There have been many articles on DailyKos denouncing the Republican denial of democracy in Florida. The way the GOP has decided to continue Jim Crow practices and deny the right to vote to former felons is truly revolting, and will hopefully be challenged in courts. However, given that the Florida supreme court is now 6-1 hand-picked by the GOP, the chance of overturning this ignominious violation of civil rights are slim, to say the least. This has been very well described by the excellent Stephen Wolf, for example here.
Reading through the message boards under some of these articles, I was struck by the number of comments expressing the desire to do something, or hoping that some rich billionaire would intervene. Although it would be fantastic if a billionaire did step in to save democracy in Florida, we can’t just pray for that. The good news is that there is a non-profit which can help each of us take action and restore voting power, one person at a time.
I have been following (and donating to) an amazing non-profit called Spread the Vote which is led by an inspiring young leader called Kat Calvin.
Her initial goal was to fight back against voter suppression achieved through voter ID laws in multiple Republican controlled states, by helping individuals get their IDs.
The volunteers at Spread the Vote help citizens across Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Louisiana and Indiana fill in the paperwork, obtain their birth certificates, travel to the DMV and generally speaking jump through all the hoops to restore their ID.
I find this mission particularly inspiring because donations to Spread the Vote durably improve the life of individuals who have often been disenfranchised in many ways.
Now, as regards the Florida specific challenge of paying off fines for Florida residents who are yet again disenfranchised by the new law, I recently exchanged with the Spread the Vote CEO on twitter, asking if they could help – and they can!
So please contribute to Spread the Vote!
Click here to help people in Florida pay off their fines and fees, and get an ID – even twenty bucks can make a big difference for that one person!
And if you live in a voter ID state and want to volunteer for this outstanding organization, click here to learn more.
Or follow @KatCalvinLA and @SpreadtheVoteUS on twitter or on FaceBook — they are an organization with a very important mission!
Thanks for your help — every voter counts, and just $20 can help one of our fellow citizens be re-enfranchised.