Fallon McClure is the Deputy Director for Policy and Advocacy at the ACLU of Georgia
In 2005, when she turned 18, there was no immediate election for Fallon McClure to cast her first ballot. But one day at church, a friend of her father’s walked in with voter registration forms intent on making sure she was registered.
It wasn’t very exciting to register years before she could step into a voting booth to cast her first ballot in 2008, but McClure knew that for her family, voting was non-negotiable.
“Voting was always something I absolutely knew I had to do.”
“My family had this understanding of voting through unions, through my dad’s military service and also in the historical context,” said McClure. “Voting was always something I absolutely knew I had to do.”
McClure, 37, grew up in Powder Springs. Her father was an active-duty Marine. Her mother worked a range of clerical jobs and they both made sure McClure understood how history impacts the present and future by filling her with knowledge of Black history.
Using Voice and Vote as Protest
McClure was surprised in elementary school when she saw her mother stay seated for the Pledge of Allegiance at a PTA meeting, long before former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee.
It was an odd juxtaposition — as a military family they were intensely patriotic, yet her mother engaged in protest that some would deem unpatriotic.
“This is why I do what I do, so that we have these freedoms,” said her dad in support of her mother’s actions. It didn't make sense to McClure then, but later, it would click. “It was this idea of using your voice, and ultimately your vote, as a form of protest,” McClure said.
Helping Others Become Informed Voters
After graduating from law school in 2014, McClure went on to work in the advocacy space and she learned about the ongoing fight to protect voting freedoms. She felt she had to uphold certain voting standards, particularly if she was telling others they needed to vote.
“I always vote early,” McClure said. She also makes sure she knows what is on her individual ballot by looking it up before stepping into the voting booth.
She recognizes the privilege of being well informed comes with working in spaces where people talk about voting all the time and she encourages everyone to dive into the details when it comes to voting.
At one point, when her younger brother questioned whether he should even vote at all, McClure first listened to his reasoning and then shared her process of sifting through a candidate’s policies to understand the impact those policies may have on our lives. She won him over and he later cast his vote.
“Encouraging people to vote is half the battle. But you also want to make sure that they understand the major things on the ballot that could really have an impact,” McClure said.
“Encouraging people to vote is half the battle. But you also want to make sure that they understand the major things on the ballot that could really have an impact.”
All elections are important but the most critical ones — like this 2024 presidential election — are the ones that have the potential to bring major change to the country, she said.
Passing on the Legacy
When her daughter turned 18 in 2020, McClure proudly took her to vote early, an experience that was marked by a global pandemic and a photo of her daughter at the polling place wearing a Georgia State hoodie and a Panthers mask. It was the culmination of many discussions about the changes taking place in the world and the community.
Now McClure is preparing her 13-year-old son for the same moment with the kind of conversations she had with her daughter and the kind of conversations her parents had with her.
Thinking about the world her children will inherit motivates her to keep fighting for greater access to voting, ending voter suppression, and holding elected officials accountable.
This is the legacy of her mother’s silent protest at the PTA meeting.
This is the legacy of her father’s career-long fight for freedom in America through his military service.
From her very first vote to the present, McClure keeps these moments in mind, a reminder that her voice and her vote will always matter.
Photography by Bita Honarvar
