and intimidate supporters will abate their ability to turn tell now into votes within the tumble.

Many demonstrators acknowledged their concerns launch at the end with President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to sendlegislation enforcement to the polls, elevating accusations of voter intimidation. His administration pursued payment-cutting measures at the postal provider that experts acknowledged can alsounhurried the provision of mail ballots. He’s pursued proceedings in extra than one states over the expansion of vote by mail andfall boxes. He’s argued with out evidence that the election will be stout of favorite fraud. And he’s previouslyrefused to committo accepting the outcomes.

In a single present peep by Democracy Fund UCLA Nationscape Venture,extra than 40% of Americansacknowledged they had doubts regarding the equity of the presidential election.

“If he can catch ample folks to distrust the machine by sowing seeds of doubt within the integrity of this coming election, then folks won’t vote. Members that can contain in any other case voted [and] tried to vote him out will say, ‘Eh there’s no point in even bothering,’” says Abena Gyebi, a finance communications manager from New York City. Gyebi plans to vote in particular person.

Berthilde Dufrene, a nurse at a New York verbalize detention center who attended the march on Friday, says she is enthusiastic her vote can also now not be counted. She has requested a ballotthru the mail and plans to agree with it out at dwelling and elevate it to the ballotfield on election day. “The Trump administration is a tainted administration,” she says. “I mark what they are doing with the Put up Internet web page of job and voter suppression, so I am enthusiastic that they’ll cheat, they’ll preserve, they’ll mislead preserve this man in strength.”

The theme of the march matched those sentiments, with leaders urging the assembled protesters to remain centered on getting out the vote between now and Nov. 3.

“We didn’t come out and stand in this heat because we didn’t contain something to construct,” acknowledged Rev. Al Sharpton, one in every of the leaders of the march. “We came to make it more straightforward to clutch that we are able to come out by these numbers within the warmth and stand within the warmth. That we are able to stand within the polls all day long.” And he admonished the demonstrators to preserve guilty lawmakers who contain now not responded to this summer’s protests by passing police reform measures. “Demonstration with out legislation is now not going to lead to alternate,” Sharpton acknowledged. With police reform bills deadlocked in Congress, Sunless men and females are amongst the voters with one of the critical at stake in this year’s election.

Trump is now not one of the critical handy issue amongst those making an strive for to turn tell into votes. All over the nation, vote casting-catch admission to advocates and election officials contain moreover been sensible regarding the chance that the COVID-19 pandemic, by necessitating unprecedented adjustments to the nation’s patchwork election machine, will extra abate voter turnout within the tumble. More than a few of the primaries held after the surge of COVID-19 cases in Marchwere riddledwith concerns.

The vote casting advocates’ and election experts’ recommendation to voters entails vote casting as rapidly as they know who they make stronger in relate to preserve a ways from a make-up at polling locations on Election Day, and having a device in location for the attain they’ll solid their ballot.

For his or her portion, lots of the protesters seemed to contain vote casting plans and a complete lot of alternative acknowledged they had already begun researching their choices for the attain they’d return their ballot. “What I delight in folks need to construct is in actuality hurry and fall your ballotinto the [drop] field, or hurry and take away it to the election folks your self. I construct now not trust something about this post place of job at this point. Now now not the postal workers, but the those that are to blame,” says April Dyson, a attorney from Washington, DC, at the march. Dyson approved she hadn’t received mail in five days.

In the extinguish, the inducement to vote can also come now not from the exhortations of Sharpton or vote casting advocates, on the different hand, but from the motive that sparked Friday’s march, titled Get Your Knee Off Our Necks, and the completely different organized demonstrations one day of the summer: continuing racial injustice and police brutality in opposition to Sunless Americans. “What we would favor is alternate. And we’re at a degree where we can catch that alternate, but we’ve to stand together. We’ve to vote,” acknowledged Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, one in every of the audio system at the march. Taylor, an unarmed Sunless girl, became shot by police in her Louisville dwelling when they entered it on March 13 this year with a no-knock warrant.

The group erupted into name and response chants:

“Suppose her name.”

“Breonna Taylor.”

Write toLissandra Villa atlissandra.villa@time.com.