State-Journal.com - Registration group targets KSU, low-income residents

Photo By State Journal/Kelly MackeyMax Thomas, left, and Neill Fox sit at a table in front of the Democratic Headquarters on St. Clair Street as they register people to vote.

By focusing on students at Kentucky State University and low-income residents, organizer Max Thomas says he's helped more than 1,000 register to vote.

"It's a labor of love," he told The State Journal.

The deadline is Monday and Thomas said he plans to continue canvassing door-to-door this weekend. However, Thomas is quick to share credit for the effort with his wife and 30 volunteers.

Franklin County Clerk Guy Zeigler said Thomas' team has been busy and is likely one of the largest efforts in recent years.

For the last six weeks, Thomas and the other volunteers have been going door-to-door on Holmes Street and Thorn Hill and have set up tables at Pic Pac, Wal-Mart and Save A Lot. They also register voters at high school football games.

Although Thomas supports Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama, the voter registration drive is a non-partisan effort, he said. Thomas said he doesn't ask voters if they are Republican or Democrat and accepts registration cards for either party.

"I have a sincere interest in getting everybody registered to vote " Republicans, Democrats and Independents," he said.

"Being a black African American, the right to vote is engrained in me. Everybody should use that right to vote."

Thompson, 53, is a retired state employee and said his team registered about 500 students at KSU during a weeklong effort on campus.

"The students are really involved this year, and they are wanting to vote," he said. "They just didn't know how to get registered."

Volunteers also registered several hundred low-income residents after targeting areas like Prince Hall and Holmes Street, Thomas said.

"People are really happy to see us," he said.

Many are eager to register because they are enthused about the presidential contest between Obama and Republican candidate John McCain, he said.

Thomas even took his table and forms to a family reunion in Shelbyville in August and registered 30 relatives.

"They were just so happy, they thought it was the best thing," he said.

Zeigler said voter registration has increased in the last few weeks and is on track to be above average.

Absentee voting also started last week and so far 31 have voted on a machine in Zeigler's office, he said. Zeigler has also received 191 absentee requests for paper ballots which is above average and will likely increase, he said.

Because the election is still five weeks away, Zeigler said it's difficult to predict turnout. Local voter turnout for the 2004 presidential election was 73 percent and Zeigler said it will probably be within the same range on Nov. 4.

32.	Posted by yiya0424 October 2, 2008
	Just FYI, I've seen this group all over Frankfort. They were at Western Hills, Franklin County, Frankfort High, just to name a few. The issue is the one sided article that the State Journal put out. It's simple, we have to vote in this election, it is NOT an option. I spoke with the gentleman who was at the table during a FCHS football game. No affiliation was discussed, just the garbage going on in this Nation, that must be controlled by a leader who believes that big buisness leaders should be held accountable for their actions, that every American should be able to afford to live-period... I cannot believe that there is an argument over this article. The most important thing is people are registering to vote and hopefully they will. People wake up, you're arguing about the wrong thing. How about the billions of dollars you'll have to pay back, and I'm almost sure that there is not one person on this blog who can do that all by him or herself. As far as assistance being given to people or welfare if you will. I've been on it when I lost my job and I have a Masters Degree and plenty of experienced and I was blessed and grateful that it was there for my son and myself and I've been registered to vote since I was 18 and I'm 38, a woman, a mother and an American and poor.

30.	Posted by briangeier October 2, 2008
	aye, first off, "these people" (i hope you are referring to low-income folks and not blacks) should not be so stereotyped. you assume they need jobs; if they are "low-income", they have jobs, and pay taxes. secondly, you assume they are on welfare, and insinuate that they are taxing the system. ask yourself this: of every $1 you pay in taxes, how much of that goes to social spending? not just welfare, but ALL social spending? its less than a penny. what percentage goes to bailing out greedy bankers? what percentage goes to contractors in iraq? what percentage goes to subsidies for transport companies? you want to talk about SOCIALISM, lets talk about subsidies for the food you live off of. how much do you think your dinner would cost tonight if not for the federal subsidies to the agriculture and transportation industries??? i'm all for being critical of what our government, but lets be real here, folks. there is always the tendency of those on the second rung to blame those on the first rung for the problems on the ladder. look up, my friends, look UP!