Beacon Journal to follow 6 new voters through the presidential campaign

An assassination attempt on a former president of the United States, who earlier this year became a convicted felon . A withdrawal from a reelection bid by the current president. A prospective replacement who, if chosen, would be the first Black woman and first Asian American to clinch the presidential nomination from a major political party.

And it’s only August.

We didn’t know the dramatic twists and turns this presidential race would take when we set out to find first-time voters to follow throughout the campaign season. We only knew we wanted to document the varied perspectives of these pivotal players.

“I think it’s like a movie,” said Olori Manns of Akron in the first story of the “Voter Voices” series the Beacon Journal launched Thursday.

From now through the end of the election, the Beacon Journal will be following six people with Summit County ties as they navigate voting for the first time in a presidential election.

Each of our voters brings a unique experience, background and set of priorities to the table.

But they’re all united by a drive to engage civically and use their vote for a chance to make a difference.

Our first story in the series published online Thursday introduces these voters — four of whom are just old enough to be able to vote, two of whom are immigrants and, in Manns’ case, another who has been eligible for decades.

Along the way, we hope to observe their experiences, how and why their minds change and the true issues driving them to vote — the issues they want to see recognized and addressed by their elected officials.

The series is part of the Beacon Journal’s initiative to cover elections in a different way. We want to dig deeper into issues people care about as well as tell real stories of the people in our community. We hope you’re able to relate to at least one of these voters in some way.

We also want to help demystify the voting process. To that end, we’ve launched a guide with some of the most commonly asked questions about voting. This will be in print Wednesday, or you can read it online now at bit.ly/BJVotingQandA . (Note that the link is case sensitive.)

But the reporting doesn’t end there. We’re inviting anyone with questions about voting — however big or small — to ask them, and we’ll find the answers. Visit the link above to find a short form you can fill out with your questions.

At the helm of this project is a small but mighty group of stellar reporters who bring their own set of unique experiences to the table.

Amanda Garrett, a reporter of more than 20 years, is taking the lead in our pledge to find answers to your questions. She specializes in making complicated stories easier to understand, making her the perfect person to break down the complexities of voting.

On our first-time voter series is Stephanie Warsmith, who has extensive experience covering politics and knows the ins and outs of elections from the local to national level. And Alisson-Toro Lagos, the other reporter on the project, recently celebrated a milestone: Passing her citizenship test. As a new U.S. citizen from Chile, Toro-Lagos will also be a first-time voter herself this year.

And as someone whose first time voting was also documented in the Beacon Journal back when Donald Trump became president, I will now be overseeing this project and am happy to field any questions or suggestions from readers along the way.

Other staff members will join our election coverage in the upcoming weeks, covering key races and issues across the region and creating handy online tools to help you easily compare the candidates.

Ultimately, we hope to make voting a simpler process so everyone can participate. And if you haven’t taken that step yet, we hope this serves as an inspiration.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Beacon Journal to follow 6 new voters through the presidential campaign