Encouraging Voter Turnout for General Elections

IT WAS 63 YEARS AGO WHEN TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS DESCENDED ON THE NATION'S CAPITAL TO FIGHT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS RECENTLY IN REMEMBRANCE OF THAT HISTORIC MARCH. PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE GATHERED IN FORT MYERS AT THE RALLY OF HOPE WTC IS KERRY. BARBARA HAS MORE. >> NEARLY 300 PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE MOUNT OLIVE AM E CHURCH IN FORT MYERS ON SATURDAY. LAWMAKERS, SPIRITUAL LEADERS AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATES FROM AROUND THE STATE APPEARED IN PERSON AND BY VIDEO TO ENCOURAGE SOUTHWEST FLORIDIANS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE CIVICS PROCESS, REGISTER TO VOTE, HELP NEIGHBORS GET TO THE POLLS AND SUPPORT CIVIL RIGHTS AND THEIR COMMUNITY WHERE THEY CAN. THE FORT MYERS COMMUNITY WERE THERE, INCLUDING MADDY, SHOEMAKER, YOUNG, HER MOTHER. VERONICA SHOEMAKER WAS THE FIRST BLACK MEMBER OF THE FORT MYERS CITY COUNCIL. MOUNT OLIVE SITS ON VERONICA SHOEMAKER BOULEVARD. >> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MY MOM WANTED IT. >> THE BOULEVARD TO DO WAS TO BRING US TOGETHER. >> AND HERE IT IS IN REAL LIFE. IT'S UNITING US FROM THE NOR TO THE SOUTH AS WELL AS IT'S BRINGING U.S. EAST AND WEST. WE'RE ALL HERE TOGETHER, UNITED AS ONE. WE'RE READY TO FOCUS ON ENSURING THAT WE GET THE VOTE OUT. AND IT'S NOT SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT OUR FOREFATHERS TIER, BUT NOW IT'S ABOUT WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? >> THE DATE FOR THE EVENT WAS SIGNIFICANT. A DAY AFTER THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1963 MARCH ON WASHINGTON WHICH FOSTERED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT. ORGANIZERS SAY THEY WERE INSPIRED BY HOW ORDINARY CITIZENS CAME TOGETHER ON THAT DAY TO SHAPE THEIR COUNTRY AND THEY HOPE TO DO THE SAME IN 2026, AS THEY SAY, THESE RIGHTS ARE BEING ERODED. REFORM CAN BEGIN WITH CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR OFFICE. ACCORDING TO THE FIRST AND ONLY BLACK LEE COUNTY COMMISSIONER MELVIN MORGAN. AND I JUST FEEL IF YOU GO ON A RUN FOR AN OFFICE, HOW MUCH YOU KNOW WHO IT IS FROM THE PRESIDENT ON DOWN >> TREAT PEOPLE RIGHT WHERE TO GO. IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO END UP TO WORK FOR THE PEOPLE, YOU DON'T NEED TO BE DAD. PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE, MEDIA. >> REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS AND THE LEE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS WERE ON HAND TO HELP PEOPLE REGISTER TO VOTE. RAMAN. TIME IN A FORT MYERS LEFT THE EVENT INSPIRED TO WORK FOR HIS COMMUNITY. >> YES, I WANT TO IT'S SAID TO DISCRIMINATE G 2, ACCORDING TO NEW TO FIGHT IN ARE GOING TO BE MORE DIVERSE AND FORMED THE SITUATION IN WHICH THEY ARE BEING. WE WANT TO RESTORE OUR DEMOCRACY. >> FLORIDIANS FOR DEMOCRACY IS A FINANCIAL SUPPORTER OF WGCU WITH VIDEOGRAPHY BY AMANDA INSCORE WHITTAMORE. I'M CARY BARBOR. >> HERE'S MORE FROM THE ORIGINAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON, D.C., THAT TOOK PLACE ON AUGUST. 28TH 1963, ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, MORE THAN 250,000 PEOPLE ATTENDED THE EVENT AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL. THE MARCH ITSELF IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER KING'S. I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH A YEAR AFTER THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD PASS THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IN 1964. AND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT IN 1965. WE HAVE SOME HISTORY IN THE