Residents in south St. Pete came together with area civil rights organizations to bolster the number of people taking part in the political process during a critical election.

  • "Souls to Polls" aimed at getting more people registered to vote
  • More than two dozen people came out to speak to candidates, get informed
  • After the seminar, group went to elections office to participate in early voting

"Souls to Polls" is an effort among civil rights organizations to get more people registered and out to the polls during an important election year. St. Petersburg NAACP President Maria Scruggs is heading up this year's effort.

"(We hope) what this will lead to is building a community that holds elected officials accountable," said Scruggs. "We’ve got to just stop putting people in office because 'they’re my mom', 'they’re my friend', 'I love them.'"

More that two dozen people showed up at Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church in south St. Pete to talk with some candidates, hear what the issues are on the ballot and register to vote.

Joseph and Mary Johnson are longtime voters who came to encourage others.

"I wanted to be apart of this today because I see a lot of people in St. Petersburg that are not registered," said Joseph. "Matter of fact, some of them told me there were not registered and were not interested in voting."

After the seminar, the group was taken en masse to the supervisor of elections office downtown to cast their ballots on the last day of early voting.

Scruggs said it was all worth it.

"The focus today is about just trying to build a collaborative and build a groundswell of support for the general election," said Scruggs.