As a community college instructor, Kristi Dumas says education is one of the major issues she's thinking about as she heads to the polls for the 2016 general election.
"Education, particularly in West Virginia, tends to be on the chopping block," Dumas, of Beckley, said. "I'm prepared to vote across party lines for whoever is willing to support education."
Dumas was one of about two dozen people to take part in an early voting event hosted by the Our Children, Our Future campaign and the National Pan-Hellenic Council Saturday morning at the Kanawha County Courthouse.
The group gathered on the steps of the courthouse and together walked across Virginia Street to the Kanawha County voter registration office, where early voting began Wednesday. They joined a line of people that had already formed at the office.
Dumas, a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, plans to vote in her home county on Election Day, but came out to the event to show her support. She's encouraging her students to vote by offering them extra credit if they do so.
"They really need to understand how much this election affects them," she said.
Saturday's "Stroll to the Poll" was organized by Karen Williams, who serves on the steering committee for Our Children, Our Future and is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Williams said she wants to get people, particularly minorities, out to vote.
"This is an important election, but it's not only the national election that we're concerned with," Williams said. "Our local candidates, we need to get informed about."
Williams said the state's economy is one of the things she will think about when she votes.
"I know the state right now has a crisis, as far as the budget, and we need to get people in with a vision that will come up with ways that will bring industry and jobs to West Virginia," Williams said. "Because all that I hear right now are budget cuts, budget cuts. Our people need jobs. Our people need hope. We want to keep our children here in West Virginia. We need good schools. We need to have quality education, affordable higher education."
And after graduation, students need jobs, she said.
Alexandra Gallo, also a member of the Our Children, Our Future steering committee, said the goal of the event is to increase civic engagement and voter turnout. West Virginia had the lowest voter turnout in the nation during the 2014 election, Gallo said.
"The past 15 months, we've been working to get out the vote and increase civic engagement and involvement," she said. "I think we have a lot of disenfranchised and marginalized communities that need to have their voices heard."
The Our Children, Our Future campaign and the Pan-Hellenic Council will host another Stroll to the Poll event Saturday Nov. 5 at the Kanawha County Courthouse. That event will be followed by a cookout at the Second Avenue Community Center, on Charleston's West Side.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.