CHICAGO — For Edwin Galletti, voting is not just about a voter’s personal political feelings. It’s very much about contributing to the collective voice of the people, he said at a rally in North Lawndale Tuesday morning.

And, “today, North Lawndale is speaking,” said Galletti, a vice president of UCAN, a social service agency that has served residents on the South and West sides for over 150 years, before leading a march of around 75 people to an early voting location in the 24th Ward.

Nine similar marches, all organized by Communities Partnering 4 Peace — a coalition of gun violence prevention groups — took place on Chicago’s South, West and North sides on Tuesday, the day after early voting began in the city’s wards.

Dozens proceeded about a mile from the North Lawndale Employment Network campus to the voting location at St. Agatha Catholic Parish — waving signs informing passing cars about what was happening and chatting with neighbors hanging out on their front steps — to showcase the possible connection between gun violence and voter turnout.

The marchers believe that increasing civic participation — and specifically, bolstering registration for and turnout in the Nov. 5 general election — is an effective means of reducing neighborhood gun violence.

“We’re not asking anyone to vote any way. We’re asking people to vote. Whatever your preference is, that’s your personal business,” said Francisco Perez, 64, an associate vice president at UCAN. “But we want you to make your voice be heard.”

Napoleon English, a supervisor at Lawndale Christian Legal Center, said there is a potential connection between community safety and getting residents interested in politics and excited about expressing their voices through voting.

“If you can get them to train their minds on something different, then you can definitely control some of this violence — at least contain it,” said English, 57.

According to data from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, in the 2020 general election only five wards had a lower registered voter turnout than the 24th Ward, which contains most of the North Lawndale community area and parts of other community areas. As of Oct. 19, only four community areas have had more homicides this year than the North Lawndale community area.

Tatiana Woods, a 23-year-old who lives near where the march took place, said she attended the event to represent “SheRo,” a UCAN program for North Lawndale women who “are involved in or at the highest risk of violence.”

But Woods wasn’t sure if her voting would make the community safer in a tangible way.

“I don’t really know if my vote has an effect on that, but I know it’s important to go vote because if you don’t vote, it just doesn’t seem right,” Woods said.

While Latrice Smith, an outreach worker at the violence prevention organization Chicago CRED, remained skeptical that increasing voter turnout could reduce gun violence, she said she attended the march and rally to support the work of all those present.

“I’m here today to support my community, and hoping that we all can make a difference in the community,” said Smith, 35.

State Sen. Lakesia Collins, a Chicago Democrat who spoke during the rally, said she was encouraging her 18-year-old son to vote. Collins said she was making sure that her 16-year-old and 11-year-old would be informed voters when they became old enough.

“I don’t blame my people for not going to vote. They lost hope,” Collins said. “But we’re going to restore that hope because … we have a lot at stake.”

Galletti, who oversees UCAN’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Services program, asked rally attendees to get motivated to vote by remembering that voting was once inaccessible for many.

“By participating in elections, you play an active role in shaping the future of our community and country,” said Galletti, 45.

Perez, who works in the same program as Galletti, said thinking one’s vote doesn’t count is “nonsense.”

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