Actress Woodard urges NAACP to vote

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ As the midterm elections draw near, actress Alfre Woodard has brought a get-out-the-vote message to Louisville.

During a keynote address Saturday at the annual NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, the 57-year-old actress urged the crowd of nearly 300 to tell everyone they know to make their voices heard on Election Day.

While the nonprofit civil rights group does not endorse specific candidates, Woodard endorsed Senate candidate Jack Conway and some other Democrats, and criticized Conway's Republican opponent, Rand Paul.

Woodard has been traveling the country to share her message on the importance of voting.

She reminded the audience that even in recent years, many Americans had been deprived of that right.