INDIANAPOLIS — "Souls to the Polls" was born out of fear. In light of what the federal government was doing from the top down about mail-in ballots, actually dismantling machines," said Dr. Clyde Posley.
With the election still looming several churches, city-county councilors and the Indianapolis Urban league banded together to create Souls to The Polls, a shuttle service that takes Marion County residents from a church near their home to the City-County Building to vote early and in-person. Dr. Clyde Posley, Senior pastor at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, says the majority of the people they are driving to the polls originally had plans to vote by mail.
"They don't trust the process. The thought that is was ever tampered with at all has sent shockwaves and fear through most of the people that I know who traditionally use mail-in voting," said Dr. Posley.
Souls to The Polls has already taken hundreds of Hoosiers to the polls in the first two-weeks of October. Lakeisha Brown has been driving one of the nine shuttle buses and says passengers are happy with how easy it is to vote.
"The convenience of being picked up right there in their neighborhoods and not having to deal with parking," Brown said.
22-year-old Jakharia Posley has already taken advantage of the free rides. She says not getting her vote counted is not an option this year.
"You can't just sit here and watch everything happen and not feel some type of urge to go vote," said Posley.
With so much on the line, Tracy Boyd says the churches are working overtime to overcome any excuse that would keep any soul from the polls.
"We've eliminated parking, we've eliminated challenges of gas or car trouble. We sanitize the buses before and after each ride. We've provided snacks, there's a bus monitor," Boyd said.
Souls to The Polls is running every Saturday and Sunday with the first buses headed downtown at noon. Starting Saturday, they will also transport to Marion County's five satellite voting locations.
The number to call to catch a ride is 317-821-7539 or 802-951-4157.