Vote Tuesday August 26, and Community Meeting

The run-off election for House District 72 which covers most of the Turley area will be held Tuesday, August 26, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Also on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at O'Brien Park Recreation Center, 61st and North Lewis Ave., is the monthly meeting of the Turley Community Association. Go meet officials, hear reports from county officials, share concerns, and hear updates of community projects.

(Also, Tuesday August 26th is the National Women's Rights Day honoring the amendment to the U.S. constitution affording women the right to vote; the last state to ratify the 19th amendment, Tennessee, certified its vote supporting that amendment on this day back in 1920. Special thank you to all the women of Turley, past, present, future).

Election sites are the Turley Assembly of God at 63rd and Peoria, First Baptist Church of Turley on 71st St. east of Peoria, Gethsamene Baptist on 56th St. west of Peoria, and perhaps at Greeley Elementary near 61st and Cincinnati (I say perhaps because much of the area in that part of Turley falls in another House District where there is no run-off election on Tuesday; that is my area for example; we are just across the street from where House District 72 is; I guess someone has to be a "fringe edge of a district" somewhere, though a little redistricting might be in order).

At A Third Place Center we are non-partisan but are partisan about voting and celebrating democracy itself and have voter registration forms. We also try to get out the accurate information about who is elgible to vote. Many in our area assume that if they, or someone they know or are in their family, has had a felony conviction that it means they can't vote ever again. The law is different. Felons can vote depending on how long their sentence was, and how long it has been since their release. The information is on the voter registration forms which we have at the Center.

As we head into a presidential election year, too, we seek to encourage civil discussion, lively interest in all candidates, and above all else increased voter registration and turnout. Recent statistics about voting in Tulsa County that have documented turnout in areas of North and East and South and West Tulsa show that voting in North Tulsa including Turley area has the lowest percentage of any area. This means for one thing that elected officials and government officials who are not elected but answer to those who are will not have the same incentive to pay attention to residents who do not pay attention to their own area through the basic duty of voting.

As we seek to build community spirit and hope and partnerships, let it begin with citizenship, information, sharing, and participation.