Election Reform Organizations in Florida
Election Reform Coalition Pinellas
"We are a non-partisan effort, with a broad spectrum of citizen organizations who have come together to give the local citizens a voice in the election processes and to hold our elected officials accountable."
Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition
The Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition (MDERC) is a non-partisan grass-roots organization dedicated to election reform. Our mission is to protect the rights of every eligible voter to cast a ballot and to have that ballot accurately recorded and counted. We are neither liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. We will not be co-opted by partisan agendas, political strategies or candidate or issue-driven interests. If you do not agree with this, we are not the group for you.
Critical Races to Watch
(D) Democrat (R) Republican
(G) Green (IN) Independent
(L) Libertarian (I) Incumbent
House
| FL9 | Phyllis Busansky (D) | Gus Bilirakis (R) | Andrew Pasayan |
| FL11 | Kathy Castor (D) | Eddie Adams Jr. (R) | James Greenwald (R) |
| FL13 | Christine Jennings (D) | Vernon Buchanan (R) |
| FL22 | Ron Klein (D) | Clay Shaw (R)(I) | Neil Evangelista (L) |
| FL24 | Clint Curtis (D) | Tom Feeney (R)(I) |
Senate
| | Bill Nelson (D)(I) | Katherine Harris (R) | Floyd Frazier (IN) |
| | Brian Moore (IN) | Belinda Noah (IN) | Roy Tanner (IN) |
| | Lawrence Scott | Bernie Senter |
Governor
| | Jim Davis (D) | Charlie Crist (R) | Max Linn |
| | Atlee Yarrow | Omari Musa | Karl Behm (IN) |
| | Richard Dembinsky (IN) | John Smith (IN) | Piotr Blass |
| | | C.C. Reed |
Call to Action!!!!!
Provisional Ballots
Introduced by federal law in 2002 as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the provisional ballot was designed for voters whose registration was in question. Initially proposed by the Congressional Black Caucus, it was to save the rights of those wrongly purged from voter rolls.
HAVA provisional ballot law allows election officials to give provisional ballots to any persons who:
- show up at the polls on Election Day but find that, for whatever reason, their names are not on the voter rolls; or
- have their right to vote challenged by an election official. (Note: In many locations it’s not just election officials, but also partisan observers who challenge voters).
Unlike regular ballots, provisional ballots are not required under HAVA to be counted. Rather, the decision whether or not to count provisional ballots is determined by the 50 individual Secretaries of State. Across the nation, large numbers of provisional ballots have been systematically rejected. During the 2004 election, a total of 3,107,490 voters were moved into provisional ballots. The number of ballots rejected was a stunning 1,090,729.
ACTION: Check with www.CanIVote.org to see if you are registered. They also need to ensure their ID matches the voter registration name exactly. Voters can be challenged over minor things, such as a middle initial on their ID while the voter roll has a full middle name listed. Next, check to be sure your polling place has not moved.
New Voter Identification Laws
Many states have passed laws that require citizens to provide a photo
identification
piece proving that they are indeed citizens. A driver’s license and a birth
certificate
are inadequate because the former doesn’t prove citizenship and the latter
doesn’t
provide a photo. A passport does qualify. As the state supreme courts
review these new
laws, many have already been struck down as unconstitutional because they
are barriers to voting.
ACTION: All citizens should check with their
Secretary of State’s office to find out
what the current requirements are. If a photo ID is required, a protest
should be lodged as to the unconstitutionality of the law.
Join the Transparency Project
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6389
Election News
For a daily update of election news in your state go to
this link and scroll down
(news articles are listed alphabetically by state).
