And the beating up of our election laws continues in the State of Florida:HB 7149 has made it through committee, and goes to the floor of the Florida House tomorrow.
Call today to stop the Voter Suppression bills being rammed through the Florida Legislature.
We are the only ones who can protect our vote and our democracy.
PLEASE CALL YOUR INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR TODAY!
More after the fold. . .
Please call today, tonight, or no later than tomorrow morning because the House is voting on its version tomorrow afternoon (Friday, April 24).
Here are the links to Call a Florida representative and senator:
House list of representatives:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/...
Senate list of senators:
http://www.flsenate.gov/...
You won’t get your legislator directly, but LEAVE A MESSAGE with their aide or on their voice mail.
You can also raise some noise with Gov. Crist, it seems he expressed some reservations with the bill, so let's keep the pressure on:
Governor Crist 850-488-4441 VETO the consolidated ELECTION BILL if it gets to your desk
Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
Here’s the suggested message:
Message for your representative:
"Hi, my name is _________________.
I live in _____________________, Florida.
My phone number is ____________________.
I am a CONSTITUENT of Representative _____________________. Please tell Rep.________________ to OPPOSE House Bill number 7149.
Can you please tell me how the Representative plans to vote? [Wait for answer. Note answer.]
Thank you for your time."
Message for your senator:
Hi, my name is _________________.
I live in _____________________, Florida .
My phone number is_______________________
I am a CONSTITUENT of Senator _____________________. Please ask Senator__________________ to OPPOSE Senate Bill number 956.
Can you please tell me how the Senator plans to vote? [Wait for answer. Note answer.] Thank you for your time."
For your continued reading dis-pleasure concerning this disenfranchising fiasco:
New! Susan Pynchon guest editorial in the Beacon
http://www.beacononlinenews.com/...
New! Must read editorial in the Orlando Sentinel (today):What we think: Assault on voting
http://orlandosentinel.com/...
New! Kindra Muntz guest editorial in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/...
Proposed Florida elections bill inspires furor among activists
By GEORGE BENNETT and MICHAEL C. BENDER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/...
Elections bill stinks, but tactics make it worse
http://www.news-journalonline.com/...
The earlier Editorial this week by the Florida Fair Elections Coalition:
http://www.ffec.org/...
Susan Pynchon from Florida Fair Elections Coalition, again summarizes the impact of these bills:
In brief, the bills would:
• Grant sweeping and unchecked power to the Department of State;
• Force voters with disabilities to continue to vote on error-prone, unauditable touchscreen voting machines until 2016;
• Restrict third-party voter registration efforts;
• Hinder the constitutional right of citizens to petition their government;
• Restrict nonpartisan election-protection programs;
• Reduce transparency in the funding of political advertisements;
• Force more voters to vote by provisional ballot on Election Day;
• Restrict the list of accepted forms of identification for voter registration and identification at the polls;
• Expand the ability of out-of-state lobbyists to influence Florida legislators and legislation;
• Restrict the ability of the governor to extend early voting.
Many thanks to those of you who called earlier in the week, and for calling today and tomorrow! It seems we must be ever vigilant!