Turnout among Black voters looked strong on Election Day in several states, according to leaders of a national voting rights coalition who spoke to reporters Tuesday, PBS News reported.
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the group Black Voters Matter, said turnout in some states appeared to rival 2008. That was the year Democrat Barack Obama first ran for president and drew record participation from Black voters. Brown and others on the call said turnout seemed especially high in Michigan and Mississippi.
The remarks came during a media briefing organized by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Brown said her organization had more than 2,000 poll observers spread across several states. She said those observers had not reported any "widescale issues" for voters during the day.
Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the coalition, said the group does not plan to stop watching once the polls close. She said its monitoring will continue through the vote count, the certification of results and even the inauguration of winners. "As those of us who believe that this democracy is for all people, we have to also stand in the gap," Campbell said.
The comments were based on the groups' own observations, not on official turnout figures. Final numbers will not be known until election offices finish counting ballots and release their data, which in some states can take days.
Turnout among key voting groups can shape close races, and both parties spent heavily this year to bring their supporters to the polls. Black voters have long been a core part of the Democratic coalition. Strong participation in a state like Michigan, which has a closely watched Senate race, could matter as results come in.
Raw 100.5 will keep following election results and turnout reports as more data becomes available.
Sources: PBS News, The Associated Press