Saturday Night Live, Oct. 31, 2020
A group of American voters (Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd, Ego Nwodim, Punkie Johnson) face a challenging road to the election polls.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
[This is a reprint of a 2020 pancocojams post that remains in this blog. The same additional material has been added to both the 2020 post and this October 2026 post.
This 2026 includes a comment that I wrote and published in that 2020's post's discussion thread. This is the only comment that is in that discussion thread as of the publishing date for this 2026 pancocojams post.
Visitor comments are welcome for both of these posts.]
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This pancocojams post showcases the Oct. 31, 2020 Saturday Night Live (SNL) television skit "Strollin".
This post also includes the lyrics to the song that was sung in that skit, background for that Saturday Night Live skit as well as selected comment from that YouTube video's discussion thread.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and political purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those associated with this Saturday Night Live skit. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. Also, thanks to all those who are active in voter outreach projects.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE [written October 24, 2026]
(Additions and corrections are welcome.)
This is one of several pancocojams posts about Black American people being transported in groups to one voting (polling) place or Black people marching in a group to one voting (polling) place in order to vote in a state or national election. Referents for these "voting in groups" efforts include the names "Souls to the polls" and "Stroll to the polls".
It's important to note that "Soul to the polls", "Stroll to the polls", and similarly named efforts have only been held and can only be held for early, in person voting in a state of the United States in which a person who is already registered to vote in that state or is registering to vote at that time in that state and then votes at that time can vote at any polling place within that state.
In contrast, the criteria and process for election day voting in those states is different from the way that early voting has occurred and currently occurs in those states. One crucial differences is that during election day voting a registered voter can only vote at a specific polling place.
North Carolina's early voting process that allows for people to vote at any polling site means that an eligible person who is transported in that group or who marched as a group to that polling site can vote at that polling site.
In contrast, Pennsylvania (where I live) has no traditional early in person voting process. Therefore, no mass voting effort such as Souls to the polls" or "Strolls to the polls" could work there.
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So many pancocojams "Souls to the polls" and "Stroll to the polls" posts focus on North Carolina because because there are so many YouTube videos of these voting efforts in that state. This large number of videos is tied to the fact that these efforts (particularly what has been referred to as "Stroll to the polls") have been led by and have involved people and organizations (particularly historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities) that are associated with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
North Carolina has the second largest number of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States.*
*from AI Overview- "North Carolina has 10 accredited (and 11 to 12 total historical) historically Black colleges and universities.
[...]
Alabama has the highest number of HBCUs in the country with 14 recognized institutions.
[...]
Also, North Carolina frequently leads the nation in total undergraduate Black student enrollment across its institutions.**
[...]
(Note: North Carolina A&T State University is recognized as the largest HBCU by total enrollment in the United States)."
**I presume that the word "institutions" in this quote means educational institutions that are HBCUs and non-HBCUs.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SNL ''STROLLIN'' SKIT
The Oct. 31, 2020 Saturday Night Live television skit "Strolling" focuses on two middle age African American women and two middle age Black men standing outside who decide to "stroll" down to a voting place and vote early (before the official voting day.) The group does a strut/stroll like dance while they sing about how they are trying to find a place to vote.
According to a number of commenters in the discussion thread for the YouTube video of that Saturday Night Live skit, the song that is sung by the group of Black people in that skit is based on The Whispers' 1987 R&B song "Keep On Lovin' Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6aRvVTSC0I&ab_channel=UnidiscMusic.
That Saturday Night Live skit reflects the voter suppression actions taken in some Texas cities and in some other American cities. Those voter suppression actions include closing many voting polls in communities where People of Color live, moving polling places in majority Black neighborhoods to distant locations, and having so few polling places in certain communities that people are forced to stand in line for hours in order to vote early or to vote on election day.
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WHY THE WORD "STROLLIN" IS USED IN THIS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE TELEVISION SKIT
The title and some of the content for Saturday Night Live's "Strollin" skit has its source in the historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities' voting efforts directed toward Black Americans. Those Black Greek letter organizations (bglos) have named those voting efforts "Stroll to the polls". That name in part is a play on the name "Souls To The Polls" , a voter recruitment and support effort that has been led for decades by Black churches. The name "Stroll to the polls" is also a nod to and a play on the bglo meaning of word "stroll".
The word "stroll" in American English means "to walk leisurely". The word "stroll" is also the name of a 1958 R&B dance. In addition to those meanings, for members of historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities "strollin'" is a competitive or non-competitive performance activity that is done instead of "steppin" at shows, parties, and other historically Black Greek letter events. "Strolls" are either performed by members of the same historically Black Greek letter organization or by members of various (usually) historically Black Greek letter organizations in the case of some "unity strolls". The performers form a vertical line and move in a circular, follow the leader manner to the accompaniment of one of a select group of Hip Hop/R&B records. While strolling, the members perform movements that are distinctive to their organization, including "throwing" their organization's hand sign.
Because of that history and current culture, it's not surprising that a number of historically Black Greek letter organizations have named their voter outreach efforts "Stroll to the Polls" instead of using other names for those efforts such as "walk the vote" or "souls to the polls".
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWilCKWiH2A&ab_channel=11Alive for an Oct. 19, 2020 YouTube video entitled "Atlanta 'Stroll to the Polls' video, images go viral". The summary of that video that was published by 11Alive reads "Members of the four historically Black sororities came together for the project that grabbed the attention of celebrities and social media."
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.. has held "Stroll to the Polls" voter outreach campaigns for eight years and that history may have contributed to the impetus for Saturday Night Live's Oct. 31, 2020 "Strollin" skit was the Atlanta Stroll to the Polls" video and/or other "Stroll to the Polls" videos.
A number of the YouTube videos of "Stroll to the Polls" voter outreach initiatives indicate that those initiatives are led by members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for Vice President, is a member of that sorority.
-snip-
*Some information about Alpha Phi Alpha's "Stroll to the Polls" initiatives is included in the comment section of this post.
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LYRICS TO SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'S SKIT "STROLLIN'"
You know what time it is?
Yeah, get nasty.
Get nasty.
Oh yeah,
Un hun.
Let's do it.
We've been waitin four years
And now it's time
To head down to the polls
and hit that voting line.
Been hopin for so long
for Nov. 3rd
It's time to march on down
and get our voices heard
We're strollin to the polls
to the polls
We're strollin to the polls
Y'all don't have to ask
They need us.
And less
They gonna need the best
Un hun
[White man dressed with as sweater like Mr. Rogers tv. character] - "We're closed."
Okay.
We're gettin __
We can vote here
[White man] -Sorry, This one's also closed.
Okay
Strollin to the polls
So is this where it is?
Strollin to the polls.
Oh, just a little bit further.
All the polls are closed
So we head to the one down south.
[White man] - "Sorry, that poll's closed.
It's a Walmart now.
Okay, damn
Tell us, man, where can we go vote then?
[White man] - "Go way up the road
Right up on Route 110."
That's the highway!
[Group shown walking in between cars driving on the highway.]
We're strollin to the polls
Just a little bit further, y'all.
Strollin to the polls.
Not sure why we didn't drive.
We're strollin to the polls
Why the heck I wore church shoes y'all?
Strolling to the polls.
I regret livin in Texas.
Hey, while we strollin,
Come on, everybody
Introduce yourselves.
Me, I'm crazy legs Jimmy.
Watch my crazy legs.
I'm off and running.
I'm rubberband Ryan.
I'm pitty pat Patricia.
And I'm Michelle.
Just Michelle.
I think we almost there.
So fit to go.
[White man dressed as school crossing guard] - "Sorry everyone. The road is closed."
It's not though.
We're strollin to the polls.
I'm crampin up.
Strollin to the polls.
It's almost five o clock
Let's do double time. [Group moves faster.]
Strollin to the polls
Strolling to the polls
We're here!
Yeah, we finally made it.
[White man with suit on] -"Congratulations, this one is open."
[The group stands in back of a line full of voters. A White man walks passed with wearing camo shirts and pants and holding an automatic weapon. Speaking about that man, one of the women in the group says]
Hold up! Does he work here?
I don't think so. [Group looks at each other with concerned expressions.]
Strollin to the polls.
I don't know.
Strollin to the polls.
This line's so big.
Hey we in line.
[The group realizes that the voting line that they are standing in is really loooooooong.]
Ooh, this line.
[One member of the group asks a White woman standing in front of him in the line.]
Hey, lady. How long have you been here?
[White woman takes her face mask down and replies]
"Three hours."
Damn!
[Voice from the person in charge of the voting place.] - "Next!"
We're strollin
to the- [Group stops singing because the line didn't move far.]
[Voice from the person in charge of the voting place.] - "Next!"
We're stroll- [Group stops singing because the line didn't move far.]
[After some time in the line[
Oh! Finally!
This is where we go in to vote, right?
[White man in suit seated behind a table] - "Yep. You all brought masks. right?"
Damn!
We walked all this way?
[One of the men in the group covers up his mouth with his hand and says]
How bout if I use my hand?
[White man in suit seated behind a table shakes his head no and says] -"Well, that's a hand."
We're strollin to the polls.
[Skit ends.]
-snip-
This is my transcription which differs slightly from the closed caption words on the screen. Additions and corrections are welcome.
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(All of these comments are from Oct. 31, 2020 or Nov. 1, 2020 except for the first two comments from 2021 that I added in 2026.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1. @Greyareas27, 2021
"For anybody who doesn't know, this is a direct reference to Harris County (Houston) TX. -1.4 million voters relegated to ONE drop-in ballot box! Voter suppression personified!"
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2. @tennesseewilliams101, 2021
"For those of you wondering, Harris county is about 20 percent Black, 40 percent Hispanic and 8 percent Asian."
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3. woah11ify
"This is SNL gold"
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4. angelica
"Brilliant. The mask, the message, the choreography, the cast, the song, the styling. Perfection👌🏾🙌🏾👏🏾"
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5. James Ricker
"SNL doing what comedy does best, social commentary"
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6. achilleshoplite
"Christ this was fun at first but then it got depressing real quick"
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Reply
7. Doug Lowe
"Brilliantly conceived and executed. Exactly whats happening in Houston right now. I laughed...then got really angry."
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8. Jerry Booth
"This is terrific, tackling a serious problem without being heavy-handed, and as a bonus, some great music (glad SNL is moving away from the interchangeable rap songs). Also perfect use of Mulaney. The team of Kenan, Chris, Ego and Punkie has so much to offer the show and viewers."
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Reply
9. Language Lab
"Yes. All while ignoring CoVid through the shi--y* modeling of a lack of social distance.
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
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Reply
10. emily Reid
"@Language Lab i think these people know what they are doing. WAY TO DROWN EVERYTHING IN UNNECESSARY NEGATIVITY. No ones looking for a role model at snl. They watch it to laugh. Heard of it."
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11. ZZ-Talk
"Bruh. Gotta laugh to keep from crying."
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12. Tyler Hackner
"I have that song in my head now"
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Reply
13. YouTubeName
"It’s based on this Whispers song:
https://youtu.be/d6aRvVTSC0I "
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Reply
14. Shareatha Coleman
"Ikr, now I want to stroll to the polls 🤣🤣🤣. But, I already voted."
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15. hagar2025
"The US should try how the rest of the world is voting: in and out in 10 minutes. Oh wait... republicans."
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Reply
16. James Ricker
"Republicans are scared of people voting because they don't think their policies are popular"
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Reply
17. dafttool
"It took me only 10 minutes, but I live in a very white, Republican district 🤔 It’s probably a coincidence. 🤪"
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18. kawaiiafangirl
"I lost it when they started strollin' on the highway. Lmao."
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Reply
19. E. Von
"Genius Stuff"
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Reply
20. Al Mack
"I LITERALLY SCREAMED"
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Reply
21. Ken Williams
" "Why didn't we drive"?..I fell out when Just Michelle said that!🤣🤣🤣"
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22. G De Los Muertos
"I love their shuffle walk."
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23.
"This looks like a Black R&B super group of an Isley Brother, one of the twins from The Whispers, and the women from Midnight and Atlantic Starr lmao."
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24. Cinny
"So many of us are experiencing this sh-t* right now, it’s sadly very relatable😅"
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
**
25. itgetter9
"For real, though: MAD GRATITUDE to everyone who has been standing in LONG lines and going through other kinds of ordeals to cast a vote. You're heroes, and I hope that we can get good outcomes to allow us to roll back voter suppression."
-snip-
"Mad gratitude" = a lot of gratitude
26. beresponsibleplease
"This would be funny if it wasn’t true! Please vote !"
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Discussion thread comment from that 2020 post:
Here's an excerpt from an article about the historically Black Greek letter fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc's "Soul to the Polls" voter outreach initiative:
https://thecompass.cnu.edu/event/2815647
"Stroll to the Polls: InVIctus
Date and TimeSaturday, October 20 2018 at 6:00 PM EDT to
Location
Ferguson Concert Call
1 Avenue of the Arts, Newport News, VA
Description
Stroll To The Polls is put on every year by the Upsilon Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. It's a fulfillment of one of our four national programs, A Voteless People Is A Hopeless People. This is our chance to ENGAGE the community and PROMOTE voter awareness and community involvement, because it's up to us to truly make a difference. This years theme is about the poem InVIctus and overall social consciousness. Invictus by Sir William Ernest Henley is a story about perseverance. We aim to project and live by that story with our performance and endeavors leading up to the event. We put our own spin on it, and have your favorite CNU organizations join us in coming up with their very own original stroll routines in order to compete for the most prestigious trophy on campus. STROLL CHAMPION. Strolling, if you don't know, is a form of dance that Greek Organizations in the NPHC showcase at social events. Now you have a chance to watch your favorite clubs, fraternities, and sororities, perform their very own routines."...
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