AUSTIN, Texas — The national voting rights organization Black Voters Matter stopped in Austin on Wednesday as part of a statewide outreach tour in Texas.
The bus tour across Texas was started to engage with young voters and build voting power ahead of the March 1 primary elections. Black Voters Matter stopped at four campuses, including two Austin Community College locations, the University of Texas at Austin and Huston-Tillotson University.
Dionna La'Fay, the state organizing manager for Black Voters Matter, said their goal is to educate students about the election process.
"We know that if we teach them, they'll be able to share what they're learning with their community so that they can all grow together," La'Fay said.
Students were educated on ballot access, checking their registration status, creating voting plans and leading caravans to polling sites. The group also spoke about its "Take the Field" campaign to encourage student-led activism.
The campaign seeks to inspire, train and engage Black college students in acts of civil disobedience that can lead to change on campus and in the surrounding community.
Kennedy Fears, a student organizer with Texas Rising at Huston-Tillotson University, said a lot of her peers want to participate in elections but they're simply uninformed.
"They don't have the knowledge or they never had anyone there by their side to teach them all this," Fears said.
Friday is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot, and on Wednesday, Texas Secretary of State John Scott shared a video about one of the changes with the new elections law, SB1.
La'Fay said changes like that can make voting more confusing for those who are already hesitant, which is why it's so important to have outreach events like this one.
"When we are able to teach communities of color about how to make a move from making a complaint to making a demand, they feel empowered, and when they feel empowered and see these changes, we won't have to remind them to vote because they'll understand the cycle," La'Fay said.
She added that she hopes Black voters and voters of color continue to show up to the polls just like they did in 2020.
BVM's bus tour started in Houston before coming to Austin and will now travel north to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and into East Texas to hold more events.
The group said it launched the bus tour in response to the new state voting law, Senate Bill 1, that changes voting processes that some say restricts access to the polls.
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