Questlove, Ice Cube and Mary J. Blige are among the stars urging people to get out and vote on Tuesday (June 2) in the presidential primaries taking place in Washington, D.C., New Mexico, Iowa, South Dakota and Montana, as well as rescheduled votes that were initially pushed back due to COVID-19 in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
“When I said, ‘Hold Your Vote Hostage’ I simple meant get something for it before you promise it to anyone. I DO VOTE and you should too,” wrote Ice Cube on Instagram.
The Roots’ Questlove asked Instagram followers to pardon his breaking the music industry’s Black Out Tuesday effort in order to remind people to vote.
“I don’t even have to remind you to stay safe on all levels (it’s gonna be tricky for me for a lot of the chaos in philly is occurring right in front of where I vote) not to mention people we are STILL in a pandemic with a virus that did NOT go away,” he wrote. “We still have to practice social distancing. They want YOU to be discouraged in this process today. Today is NOT the day to be ‘meh this ain’t November so’ — please take time to visit the platforms of the candidates running for o Congress/House (if you haven’t already) make sound, informed decisions. Go out there (be safe) and vote.”
Voting is taking place at a perilous time in the nation’s history. President Donald Trump threatened in a speech on June 1 to send military forces into cities experiencing unrest in the wake of the police-related killing of unarmed black man George Floyd. Meanwhile, Americans are still facing fears of contracting coronavirus while voting in person, and the president has made repeated calls to curtail voting by mail by falsely claiming it could lead to widespread voting fraud. In addition, a number of cities are under strict curfews due to the protests that have turned into unrest.
Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden could clinch the delegates he needs for the nomination on Tuesday, while Trump has already secured the number needed for the Republican nomination.
Check out the get out the vote messages below.