TALLAHASSEE – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, with its joint And Still I Vote℠ campaign, will hold a series of events this week to inform Florida voters of their options amid a pandemic while urging officials to remove barriers to the ballot.
The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically shifted how Floridians vote. As of Monday, more than 1.5 million vote by mail ballots were returned in Florida, with slightly more than 2.7 million left outstanding for the August 18 primary election. However, some voters are unfamiliar with the vote by mail process, which makes its education that much more significant. And should voters choose to appear in-person, then election officials must guarantee safe options exist. Through this week’s events, Turn Up Tuesday will gather public health experts, election officials, and voting rights advocates to provide crucial information to voters and call on state officials to ensure safe and accessible elections.
This week’s events are part of Turn Up Tuesdays, a weekly, national call to action to ensure that Floridians are informed and activated to vote in August and November. Turn Up Tuesdays is dedicated to ensuring that elections do not encounter the disarray that voters experienced across the country, in states like Wisconsin and Georgia.
Tuesday, August 11
5:30 – 6:00 PM EST
Turn up Tuesday Facebook Live Event – Beginning Tuesday, All Voting is Local Florida, is hosting a Facebook live moderated panel discussion about how to vote in a pandemic safely. This discussion will inform voters how they can ensure their ballot was properly cast, provide voter education, and inform viewers how they can advocate on behalf of themselves and their community.
Speakers:
Brad Ashwell, Florida state director, All Voting is Local
Jazlyn Gallego, Vote Riders
Rhyanne Wagner, Black Voters Matter
Ricardo Negron, Latino Justice
Wednesday, August 12
10:00 AM EST
Press Briefing: Early Voting Locations in Florida – In the 2016 general election, early voting outpaced Election Day and vote by mail as Floridians’ preferred method to cast their ballot. Due to its popularity and the coronavirus pandemic, voting rights advocates have pushed for an expansion of the practice in terms of locations and hours of operation, and also by way of funding through COVID-19 relief.
In this press briefing, All Voting is Local will discuss early voting’s popularity, what the coronavirus means for the prominent voting method, and discuss advocacy efforts that added an early vote site while pointing out existing disparities.
Speakers:
Brad Ashwell, Florida state director, All Voting is Local
Ion Sancho, Former Supervisor of Elections for Leon County
Kirk Bailey, political director, ACLU of Florida
Jonathan Diaz, voting rights counsel, Campaign Legal Center
Safia Malin, outreach director, voting rights, Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
Chad Leonard, Florida state director, Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project
Dial-In Info: 1(877) 615-4337; Passcode: 8071 760#
Thursday, August 13
5:30 – 6:30 PM EST
Voting in a Pandemic Facebook Live Event – All Voting is Local Florida will speak with a distinguished panel of guests about the upcoming elections. Specifically, we’ll discuss how COVID-19 affects the elections, potential problems voters might face, how to prepare for in-person voting, and the need for expanded voting by mail.
Speakers:
Dr. James Wilson, family medicine practitioner at Florida Hospital East
Liza McClenaghan, chair of the Common Cause Florida Governing Board
Dr. Dan Smith, professor, the University of Florida
Gowri Ramachandran, voter protection & election security counsel, Brennan Center for Justice