PORTLAND, Maine — A political outreach event was held Wednesday in downtown Portland, where state and national political leaders held an event to rally Black voters in Maine ahead of the presidential election this fall.
Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, and others held the press conference to announce the launch of Black Mainers for Harris-Walz.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data from 2020, Maine has a population of 1.36 million people, but less than 2 percent of those individuals are Black.
Beatty said Black Mainers for Harris-Walz aims to emphasize the importance of making sure Black voters are not only involved and ready to act at the polls but also understand the power of their voices.
"Because in some states, you tie, you flip a coin," she said. "In some states, one vote can flip an election."
Maine has four electoral college votes, but unlike most states that award all electoral votes to the candidate that wins the most votes statewide, electoral college votes in Maine can be split if a candidate wins the popular vote in a congressional district.
Some of those Mainers looking toward November's election attended the Black Mainers for Harris-Walz event, where they expressed how invested they are in the upcoming election.
"This is probably the most consequential election in my life," voter Krystal Williams said.
As the presidential election gets closer, the pressure to secure the Black vote gets more intense.
Beatty said getting Black voters involved in the elections starts with understanding their needs.
"I think it's important for us to come out and reach out and have a dialogue," Beatty said. "What are the needs here for Black Americans? What can we do more to get them engaged so that they really feel the value and the importance of their vote?"
Talbot Ross said regardless of who voters are supporting, this election is one that demands action.
"I would say to any Mainer from any geography, any race and any background, that this election is important for you to do something," Talbot Ross said.
Voters like Judith Casselberry mentioned that Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by gaps in socioeconomic, health, education and public safety systems nationally.
She said when a system is broken, everyone is at risk of falling through the cracks.
"As such a small percentage of the population here, the issues that affect Black people wind up impacting everybody, and oftentimes when there's a gap in services for Black people, eventually it impacts the whole society," Casselberry said.
Casselberry encouraged every Mainer to become invested in the upcoming election.
"I think it's really important for Mainers to understand that our fates are linked, our fates are intimately tied," she said.
Black Mainers for Harris-Walz plans host another gathering Sept. 16.