SEATTLE — With less than a month left until the presidential election, an unexpected group in western Washington is trying to make sure all eligible voters get a ballot.
Seattle Pride kicked off its month-long voter registration drive on Sunday called "Vote with Pride." The organization partnered with a local radio station, passing out signs and bags and offering voter registration forms in a socially-distanced manner.
Seattle Pride has always invested 5% of its revenue back into the community but added more money this year to help with COVID-19 relief.
It's not quite how you normally think of celebrating "Pride" but with this year's parade and activities forced to go virtual due to the pandemic, officials with the advocacy organization felt they needed to invest their money differently.
"We specifically wanted to reach out to our LGBTQIA+ and Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, because these are communities that are underrepresented who often need the most services, and without voting, we don't get those services in our communities,” said Executive Director Krystal Marx.
Seattle Pride will host the socially distanced voter registration stand every Sunday in October. Organizers said they're planning to expand and host registration events in Burien and Bellevue in the coming days.
Statistics show 21% of eligible LGBTQIA voters are not registered to vote, according to a national Williams Institute and Ipsos/Reuters poll provided by Seattle Pride. Estimates for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color are even higher.
That's why Seattle Pride said it's trying to help those voters see they can make a change.
"Some people just don't understand how the system works," said Board President Alex Ruble.
"A lot of these folks in our communities that aren't registered to vote are also minority communities that face the most hardship, and they don't feel like the system is set up for them to succeed."
Seattle Pride had registration forms in 14 different languages on Sunday to help make voting accessible for several minority communities.
"We've passed out a few registration forms in non-English speaking languages so far which is really great for us," Marx said.
Seattle Pride has also put money into supporting local artists and helping with issues around homelessness and food insecurity.
They hope to be back on the streets with the parade and festivities next year, until then, they'll celebrate by helping people find their voice through their ballot.