About 1 in 7 mail-in ballots submitted by college-age voters in Parkland were rejected or failed to arrive in time to be counted, according to an analysis. The findings are adding to questions about the reliability and fairness of the Florida electoral system, including its ballot signature requirement that became a flashpoint in the November recount between
Andrew Gillum is launching a massive voter registration effort aimed at ensuring that President Trump doesn’t win Florida again in 2020 and to give Democrats a decisive edge in a state where elections are often 50-50 splits. The 39-year-old Democrat and former Tallahassee mayor plans to use the list of supporters and volunteers he amassed in
Democrats lining up to challenge President Donald Trump have barely begun to tap fundraisers or woo voters in Florida, leaving money and campaign talent up for grabs in the nation’s largest swing state. Only two — California Sen. Kamala Harris and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — have active finance operations in Florida, and some veteran operatives in the state
TALLAHASSEE — Upholding a judge’s decision that sided with former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and national Democrats, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that a Florida law requiring voters’ signatures on mail-in ballots to match the signatures on file with elections officials imposes “a serious burden on the right to vote.”
Starting January 8, 2019, Floridians who have completed their sentences for previous felony convictions may register to vote (with the exception of those who committed murder and felony sex offenses). David Maer from the State Attorney’s Office and Public Defender Carlos Martinez clarified some of the questions we had regarding the implementation of Amendment
January 8 is a historic day in Florida. Amendment 4, passed by voters in November 2018, restores the right to vote for as many as 1.4 million former felons. Under Florida’s Constitution, it goes into effect on Tuesday, January 8. Before the amendment passed, those who served their time could apply for clemency to a
In Tampa Bay, 67.5 percent of Republicans turned out for the midterm election, beating Democrats by about 6 percentage points, according to data released this week by the Florida Division of Elections. Democrats’ turnout rate in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties was 61.2 percent. Only 43.4 percent of unaffiliated voters cast ballots. (Read more in
Florida Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, a Republican, is slow-walking the implementation of a voter-approved initiative to restore the voting rights of the majority of the state’s felons who have completed their sentences. The initiative, Amendment 4, was approved by 65 percent of Floridians last month and would restore the voting rights of 1.5 million Floridians. (See more
Most everywhere in Florida, it’s not illegal to collect ballots, like it is in North Carolina, where it’s a felony. Rather, it’s only illegal to pay someone to collect ballots in Florida, a loophole that allows campaign volunteers and even candidates themselves to go door to door collecting voters’ ballots. (Read more in TampaBay.com)
Florida officials say thousands of mailed ballots were not counted because they were delivered too late to state election offices. The Department of State late last week informed a federal judge that 6,670 ballots were mailed ahead of the Nov. 6 election but were not counted because they were not received by Election Day. The
On Jan. 8, David Ayala and thousands of former felons will be able to walk into their county elections office and do something they had been banned by law from doing before – register to vote. “This moment is a lifetime moment for me,” said Ayala, husband of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala whose first felony drug
At the end of election day in November, it appeared that Democrat Nicole “Nikki:” Fried had lost to Republican Matt Caldwell for the Florida Cabinet post of agriculture commissioner. But after late vote tallies in Broward and other counties showed she was actually ahead, Fried claimed victory and started working on a transition. (Read more
Not since the Watergate scandal have Democrats run up such a large margin of victory in midterm House races, NBC News data showed. With votes continuing to be tallied more than two weeks after Election Day, Democrats hold a lead over Republicans in the House popular vote by more than 8.6 million votes. (Read more
Over the weekend, the recount in Florida’s Senate race ended. Republican Rick Scott, who’s currently the governor of Florida, beat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by a mere 10,033 votes — a razor-thin margin in an election where more than 8.1 million votes were counted. But if people with felony records could have voted in the state this
A day after conceding Florida’s gubernatorial contest, Democrat Andrew Gillum offered advice to victor Ron DeSantis as he names an administration. “Very quickly,” Gillum said, “bring in a diverse set of people.” (Read more in FloridaPolitics.com)
When Nicole “Nikki” Fried went to sleep on Tuesday, Nov. 6, the candidate for agriculture commissioner was behind her opponent, state Rep. Matt Caldwell by half of 1 percent. She didn’t see the bump in votes she expected from Broward, her home county, and she had a gut feeling that the numbers weren’t right. “For
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson on Sunday conceded the Florida Senate race to Republican Gov. Rick Scott, ending his re-election bid after the completion of a statewide recount. Scott announced the concession in a statement, saying, “I just spoke with Senator Bill Nelson, who graciously conceded, and I thanked him for his years of public service.”
Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum officially conceded on Saturday to Republican Ron DeSantis, two days after a machine recount ended. The machine recount had DeSantis still leading by over 3,000 votes. (Read more in CBSNews.com)
On November 6, 2018 we witnessed true democracy when Floridians voted overwhelmingly that individuals with felony convictions should have their voting rights restored upon completion of their sentence. A 150-year old Jim Crow Era law will end in 2019, a law that disenfranchised more people in the state of Florida than the total population
A president who has acted and spoken with such vulgar disregard for women and minorities will now deal with more women and minority lawmakers than any of his predecessors did. Pew Research Center found that a majority of registered voters (60 percent) said they viewed their vote as either a vote for or against the
As the Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson appears headed to a statewide recount, both candidates are mobilizing teams of lawyers and legal skirmishes are well underway. Thursday dawned with Scott leading Nelson by just more than one-fourth of a percentage point. The candidates for agriculture commissioner are separated by 0.6