‘Bike N Vote’ getting young NOLA voters to the polls for early voting

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— The organization, Young People Vote, is hosting a “Bike N Vote” initiative, which provides free bikes for the community to use during early voting for local elections. The initiative is especially geared toward getting people of color out to the polls to vote.

“Voting is a part of our right as humans and our ancestors fought for years to uphold the integrity and equity of the vote. We must continue those efforts throughout the years,” Morgan Walker, Young People Vote and Bike N Vote Founder said.

The organization, Young People Vote works year-round to create a more accessible, inclusive, and representative democracy for young people of color. Bike N Vote is one of their programs.

“I started to start Bike N Vote to hold my family and friends accountable, being able to vote together. We are creating change through voting and we’re also doing something healthy and biking,” Walker said.

Educating voters about the amendments and candidates is also part of the process.

“We also give information before we ride off. We educate each other and be there for each other in the process,” she said.

The organization Power Coalition for Equity and Justice is helping to provide the bikes for free. The bikes must be returned after the ride. Power Coalition’s mission is to encourage voting especially in young voters and black voters. This year they registered 315 new black voters.

“This is important because primarily people of color are overlooked and underrepresented in the community. We pride ourselves in getting their voices heard and making sure they vote. The more people that believe their voices don’t matter things won’t change, so every vote counts,” Heaven Boudy with Power Coalition said.

“They get to share why I’m out here. Voting why it matters to me that encourages other people, so we are out there just encouraging each other,” Walker said.

On Friday (Oct. 28), a “Bike N Vote” event will be held. The starting location will be Jetlife Headquarters at 1540 Canal Street and the ending location will be New Orleans City Hall at 1300 Perdido Street. The “Bike N Vote” ride starts at 4:30 p.m. Everyone is asked to meet at 4:00 p.m.