Historic Vernon A.M.E. serves as Super Tuesday polling place

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GREENWOOD Dist.– Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church will serve as a polling place during Presidential Primary elections on Super Tuesday, March 5, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for residents of Tulsa’s Greenwood District.

While it’s no stranger to hosting town halls and other civic events, the decision marks the first time Vernon A.M.E. has served as a polling place. It’s one of the oldest structures in the community that gave birth to the original Black Wall Street.

Located at 311 North Greenwood Avenue, the church’s basement was the one of the only structures to survive the city-sanctioned 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The historic structure will host voters during Super Tuesday, when voters in over a dozen states will choose their president for the Republican and Democratic nominations.

Historic Vernon A.M.E. is “excited to open its doors and serve the community,” Senior Pastor Keith Mayes Sr. said in a statement.

Famous individuals have played a pivotal role in building and rebuilding Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church since its establishment in 1905. Notable figures include Barney Cleaver, Tulsa’s first Black police officer, and founder of the first Black detective agency in America.

Dr. R.T. Bridgewater, Tulsa’s first Black Physician, and S.M. Jackson, the Great Uncle of the renowned Jackson 5, have also left an indelible mark on this historic institution.

To find your polling place, visit okvoterportal.okelections.us.

Super Tuesday at Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia will all participate in Tuesday’s primary elections.

The U.S. territory American Samoa will also host a Democratic primary, and Iowa Democrats will release the results of their presidential preference caucus, which was held Friday.

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Polls show a tight race

While President Joe Biden and twice-impeached, felony-indicted former President Donald Trump both have primary challengers, they’re widely expected to become their party’s respective nominees.

He also faces widespread disapproval over his handling of the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, especially among young voters and voters of Color, key demographics he will need to win in the general election.

Vice President Kamala Harris called for a six-week-long “immediate ceasefire” on Sunday as Israel Defense Forces have killed over 30,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, amid its war against Hamas.

Polls continue to show voters believe Biden is too old for a second term. A recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College shows 73% of all registered voters think Biden is too old to be effective. That same poll also showed Biden trailing Trump by four percentage points.

Meanwhile, Trump–who faces over 100 state and federal felony charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election–delivered an upbeat speech Monday. The speech came right after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Colorado can’t remove him from the ballot.

“They can go after me as a politician. They can go after me with votes, but they’re not gonna go after me with that kind of a lawsuit that takes somebody out of a race whose leading in this case but even if the person wasn’t leading,” Trump said in a press conference Monday.

The New York Times/Siena College poll and a CBS News poll released Sunday have Biden trailing Trump by four percentage points.

In Oklahoma, the election isn’t expected to be a surprise. All 77 of Oklahoma’s counties voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016.