The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy is relaunching its annual “Interfaith Souls to the Polls” initiative to encourage early voting across the state in the final two weekends before the 2025 election.

The events, scheduled for Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, will bring congregations together in multi-vehicle caravans to early voting sites. Highlights will include community programming with refreshments and entertainment as well as remarks from local leaders. 

The initiative aims to reverse a recent 20% decline in early voter participation and follows a longstanding tradition of faith-based “Souls to the Polls” events that promote civic engagement within religious communities. 

The VICPP is providing resources to congregations to help spread the word about early voting. 

“One key purpose of Interfaith Souls to the Polls is to galvanize the faith community into civic engagement,” said the Rev. Dr. LaKeisha Cook, co-executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center. “It’s an opportunity to highlight issues in our community such as child care costs for families. By bringing together congregations to participate in early voting, we can make sure that the leaders we elect will address the issues that matter most to us.” 

The events will also highlight the urgent need for affordable child care. In Virginia, the median annual cost for child care ranges from $14,560 for preschool to $18,759 for infants, requiring families to earn between $208,000 and $267,986 to cover expenses. 

In Richmond, the events will be held Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at City Hall and Nov. 1 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hickory Hill and Laburnum Avenue polling sites. Congregations are encouraged to include messages about voting in their services to remind members of their civic responsibilities.