A group new to Kansas is hoping to pump up the voter turnout in Wyandotte County.
Just as its name suggests, DJs at the Polls has hired local DJs to spin tunes outside more than a dozen polling stations Tuesday.
“I just want people to be excited to vote. That’s the pure goal,” said Dawna Evers, who’ll be playing music at the Savior Pastoral Center polling location near 126th Street and Parallel Parkway. “Why shouldn't voting be fun? Why shouldn't voting be celebrated and enjoyed?”
The idea is pretty straightforward: revving up democracy with dance beats, and making waking in line to vote more enjoyable.
“Concept is, you know, attracting people of color,” said DJs at the Polls founder Anton Moore. “A lot of times, when you look at the voting bloc and the voter base and the voter turnout, it seems to be very low in certain neighborhoods. And one of the things we want to do, you look at what brings people together: music.”
Moore started spinning for voters 17 years ago, at a polling place in Philadelphia. This year, DJs at the Polls is paying some 2,000 DJs to liven up nearly 5,000 polling locations in 24 states.
The marquee race between Roger Marshall and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, where voters may send a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1932, brought the group out to Wyandotte County.
“Kansas was once a write-off. Hey, you know what's going to happen,” Moore said. “Now you don't know what's going to happen. We need people to come out and voice their opinion through voting.”
Local DJs will entertain people at 18 voting sites in Kansas City, Kansas, on Election Day. DJs at the Polls will pay entertainers $500 per set, and forbids them from playing anything offensive or pushy.
“We have a training that we host to make sure that people follow those guidelines. No profanity. You know, you, we're nonpartisan, so you cannot affiliate yourself with a Democrat, Republican, or independent,” Moore said.
DJs at the Polls will also pop up at 28 locations in the Wichita area.
Moore would not disclose his funders, but said there are dozens. The group’s stated goal isn’t to sway an election any particular way, but to get more people involved.
“Why shouldn't voting be fun? Why shouldn't voting be celebrated and enjoyed?” said Evers, who performs as DJ Dawna. “It's our American right as part of the participating in democracy. So, why not make it better?”
Find your polling place, and look up your sample ballot, at the Kansas Secretary of State’s website. Missouri voters can find their polling place and ballot here.
