On Thursday, October 6th, Axios D.C. reporters Chelsea Cirruzzo and Cuneyt Dil led conversations focused on breaking down barriers and expanding voting access in the District and the nation ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Guests included D.C. City Council member Charles Allen (Ward 6) and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
- Charles Allen on improving civic engagement: “So there’s this concept around civic death and civic life. And when you take neighborhoods, people, and you constantly underinvest in them, you constantly put up barriers, you constantly use laws to harm and do harm against certain types of people in our community, you will start creating civic death. One of the things we did is we expanded voting rights to D.C. residents that are currently incarcerated…instead, we created civic life by saying, ‘Your vote matters. We want you to cast that ballot.’”
- Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton on D.C. statehood: “We are very close to becoming the 51st state. The House has voted twice to make the District the 51st state, in the Senate we’ve had a hearing, we’re going to have another one coming up soon. We are closer than ever to being the state of the District of Columbia.”
In the View from the Top segment, Lyft’s head of federal government relations Danielle Aviles Krueger and National Urban League senior advisor/campaign manager Khalil Thompson emphasized the connection between access to transportation and voter turnout.
- Danielle Aviles Krueger: “In 2016, an estimated 15 million voters didn’t vote because they didn’t have access to reliable transportation. So we feel like we can really help people with this significant transportation barrier…”
Thank you Lyft for sponsoring this event.