This year, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) joined Poder Latinx to celebrate a lot of firsts for some members of Lilburn, Georgia’s Latin American community — taking their first ride in an electric vehicle, casting their first vote in a midterm election, and even voting in their first U.S. election.
On Saturday, October 24, 2026, communities across the country celebrated Vote Early Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday dedicated to helping eligible voters understand their early voting options and make a plan to cast their ballots before Election Day.
In Lilburn, Georgia, Poder Latinx celebrated Vote Early Day with VotaFest, a community celebration bringing together music, art, culture, community resources, and early voting support.
VotaFest created a welcoming space for community members to celebrate their culture while learning more about civic participation and the upcoming election. Participants celebrated with music and traditional Latino folkloric dancing, food and crafts from local Latino vendors, and even a mechanical bull — but there was another kind of ride available that day.
An Electric Ride to the Polls
Poder Latinx’s broader Vote Early Day efforts included free EV rides to early voting locations in participating communities, including Georgia, as a way to help address transportation barriers while introducing voters to clean transportation.
SACE supported transportation for the event by providing free rides to an early voting location in a Hyundai IONIQ 5, giving voters the opportunity to cast their ballots while also experiencing an electric vehicle firsthand.
The rides to the polls served multiple purposes: In addition to practical, free transport to voting locations, the rides also gave participants opportunities to experience the comfort, quiet ride, and technology of an EV, while talking with experts about electric transportation and clean energy in Georgia. The IONIQ 5 itself also offered a connection to Georgia’s growing clean transportation economy.
New Experiences, One Ride at a Time
Each ride and each rider carried their own story. Riders brought different life experiences but shared excitement about participating in the voting process and riding in an EV for the first time.
Bernardino, who moved to the United States 30 years ago, was surprised to learn that the vehicle we were riding in was 100% electric. He was also unaware of previous federal incentives that helped make EVs more affordable. The ride sparked a broader conversation about how decisions made by elected officials can influence clean energy and transportation policies, incentives, and investments. For Bernardino, it was another reminder of why he felt participating in this election was too important to miss.
We also gave a ride to an older couple who were excited to vote together. It was the husband’s first time voting, while his wife had cast her first ballot during the 2024 presidential election. They were thrilled to participate in their first midterm election and were already enthusiastically talking about future elections, including the 2028 presidential race. They were just as excited about their first EV experience and surprised to learn that there are increasingly affordable new and used EV options available. After only about five minutes in the IONIQ 5, the husband excitedly exclaimed, “We need one of these!”
Julian, a young local mechanic originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, took advantage of the EV ride to vote, sharing that without the ride, he might have gotten busy and missed the opportunity. He also expressed interest in becoming an electrician, which sparked a conversation about career opportunities in EV manufacturing, battery production, charging infrastructure, and other clean energy industries that have expanded in recent years, in part due to federal investments in clean energy and domestic manufacturing.
Each rider brought a different background and lived experience, but everyone experienced something new while taking part in the civic process and thinking about the future of their communities.
Clean energy, transportation, household energy costs, infrastructure, and other issues that affect communities are shaped in part by decisions made by elected officials and public agencies. Poder Latinx’s 2026 voter education work similarly connected energy and environmental issues with opportunities for civic participation.
VotaFest demonstrated how clean transportation, culture, community, and civic engagement can come together in one space. By meeting people where they were and offering a hands-on EV experience alongside transportation to the polls, the event created an opportunity for community members to experience electric mobility while exercising their right to vote.
Sometimes a ride can do more than get someone from one place to another. It can introduce a new technology, start a conversation, remove a transportation barrier, and increase participation in shaping a community’s future.
