Yul Watley headed downtown in a limo full of 12 women. They weren’t going to party. They were going to vote.
Watley, who supported Toni Harp’s successful run for mayor, rented a stretch limo Tuesday to take people to the polls. He picked up the women from Crossroads, Inc., a residential facility in West Hills for people recovering from addiction.
None of the women was registered to vote. Watley drove them to City Hall to take advantage of a new law that lets voters register at the last minute.
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The trip was pretty last-minute, Watley said: The limo pulled up to Orange Street at 7:30 p.m., half an hour before polls closed. Holding a video camera, and wearing a NASCAR racing vest, Watley called out to the women to hustle to City Hall.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” He called out with the urgency and seriousness of a police raid.
The women ran first to 165 Church to register to vote. Then they went to cast ballots at 200 Orange St., according to Watley.
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Harp and Watley.
“They all voted,” he reported Tuesday, as he celebrated at Harp’s victory party.
Awesome coverage - I love the limo. Thank you for helping to promote same day registration.
It's sad that the basic rights we have here are what people in states like North Carolina are trying to take away.