Florida was once a minor electoral prize. It was part of the bad old segregationist Solid South for many years. Then, following World War II, Florida began to expand. It jumped from 8 electoral votes in 1948 to 10 in the next three elections, to 14 in ‘64 and ‘68, 17 in 72-80, to 21 in ‘84-’88, to 25 in ‘92-2000, to 27 in ‘04-’08. It now sits at 29 electoral votes, tied with New York as the third biggest prize of all. It has become the nation’s premier swing state. Republican presidential nominees tended to do well in Florida, a trend that was broken by Carter in ‘76, Clinton in ‘96, and Obama in both 2008 and 2012. (In my view Al Gore won the state in 2000, but we’ll set that aside for now.)
The number of votes cast by Floridians has expanded enormously as well. In 2000, 5,963,110 votes were cast (officially). Sixteen years later that total had risen to 9,502,747, a 59% increase. Both major parties devote huge resources to the state, understandably. The Republicans, unfortunately, dominate the state government, and this has made things tough for us. (Witness the 2000 controversy.)
In 2016, Florida went narrowly for the Orange Blight. The sad numbers (from Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections):
|
|
Donald J. Trump |
Michael R. Pence |
Republican |
4,617,886 |
48.60% |
29 |
|
|
Hillary Clinton |
Timothy Kaine |
Democratic |
4,504,975 |
47.41% |
0 |
|
|
Gary Johnson |
William F. Weld |
Libertarian FL |
207,043 |
2.18% |
0 |
|
|
Write-ins |
- |
- |
82,762 |
0.87% |
0 |
|
|
Dr. Jill Stein |
Ajamu Baraka |
Green |
64,399 |
0.68% |
0 |
|
|
Other (+) |
- |
- |
25,682 |
0.27% |
The detailed numbers, from Politico, broken down by county, are here.
Well folks, lemme tell ya somethin’:
WE’RE GONNA TURN THOSE NUMBERS AROUND.
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty, as they say.
Counties That Went for Clinton:
Alachua, Broward (with 66.1%), Gadsden, Hillsborough (51.0%), Leon, Miami-Dade (with 63.2%), Orange (with 59.8%), Osceola, and Palm Beach (with 56.2%).
Counties Where Clinton was within striking distance:
Duval (-1.4), Jefferson (-5.0), Pinellas (-1.1), St. Lucie (-2.4), and Seminole (-1.5).
And as usual, Clinton got crushed in the small rural counties.
Florida’s electorate in 2018, broken down by demographic categories (from The South Florida Sun Sentinel):
Florida’s registered voters are 64 percent white, 16 percent Hispanic, and 13 percent black.
The difference between black and Hispanic voters is not as great as it looks on paper, MacManus said. Hispanics have lower turnout and black voters have higher turnout, making them about equal.
People born since 1965 — so-called Generation X, millennials and the youngest group, called Generation X or the Hashtag Generation — represent 52 percent of the state’s voters.
That’s up 2 percentage points from the 2016 election.
In 2016 81% of Florida’s Republicans voted, while only 74% of Florida’s Democrats did. Do you see why I’m a GOTV fanatic? If we had matched the Republicans, Clinton might have taken the state.
Turnout among younger voters (under 30), 56%. Turnout among voters 65 or older, 82%. A prominent expert in Florida politics has said that if younger voters had voted at a higher rate, Clinton would have won.
Demographics of Florida’s Democratic voters:
Democratic registered voters are 48 percent white, 29 percent black and 17 percent Hispanic...
Of registered Democrats, 45 percent are under age 50.
And the party’s registered voters are mostly women — 58 percent female and 40 percent male... Overall, the state’s registered voters are 53 percent female and 45 percent male.
Here are Florida’s voter registration numbers, broken down by party and county.
And special mention must be made of Florida’s Puerto Rican population, which is absolutely CRUCIAL to our chances in Florida. I’ve addressed this issue here: Puerto Rican Voters in Florida Are There for the Democrats, IF WE WORK TO WIN THEM!
Issues Affecting Florida’s Elections
Governor Ron DeSantis is a Trump-worshiping fanatic who will do everything, legal and illegal (imho) to keep the state in Trump’s column. He has utterly mishandled the COVID-19 epidemic and is lying about Florida’s infection numbers. Despicably, he is blaming Hispanic farm workers. He is already trying to game the system. And in November 2018 outgoing Florida governor and total scumbag/thief/criminal Rick Scott placed a REPUBLICAN in charge of voting in Broward County, the most Democratic county in Florida. Scott said he wanted a “team player”. (You can read about it here.) In truth, the Democratic supervisor did make mistakes. But that’s not really why she was replaced.
In November 2018 we suffered bitter defeats in Florida, losing both the Senate race and the governorship by razor-thin margins. And, with no evidence whatsoever, the Republicans claimed fraud. But a shining victory was the referendum on Amendment 4, the restoration of voting rights to ex-felons, a long-overdue measure. The amendment won overwhelmingly. Since then, DeSantis and the crooked Republican state legislature have thrown one roadblock after another in an attempt to weaken or kill it. (You can read about the controversy here. And here’s the ACLU’s take.) The reasons for these attempts should be painfully obvious.
Complicating matters, there is the issue of Russian cyber attacks on Florida’s voting process. You can read articles about it here and here. The Republicans claim no votes were altered. Will it happen again? In my view, almost certainly. Robert Mueller warned us the Russians intend to interfere again. We must assume Florida is one of their prime targets.
Local Groups You Can Work With in Florida
Andrew Gillum’s Forward Florida Action is pushing hard to expand the number of new Democratic voters. Help ‘em out!
Help the Florida Democratic Party.
Florida’s Democrats/progressives organize themselves into caucuses. You can find a comprehensive list of them here.
ActLocal has an AWESOME list of Florida progressive groups. Go check it out!
Indivisible deserves your support!
That oughta keep you out of trouble!
All About Voting in Florida
Register to Vote.
All about voting in Florida.
Florida Election Center from Vote.org.
We can do this! Biden is ahead in Florida right now. The encouraging figures can be found here.
The job of saving America is up to us.
And by god, we’re gonna carry the state where Mar-a-Lago is located—and make that damned orange shitgibbon like it.
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From AWESOME Kossack Vetwife:
registration.elections.myflorida.com/...
What you will find at the site.
Check here for your voter registration and voting status including your polling place, sample ballot and vote-by-mail ballot status.
Please allow 1-2 business days for newly entered voter registration information to appear on this website.
Your name and date of birth must be entered as it appears in your registration record to find your information. (*) Indicates required field.
* Birth Date (MM/DD/YYYY):
This website is intended for use by a registered voter to determine his or her voter registration and voting status. It is unlawful to knowingly alter another person’s voter registration information or to attempt, assist with, or otherwise commit fraud in connection with the right to vote. See §§ 104.011, 104.041, and 104.41, Fla. Stat. For more information, visit our Voter Registration information webpage.
* I understand and agree.
* Please indicate below that you are not a robot
Close your browser when done with your search.
Please email BVRSHelp@dos.myflorida.com for website assistance.
Ron DeSantis, Governor
Laurel M. Lee, Secretary of State
Questions or comments? Contact Us
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
Copyright © 2019 State of Florida, Florida Department of State.
Florida Department of State
R.A. Gray Building
500 South Bronough Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250
Voter Assistance Hotline: 1.866.308.6739
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Eastern Time)
If hearing or speech impaired, please contact the Division using the Florida Relay Service , 1.800.955.8771 (TTY) or
1.800.955.8770 (Voice) or 1-800-955-1339 (ASCII), or
1.877.955.8773 (español a español ).import
IMPORTANT VOTING DAYS IN FLORIDA. Infor regarding dates
iwillvote.com/...Florida
You have to register to vote before Election Day in Florida. You can find the deadline to register to vote in the "Dates and deadlines" section.
To register in Florida, you must:
- be a citizen of the United States of America (a lawful permanent resident, commonly referred to as a "green card holder," does not have the right to register or vote in Florida);
- be a Florida resident;
- be at least 18 years old (you may pre-register to vote if you are 16 years old);
- not be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state without having the right to vote restored;
- not have been convicted of a felony without your voting rights having been restored.
- For more information, see the Florida Department of State's website.
- *find more information on voting rights restoration here
Deadline to Register (Book Closing)
Eligible individuals can register to vote at any time. The deadline to register in order to participate in an upcoming election is 29 days before the election. The registration deadlines for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: February 18*
- Primary Election: July 20
- General Election: October 5
*Due to federal holiday, the deadline moved from Monday, February 17 to Tuesday, February 18.
Vote-by-Mail Ballot 'Send' Deadline
For vote-by-mail ballot requests on record, state law requires that the ballots be sent to voters who already have requests on file during specified timeframes.
For absent stateside and overseas uniformed service member and overseas civilian voters (also known as UOCAVA voters), Supervisors of Elections send the ballots no later than 45 days before an election. The send deadlines for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: February 1
- Primary Election: July 4
- General Election: September 19
For domestic voters, Supervisors of Elections send the ballots during a 7-day window between 40 and 33 days before an election. The send periods for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: February 6 – 13
- Primary Election: July 9 - July 16
- General Election: September 24 – October 1
Vote-by-Mail Ballot Request and Return Deadlines
The deadline to request that a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed is no later than 5:00 p.m. (local time) on the 10th day before the election. The deadlines for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: March 7
- Primary Election: August 8
- General Election: October 24
A vote-by-mail ballot must be returned and received no later than 7:00 p.m. (local time) on election day in order to be counted. The deadlines for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: March 17*
- Primary Election: August 18
- General Election: November 3*
*A 10-day extension exists only for overseas voters for the Presidential Preference Primary and General Election only.
To ensure that ballots are received by the deadline, voters are encouraged to vote and return their voted ballots as soon as received or early enough to account for mail delivery times. The United States Postal Service recommends that domestic nonmilitary voters, mail back their voted ballots at least 1 week before the Election Day deadline to account for any unforeseen events or weather issues. The Federal Voting Assistance Program provides recommended earlier timelines (see timetable at bottom of their webpage) for absent military and overseas voters.
Vote-by-mail ballots may also be returned at secure drop boxes at Supervisor of Elections’ main and branch offices and early voting sites. Please contact the county Supervisor of Elections or visit their website for the location of all vote-by-mail ballot secure drop boxes in your county.
For more information, visit Vote-by-Mail and Military and Overseas Citizens Voting.
Early Voting Period
By law, early voting must be held at least for 8 days. The mandatory early voting periods for 2020 are:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: March 7 – 14
- Primary Election: August 8 – 15
- General Election: October 24 – 31
Each county Supervisor of Elections may offer more days of early voting from one or more of the following days:
- Presidential Preference Primary Election: March 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 15
- Primary Election: August 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 16
- General Election: October 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and November 1
Check with your county Supervisor of Elections for the additional days of early voting that may be offered in your county.
GET THE VOTE OUT EARLY AND THEN TRACK IT !
In Rememberance of the Late John Lewis
From 2012 Presidential Election. We must be his voice. in 2020 to elect Joe Biden and defeat Donald Trump. We must stand in line, or be willing to do what we have to do because this time it is not a dress rehearsal..This time our democracy is on the line. Our Freedoms. Our America.
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Oh, and well, well, well, would ya look at this:
