The child of Nigerian immigrants, Aghogho Edevbie grew up enjoying a level of democracy that his parents could only dream of.
That appreciation of his rights as a U.S. citizen, especially the right to vote, has infused the work of the longtime Detroit voting rights activist and lawyer, who was earlier this year named Michigan’s deputy secretary of state.
Edevbie, 35, is among the highest-ranking African American men to serve in the secretary of state’s office since Richard Austin, Michigan’s first Black secretary of state, who was in office from 1971 to 1995.
“I hope that people see me and realize that there is a place for everyone in every corner of the government,” said Edevbie.
Nancy Wang, the executive director of Voters Not Politicians, worked with Edevie when he was at All Voting Is Local to launch a website in 2020 showing voters across the state where to find ballot dropboxes in their communities.
“It’s an example of how he invests in tools to help voters in different ways,” said Wang, who called Edevbie “exactly what we need right now.”
Edevbie has dedicated his career to voters and has always focused on how to protect voting rights, said Wang, who sees him as a “natural leader” who gets things done.
“Michigan has passed so many voting-rights advances in the last four years and now we need to implement them and that takes a lot of people working together in the same direction. I think Aghogho as deputy Secretary of State will be a kind of natural leader to fill that role.”
This story was originally published by Votebeat. Read more here: https://michigan.votebeat.org/2023/5/15/23721901/aghogho-edevbie-deputy-secretary-state-voting-rights