Tom Joyner and his morning show crew will hit the road Friday to boost early voting in six key states where voters can cast ballots at selected locations in advance of the Nov. 2 presidential election.

In Little Rock Ark., Nashville, Tenn, Raleigh, N.C., Las Vegas, Nev., and Orlando, Fla., the morning show crew will broadcast live along with affiliate radio stations airing the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Houston was added to the tour.

Joyner and company have been pushing voter participation this year on the air and online for what is being called one of the closest presidential elections in history.

New York Times/CBS News and Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls this week show the race between John Kerry and George W. Bush is tied. And a poll this week from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies shows that as Kerry holds a majority of support among black voters, Bush doubled his support among blacks from 9 to 18 percent compared to 2000.

“We have to get away from labels like swing states and battleground states. Black people are going to make a difference in this election,” said Neil Foote, communications director for Reach Media, parent company of  BlackAmericaWeb.com  and the Tom Joyner Morning Show. “If we stay at home, we give up our voice.”

See where you can go to join Tom and the Crew at Early Voting Celebrations around the country

A BlackAmericaWeb.com analysis of voting in previous elections shows that while black voters in the six targeted states had voter turnout in the 2000 election the same or better than the national average, still at least 650,000 black voters in those states did not cast ballots.

The concept for the “Celebration Day” is similar to “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day,” which was connected with 200 events nationwide on Sept. 21 that encouraged black people to take charge of their health. Joyner is honorary chairman of that event.

“This time we’re saying take a loved one to the polls to vote,” said Foote. “Take your mom, dad, girlfriend, boyfriend, friend. Take them to the poll.”

Foote said the locations for celebrations are near early voting locations. Sites will be promoted through affiliates that carry the TJMS.

Response to early voting in the cities targeted for the Friday celebration has been varied.  As of Wednesday afternoon, 57,984 people went to the polls in Las Vegas.

Nashville reported 13, 261. Elections officials in Little Rock said as of Tuesday, 6,368 people voted early, and in Orlando, 9,148 people cast their ballots by Wednesday afternoon.

In Raleigh, blacks traditionally have been underrepresented in early voting, said Gayle Hurd, news and public affairs director at WFXC-FM/WFXC-FM. She expects results will be different this year.

“This election has energized people to go to the polls,” said Hurd. “They are concerned about the war in Iraq. They are concerned about the current administration.”

The celebration in Raleigh will be at Hillside High School, which is a site for early voting. “This is a great location,” said Hurd. “You don’t need an excuse to vote early, you just show up and vote. With absentee voting you have to have a reason.” 

The station has teamed up with the A. Philip Randolph Institute and other civil rights organization to sponsor voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

In Las Vegas, KVGS has teamed up with 100 Black Men, The Caucus of African-American Nevadans, and community leaders to encourage early voting, said Tony Rankin, program director.

Stephanie Thompson, marketing and promotions director at WCFB-FM in Orlando, has also formed partnerships leading up to the Celebration Day.

“In addition to the celebration, we will have an all-day event, giving prizes such as vacations and more,” she said. “We are working with the Supervisors of Elections office, local and state leaders to push early voting. We have done work with Rock the Vote campaign, which is a strong force in voter registration.”

Leaders at local stations say they welcome the partnership with the TJMS in this civic effort.

“The TJMS is able to reach some local audiences better than local stations,” said Mark Dylan, program director, KOKY-FM, Little Rock. “We have been encouraging early voting since Monday. We have also been working with area businesses. During the show we will have Sybil’s [Wilkes] favorite breakfast foods, doughnuts and coffee! We will give away tickets to the upcoming Earth, Wind and Fire/Chicago concert and the Tyler Perry play, ‘Why did I get Married?’”  

In Nashville, voters are packing polls early. “We have two flagship causes, health care and voter registration,” said Derrick “DC” Corbett, program director, WQQK-FM/WNPL-FM. “We have been working with the NAACP and we look forward to working with the TJMS to encourage people to get out and vote so their vote can be counted.”
 
“Tom (Joyner) is in a unique position and is taking the lead on getting people registered and also getting them to the polls to vote,” said Foote. “Other radio personalities may push voting on the airways, but no one is doing as he is. “He’s saying, I want my listeners to take charge and vote.”