MANSFIELD, Ohio — “As a black person, I need big government because I’m so small in the grand scheme of things.”
Deanna West Torrence was one of five panelists present at the “A Call to Action” Community Town Hall Meeting Thursday evening. The meeting was held to discuss issues surrounding voter rights.
Torrence was joined by College Democrats Representative Raven Allen, Richland Source Publisher Jay Allred, College Republicans Representative Mike Carroll and North Central State College President Dr. Dorey Diab. The meeting was moderated by OSU-M Political Science Assistant Professor Rachel Bowen.
Discussions daubed topics like whether or not photo identification should be mandated to vote, how to prevent voter fraud, should prisoners who have served their sentence be allowed to vote, and a question that inspired the above quoted response: should the federal government get involved with ensuring all individuals have equal opportunity to vote?
Torrence’s response, which included references to America’s jaded slave history and recent racial discourse, sparked a subtly tense difference between her and Carroll, the panelists whom represented the two ends of the political spectrum — the left and the right, respectively.
“I agree that we are definitely not a perfect country,” Carroll said in response to Torrence. “We absolutely cannot forget it (the nation’s history between whites and blacks), but how long is going to be long enough?”
Torrence gave a forceful response.
“We still have these same issues. I think we’re a long way … I think we are a long way. I think evidence of the political climate we’re in right now … We have people being attacked for their religion, their ethnicity — even within our political discourse,” she said.
“If we’re looking at the ability to vote … I think that whether you’re a young black man or young white man, woman, latino, Asian, I think you can go back there (to a voter registration table at the back of the meeting hall.), register to vote tonight and on election day you’re going to be able to vote. I think we’re at a point in our society where we can pull back some of that federal involvement,” Carroll said.
“Well as an African American, I respectfully disagree,” Torrence playfully chided, with a laugh following from the audience.
Despite that disagreement, panelists found common ground when it came to their views on the importance of voting. A consensus was reached: get involved with local politics.
Allred cited an editorial published by Richland Source that took an in depth look at local voter turnout.
“Without fail, voters in Richland County turned out the least when the electoral issues that were in front of them were the most local to them,” Allred said.
He continued by highlighting the role the media plays in getting individuals out to the polls. He talked about Richland Source’s mayoral debate, held at the Renaissance Theater in October 2015.
“The idea was to amplify that election so that local voters had a chance to hear those three candidates,” he said. He then gave a plug to Mansfield News Journal’s event on March 3, which will feature debates between county commissioner candidates and sheriff candidates.
“This is an opportunity for everyone in Richland County to get involved with your local politics,” Allred said.
Diab chimed in with a point that jibed with Allred’s but with a different perspective.
“As an immigrant, I think people don’t realize what we have here. We have the best country that ever existed on the face of the earth. For us not to take advantage of the opportunity to make a difference … not that many people enjoy that freedom, not that many people are able to vote,” he said, also stressing the importance of becoming educated on all political issues.
Allen agreed on the importance of getting to the polls to vote but added that many young people choose not to because issues do not seem relevant to them.
“We need you (politicians) to get on social media and stuff like that. We need you to reach out to us … I think if you tap into the millennials and what we’re doing that you’ll get a more positive turnout,” she said.
Nods of approval from both the panel and the audience.
To conclude the evening, Bowen wrapped up the tenor of the discussion with a simple phrase: “Turnout determines elections. We have a low turnout election culture here … so, vote.”
