CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 600 miles and 50 days to put an end to corrupt elections -- that is the mission one man is on, and he made a stop in Charlotte because of the District 9 election fraud investigation.
The organizer Renaldo Pearson is calling his mission #Democracy911.
He said this is an urgent call to fix election fraud, which is important to voters in the Charlotte area and all across the country.
With the help of the nationwide grassroots organization Represent Us, Pearson is walking 600 miles from Atlanta to Washington D.C. to raise awareness and stop the trend of a corrupt political system.
He said the biggest concerns are voter suppression, partisan gerrymandering and shady campaign financing.
Specifically in our area, the issues of absentee ballot tampering uncovered in the District 9 election investigation created even more concern for some voters worried their voices weren't being heard.
"Whenever we have failure of leadership in our government officials, we the people are the last defense and best hope for defending democracy that we deserve," Pearson said.
"It's very personal to many voters in Congressional District 9 and if you want to keep the integrity and objectivity in our election system, we need to demand justice and we need to start that by reforming our political system," Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera said.
Pearson said as part of Democracy 911, he doesn't want his ancestors fight for the right to vote to be in vain, so the time to act is now.
"We've gotta change that song from 'we shall overcome one day' to 'we shall overcome today,'" Pearson said.
Pearson expects to arrive D.C. on September 24, which is National Voter Registration Day.
There, he plans to call for an end to political corruption on Capitol Hill.
[Seven people charged in District 9 ballot fraud investigation face judge]
The state ordered a new District 9 election after Channel 9's investigation into election fraud.
Seven people were arrested in August, accused of picking up absentee ballots during last year's general election.
Dan Bishop won the special primary and will face Democrat Dan McCready.
Voters will decide on September 10 who will represent them.
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