Activists plan Saturday motorcade along Ruston Way in Tacoma to support voting rights
Tacoma voting rights activists are planning a motorcade along Ruston Way on Saturday as part of a national John Lewis Day of Action.
Tacoma will be one of 100 cities across the United States to participate in the event, which honors the late John Lewis, who was a Georgia congressman and a civil rights icon. He died in July at 80 while battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Starting at 10 a.m., community leaders and activists plan to gather outside of the Union Station, 1717 Pacific Ave. downtown and hear from guest speakers. Around noon, the line of cars — termed a “votercade” — will proceed from Union Station along Ruston Way to Dune Peninsula Park.
The event is being organized by Fuse Washington and Indivisible Tacoma, as well as the A. Philip Randolph Institute.
Organizers are calling on people to support federal initiatives intended to fight voter suppression, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would strengthen government ability to respond to voter discrimination, as well as the For The People Act, which is intended to expand voting rights like vote by mail and same-day voter registration.
