The Black mayor of Kansas City, Missouri went to vote on Tuesday in an area where the electorate is overwhelmingly Black but was turned away from the polls – which he said highlights the problems with voting in America.
READ MORE: Black voters expected to deliver Super Tuesday victory for Joe Biden
Quinton Lucas said he was told he “wasn’t in the system” even though he has voted at the same location for more than 10 years and had a utility bill with him to verify his identity. The irony is before Lucas went to vote, he posted a video to Twitter extolling the importance of voting and urging everyone to exercise their right and privilege.
“I made a video this morning about the importance of voting and then got turned away because I wasn’t in the system even though I’ve voted there for 11 years, including for myself four times! Go figure, but that’s okay. We’ll be back later today!” Lucas captioned his tweet, which has been viewed almost 670,000 times.
I made a video this morning about the importance of voting and then got turned away because I wasn’t in the system even though I’ve voted there for 11 years, including for myself four times! Go figure, but that’s okay. We’ll be back later today! #Vote #KCMO pic.twitter.com/3mYNrO6jmC
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) March 10, 2020
When one person responded that it’s “not okay because it’s a real issue,” the mayor said he agreed. “Truth. We will be following up. Most people don’t have my privilege to come back,” he tweeted.
The mayor later said it’s unacceptable and that the problem denotes how tough it is for some people to vote in the United States.
“If the mayor can get turned away, think about everyone else,” Lucas tweeted to his followers. “We gotta do better.”
By the way, me writing “but that’s okay,” was me being Midwestern and passive aggressive. It’s really not okay. Talked to the election director this AM and will be following up further. If the mayor can get turned away, think about everyone else… We gotta do better. https://t.co/0cblbstz5R
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) March 10, 2020
Missouri was one of six states that held a Democratic primary or caucus on Tuesday. The states are important in choosing a candidate to challenge President Donald Trump on the general ballot in November.
After the snafu, Lucas said he was later informed that he was indeed on the voter rolls and a poll worker turned him away by mistake. Lucas said he showed the poll worker his utility bill and went back and forth with the worker until he was outright denied the ability to vote.
“I was probably a bit frustrated,” Lucas told The New York Times. “The other thing that got in my head was it’s a little embarrassing being turned away at the polls.”
An election official reached out to Lucas less than an hour later to inform him that the poll worker had typed in his name wrong, putting his last name first and first name last.
Lucas’ polling spot is inside a Baptist church and is roughly 80 percent African-American, he estimated. After the election official called him, Lucas returned and was able to vote, but pointed out that other voters in his same predicament would most likely not be as lucky.
READ MORE: Stacey Abrams tackles voter suppression in new book due out in June
“I get that mistakes happen,” Lucas told The New York Times, still “we need to make sure we have a system where we don’t have mistakes.”
“It’s clear to me that there is a problem. At a time when we’re trying to get people to have faith in voting, making sure every voter feels valued is vital for us. My experience today made me feel a little less important,” Lucas added.
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