|
By Donna Waller
We are on the home stretch. Our general election forum at the Graham Center is over. The Vote411.org site has been updated. The last day to register to vote has passed. Early voting begins Oct. 19. Nov. 3 is coming fast. Now, it’s all about turnout.
Alachua County's turnout in the primary election was an embarrassing 27%. We have to work hard to make sure it's better this time. The League has lots of materials reminding people to vote and explaining to potential voters how to educate themselves on issues and candidates. The next time you see us tabling at an event, take a handful and help us distribute them. Take them to businesses you frequent and churches you attend. Post them on community bulletin boards and in your dentists’ offices and nail salons. Put the idea of voting in places it seldom appears.
If you contact Alison Keel, the chair of Voter Services, we can provide materials and get them to you. It is crunch time for candidates. If you are a supporter, it's crunch time for you, too. Running for public office is difficult. Give all you can of your time and money in these last weeks. Yes, put out those yard signs. It means everything.
Educate yourself on the ballot proposals. This year, the state legislature has proposed three amendments to the state constitution. The League of Women Voters of Florida opposes all three. They concern fiscal matters which should be handled by the legislature and not embedded in the state constitution. Amendment 3 is particularly dreadful and pits our personal interest (seemingly) against the common good. If it passes, it will undermine home rule and the autonomy of local government. In Alachua County, all the smaller municipalities, with the possible exception of Newberry and Alachua, will instantly go bankrupt, as will most of our surrounding counties.
Amendment 1 would mean less state money to help provide services by requiring a higher percentage of the budget go into the state’s already flush rainy day fund, and Amendment 2 would further reduce financing for rural counties. The League is not opposed to tax relief, but embedding these ill-considered and extreme amendments in the state constitution is not the way to provide it.
Learn about the judges. Vote411 and Ballotpedia provide good information. So does the Florida Bar Association. If you live in the city of Gainesville, you will be asked to vote on a change to the city charter. This proposal changes the way in which a replacement is chosen if there is a sudden vacancy on the city commission. If it passes, vacancies will no longer be filled by a special election, but by commission appointment until the next regular election. The pro is that special elections are costly. The con is that the appointment method is less democratic.The LWV has not taken a position on this. Our local chapter did not study it. You haven’t heard about it because the legislature has made it illegal for governmental entities to advocate for or against referenda or spend money to educate the citizens on ballot propositions.
Our Speakers Bureau has an excellent program on the ballot propositions. They have been everywhere speaking about the amendments. There’s still time to invite them to speak to another organization or to a group of your neighbors. The contact is Candy Birch. We must talk about these issues everywhere.
As my column last month noted, these are unusual and perilous times in our democratic republic. Wrap yourself in the Constitution and devote these last couple of weeks to saving it. We really can do it. We must.
| 
