Lynchburg veterans launch nonpartisan campaign to boost voter turnout

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - The Lynchburg Area Veterans Council is partnering with the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office to launch the “Thank a Veteran... VOTE!” campaign.

It’s a nonpartisan initiative with the goal of increasing voter turnout.

Michael Brady, outreach coordinator for the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council, was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War.

Brady said voting was treated differently when he was growing up.

“Voting was like a holiday,” Brady said.

He said he cast his ballot while serving overseas.

“It’s a statement of freedom that happens to us all,” Brady said. “If we don’t vote, we don’t have that feeling. The feeling right now is, ‘My vote doesn’t count.’”

Brady said not voting has consequences.

“That’s double the power that you didn’t do it,” Brady said. “It goes to the negative. It takes freedom away.”

Trish Jones, Lynchburg’s general registrar, said the idea for the campaign began about a month and a half ago when Brady approached her office to discuss ways to increase voter turnout.

“Hopefully this is going to be a big outreach, but it kind of stemmed from there,” Jones said. “What better way to thank our veterans than to cast your ballot, because they’re the ones that gave us the most fundamental right that we have in this country.”

Brady said voting is the way to honor veterans’ service.

“The only way you can really thank a veteran is to vote to save the freedom and the right to vote that they fought for and died for,” Brady said.