PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia nonprofit Thursday released the results of a poll of Pennsylvania’s Black voters. The group hopes to use the data to better engage this voting segment.
The poll sampled 540 Black voters in Pennsylvania over the course of 11 days this month and found that more Black Pennsylvanians are satisfied with the direction of the state than are satisfied with the direction of the country.
In fact, 90% of Black Pennsylvania voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country under President Donald Trump.
“This speaks to the higher level of participation we are seeing from Black voters in early voting, voting by mail and their willingness to wait in line for hours,” explained Terrance Woodbury, who works for HIIT Strategies.
The company was hired by POWER, an interfaith advocacy organization that has rolled out an extensive get-out-the-vote effort in the Greater Philadelphia area.
While 94% of Black voters in Pennsylvania said they are extremely likely to vote, the poll showed that the group is not a monolith. Black Pennsylvania voters care most about the issues of COVID-19, racism and gun violence.
And although 85% of Black Pennsylvania voters are for the Biden-Harris ticket, a deeper look reveals younger and Black male voters may be less predictable — 15% of voters under 24 haven’t decided who they will vote for yet, Woodbury said.
And 28% of Black men under 50 that were polled said they are voting for the president or are undecided.
Many of the young people and men said they did not feel that their vote had any power to change the community.
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Officials from POWER will use the data for their campaign encouraging people to get out and vote. They are also buying ad time to focus on Ballot Questions 1 and 3 in Philadelphia.
“We will focus in on issues that Black voters feel will impact them,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of POWER.
Ballot Question 1 deals with ending stop and frisk, and Ballot Question 3 is about creating a Citizen Police Oversight Commission.
“We may not have the money but we do have the people power,” said Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, co-director of POWER Lead Free. “This is the first step. We plan to hold people accountable.”
POWER has scheduled a number of events to help get out the Black vote, including a Souls to the Polls event on Sunday, where they will provide free rides to satellite offices so voters can cast their ballots early.