• Platform

The Democratic Party was founded on the promise of an expanded democracy. The right to vote is at the heart of our national vision. It is a core principle of the Democratic Party to maximize voter participation for all American. ... We must restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act

Local Priorities

Oppose gerrymandering

Most local voters seem unaware that Duval/Jax is one of the most gerrymandered places in the United States. Many may not even know what this means. Fortunately, Jay Solomon of Beaches Democratic Club prepared a briefing note on gerrymandering some months ago (click here). Unfortunately, it is already out of date because the Supreme Court has ruled "anything goes", as TIME magazine put it (click here). It is true that well-entrenched Democrats have gerrymandered (the term was named for its Democratic originator). But two wrongs don't make a right.

Solution: Political boundaries should respect local ZIP codes. We all know our ZIP codes and would sense legal corruption is in play if local politicians told us they were assigning us a new ZIP code. There would still be some partisan fiddling but not as blatant as Florida's 5th Congressional district, pictured above. We should vote for candidates who say they would press this idea, or some equally objective way of drawing political boundaries. Duval/Jax could be the catalyst in a national movement to!

Counter poll-tax gambits

As the Brennan Center for Justices explains, "On November 6, 2018 Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment automatically restoring the right to vote to 1.4 million individuals with felony convictions in their past [but] In March 2019, Florida lawmakers introduced bills that ... redefined term of sentence to include restitution, and redefine 'term of sentence' to include monetary obligations even after a court has determined that they should be converted from criminal penalties to civil liens." 

This is a textbook case of legal corruption; here in our Republican-dominated Legislature. Sadly, there are others. (See here, for example on how the Legislature is over-ruling unambiguous local referendums, about increasing property taxes to fund public school.) 

Solution: Make the Legislature's poll-tax gambit come back and bite it. It has only focused on the first half of the gambit's impact. As described in a New York Times article, "African-Americans, who tend to vote Democratic, have been disproportionately disenfranchised, though the majority of those with felony convictions in Florida are white." Many in that white majority might gain a new respect for Democratic principles if our brand championed practical counter-moves; say loans to cover some amount of poll-tax (ideally, repayable with later proof of voting).