Music at the Ballot Box: 56 Ohio Polls Host DJs
Nonpartisan group DJs at the Polls places local disc jockeys at voting sites in Columbus and Reynoldsburg on Tuesday.
By Rafael Collins ·
Voters in central Ohio will hear music outside their polling places on Tuesday. The nonpartisan group DJs at the Polls has arranged for local disc jockeys to play at 56 sites in Columbus and Reynoldsburg on Election Day.
Isaac David, a Columbus resident who performs as DJ ISD, said he wants the voting process to feel welcoming. He noted that heavy political advertising often leaves voters feeling intimidated. David plans to play pop music and other upbeat tracks at the Blackburn Community Center in the morning and The King Arts Complex in the afternoon. Both locations are on the Near East Side of Columbus.
"I would love to see people excited, especially coming in just happy to hear music and happy to just be able to exercise their right to vote," David said.
Anton Moore started the initiative in Philadelphia in 2009. Moore said he originally found voting boring and believed music would encourage people to show up. This year, the organization is paying approximately 2,000 DJs to work at 5,000 polling locations across 24 states. Moore said Ohio was selected because of its major contested races. "We try to send our DJs to places where it's big races. And Ohio happened to be one of them," Moore said.
Ohio faces two high-profile contests on Tuesday. The governor's race pits Republican Vivek Ramaswamy against Democrat Dr. Amy Acton. The Cook Political Report rates that race as leaning Democrat. The U.S. Senate race features incumbent Republican Jon Husted and former Democrat Sherrod Brown. That contest remains too close to call.
The group has hired about 270 Ohioans to participate in the effort. Beyond Columbus, DJs will perform in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, and Akron. Moore said he hopes the presence of music will increase voter turnout and help people understand what is at stake.
"One thing I love about DJs is they know how to connect people. They know how create a vibe. If you're feeling down, the DJs can make you get up and lose yourself for about an hour or two," Moore said.
