Strengthening Democracy in Florida

by Meredith Jones

Several Democrats gave part of their Memorial Day weekend to work towards strengthening democracy in Florida.

We met at the Indian River County Annex on 43rd Avenue for a brief training and distribution of canvassing packets. Then we were off! Knocking on doors in Vero Beach, talking about how Florida is one of three states that has a lifetime ban on voting after someone has been convicted of a felony. It was a scorcher of a day, but sunscreen, sunglasses, water bottles, plus some nifty new t-shirts helped us power through a couple of hours in the heat.

The local residents we spoke to were generally very receptive. They didn’t need convincing to know that giving people a second chance to participate in civic and political life is the right thing to do. When a person has paid their debt to society they should be reintegrated back into that society.

When people weren’t home, we left a card with information on getting involved with the Indian River Democrats.

Were you not able to help collect signatures this Sunday? Don’t worry, we will have another opportunity soon.

In the meantime, you can print out petitions for yourself, and talk to your family and friends. Why wait until a group is coming to your neighborhood? Do a mini canvass of your own – take petitions to your neighbors and ask them to sign. Then you can go ahead and send the completed forms to the address on the petition. It’s simple! You don’t have to wait for an organized event to do your part.

Here’s the link to download the petition

We need over 700,000 signed petitions to get this initiative on the ballot in November 2018. To do that, we are going to need each and every person to do their part, not only to sign the petition NOW, but to get out in November 2018 and vote YES.