Current state of affairs in Tallahassee is not good
An opinion piece in the April 8, 2023 Miami Herald equates the new voter registration cards proposed in SB 7050 as being like a Monopoly card – the former does not assure you the ability to vote with the latter not giving you the ability to buy real products.
Because our state leadership will not take responsibility for the debacle involving the arrest of 20 individuals who thought they were legally allowed to vote since the state could not tell them otherwise, there will now be a disclaimer added to voter registration cards if this bill becomes law. This is a feeble attempt to try to cover up the embarrassment by our state officials after creating an unnecessary election-crimes office that has caused more harm than good, at a cost of over 3 million dollars. How many affordable housing units could have been built with that money?
According to the Miami Herald Editorial Board, “The government told those people with a past felony they could vote. And then the government arrested them for voting. Now lawmakers want to make it even easier to prosecute unsuspecting ineligible voters.”
This change, along with many others, is in Senate Bill 7050, where legislators and the public had less than a day to study the bill before the Tuesday committee vote, causing the committee to run out of time to hear from the public in a proper fashion. Apparently, the bill was rushed through, making for confusion, with even the sponsor Senator Danny Burgess saying some of the sentences needed clarification.
THIS BILL WAS PASSED WITHOUT ALLOWING FOR THE NECESSARY PUBLIC INPUT; WITHOUT THE LEGISLATORS FULLY UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE BILL ENTAILS; AND WITHOUT THE VAGUE LANGUAGE BEING CORRECTED.
The message that came through loud and clear was that the legislators on the committee should trust the people writing the bill to eventually get it right.
Some comments from the sponsor of the bill: have to look into it some more; maybe some of the supervisors present can help, it is something we can look at, clarifying along the way, and intent is good—the mechanics are something we are trying to work through so more to follow. Other disturbing comments were made throughout the lengthy meeting. This bill passed through a committee without anyone on the committee seeming to have a firm grasp on what they were actually voting for, and most did not seem to care.
To view the SB 7050 video for the Ethics & Elections Committee, begin at 22 minutes. The opposition at the end of the meeting was informative but was basically ignored by most of the senators present. In some of the opposition, reference was made to the fact that the onus is on the voter as to whether or not they are eligible to vote – a roll of the dice scenario.
This fiasco sounds like a similar situation that occurred a few years ago when the public was told that we needed to have a bill passed before we could find out what it really says.
The Miami Herald Editorial Board went on to say, “That’s a sign of the times in Tallahassee, where bills are seen as done deals before they are even filed, and members are expected to approve them with little debate.” What our legislators are calling debate is nothing more than an exchange of pleasantries.
This is the legislature that our FAC Legislative Team is encountering in their work/communications.
Opponents of other bills that have nothing to do with our population are running into the same problem: legislators that do not care about ALL citizens of Florida.
So, whether it is arresting people for voter fraud who have been told by the government that they could vote or adding on to the unconstitutional, current, and punitive 52 registry restrictions, Florida is increasingly becoming a state where citizens can only be heard by their legislators through costly lawsuits. Something is really wrong here!
At the present time, our Tallahassee legislative committee meetings are a farce. I would suggest that our legislators be required to: (1) take an American history course to relearn how our founding fathers conducted a legislative session; (2) bring back the art of debate; and (3) refrain from allowing their vote to be bought by their political party.
Very informative! Nice piece!
Link for The Miami Herald editorial board opinion piece:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/vote-florida-elections-bill-leaves-153746728.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMKMgWm50nCJpMLvtVSecSjZFZaaHDXwvri1E–wI21T3_6CvplpmKNkqJ-wfKWC1MGByN5RRN9WZbbRbp0zK7hSsm6Ebr8JmFCPI6ZndXDS2QM0VfiBHcz8tU8fXxOtPdCn54EJ3yWitijMoL95lO4ZnwEbG8tpuYSkskDla2-H
It feels like this is just where we are as a society. People want to be right so much if anyone thinks different they are labeled as evil, bad, racist, etc. Unless younger people learn to debate or to share ideas and be open minded to others views it will only going to get worse. It’s definitely not a world I want to live in.
I was going to send a letter to the editor.
Unfortunately, the only way to comment on a news story is by logging in with a valid Facebook account.
Unfortunately, most of us are denied service by Facebook.
We are disenfranchised in MANY ways!
FAC has sent a Letter to the Editor. Waiting to see if it is published.
[Moderated] Our government refuses to hear the unheard.
The whole voting scandal makes perfect sense and no one taking responsibility for it is exactly how it’s supposed to be ( if your trying to set people up that you have not found a way to violate and make it look like they are just trying to find ways to break the law and there for need the BS registry and more BS rules to be added. Why else would you need voteing task force Just saying
As I have long said, legislatures and the Congress don’t care about constitutionality of laws. They just want the cred that goes with them when they pass so they can be regurgitated during election season en masse. If they are overturned in the end, they still get good press from it for the effort they gave on it.
They don’t care they will spend monies on defending them even if they are indefensible because the staff is already on the job. Elected officials don’t spend time and effort in court defending the laws on the witness stand as they should. If they had any accountability in the process and ramifications if the laws are found to be unconstitutional, then maybe they would think twice about it during consideration in committee and on the floors of the houses.
Maybe even then, there needs to be legal advisor for those who are for/against and who will advise on the constitutionality and legality of each law proposed. Oh wait, that would be logical and make sense to head them off at the pass of stupidity before it goes too far.
I thoroughly enjoyed the part, where the politician kept circumnavigating around the other’s questions, about the whole left lane law proposed. He couldn’t give a definitive reason, other than to avoid passing in the right lane. Eventually the questioner’s, just simply went along, and ignored the reasoning. This is the perfect example of the ignorance, that is plaguing this country. The new law won’t prevent anything, and will only allow law enforcement to impose more traffic fines, because that’s all politicians really care about, is more fines and arrests of citizens. 99% of everything they do, has nothing to do with protecting anything or anyone, besides their own agendas.
Oh, they are PROUD of their ignorance. Smiling, clapping and back-slapping each other while wearing those silly-looking lapel pins. They are the embodiment of cringe. It’s all fake “unity” and stewardship for the cameras.
They’re all benefiting from hate and virtue-signaling going mainstream. Living in Florida is like purgatory with hurricanes.
I’m in Virginia and yes I have finished my probation. I have my rights to vote if I chose to. Guess no new is good news. As far as politicians go seems someone is playing kick the can with those SO people in Florida. It doesn’t make any sense about offenders being deprived of these voting rights. Seems like a sex offender has a lifetime debt of double jeopardy to stigmatize one. How cruel..
Sure if you want to show some respect when respect is due you vote for your candidate, If you don’t vote why gripe about sour grapes. Seems anyone can backslide even government. What bothers me and many on the registry is this lifetime label and the cocky way these that labeling is suppose to protect and serve. Instill evil by government intent on another is very callous.
Seems many governments have blood on their hands when they induce these registry ordeals on another. I will say no more on the matter as Florida is a hard state to understand with their laws.