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Florida GOP canvassers accused of changing party affiliation of Democrat voters without their consent

Teh_Lurv

Teh_Lurv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,396
Remember when Gov. DeSantis announced a few months ago that Florida Republican voter registration had surpassed registered Democrats for the first time ever? Well....

Residents of a public housing building in Miami say their voter registrations were unknowingly changed from Democrat to Republican after being visited by GOP canvassers, WPLG Local 10 News reported on Wednesday. The vice chair of the state Senate's Ethics and Elections Committee told Rolling Stone on Thursday that she is requesting an investigation.
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The report published Wednesday by WPLG Local 10 News includes multiple accounts of residents who say they were scammed. "They said, 'We're doing the renewals on the voter registration, would you like to renew?' resident Armando Selva told the outlet of the people knocking on doors of the building in Republican Party of Florida hats. "I didn't do anything, but they changed the party," added resident Juan Carlos Salazar, who said he was sent a new voter registration identifying him as a Republican.

"Every one of them has said they have been Democrats their entire life," says Taddeo. "They weren't trying to switch. It's very concerning."
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As the article notes, this has serious consequences to the voters who had their party affiliation changed. Florida has a closed primary system, so affected voters could be potentially disenfranchised from voting in Democratic primaries.

www.rollingstone.com

Elderly Florida Democrats Say GOP Canvassers Duped Them Into Changing Party Affiliation

Elderly Democrats in a Miami housing project reportedly have said Republican canvassers tricked them into changing their party affiliation.
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com

 
rjinaz

rjinaz

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
28,714
Phoenix
"Well, the elections in Florida are now ruined, we will just have to cancel them and give the win to Republicans because I think we all know Democrats did this way more!"

-America populace
 
III-V

III-V

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,845
Yes, this is real. It happened to my wife in the last two generals she was switched so it is not even anything new.
 
cameron

cameron

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
24,958
They specifically target elderly voters like how scummy door-to-door sales people get folks to switch or sign up to contracted services.
 

vrietje

Member
Dec 4, 2018
1,036
Euro asking here: While it isn't nice to do, but this has no influence on the elections right? You don't automatic vote for the party you are registered for right?
 
OP
OP
Teh_Lurv

Teh_Lurv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,396
vrietje said:
Euro asking here: While it isn't nice to do, but this has no influence on the elections right? You don't automatic vote for the party you are registered for right?
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General elections no, but it does affect the primary elections (which are elections a few months prior to the general where the candidate for each political party is selected to run in the general election.) Florida has a closed primary election, which means only voters within that party can vote for their preferred candidate in the primary election. Democrat voters who had their affiliation changed without their knowledge would be prevented from voting in the primary.
 
III-V

III-V

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,845
vrietje said:
Euro asking here: While it isn't nice to do, but this has no influence on the elections right? You don't automatic vote for the party you are registered for right?
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In Florida there are restrictions such as you can not vote in the other party's primaries elections (so you could not influence the candidate selection. Also, your voter registration is taken into account for districting and redistricting purpose, so it does have an impact.

darkwing said:
consequences, when
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oh, you
 
Planx

Planx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,618
vrietje said:
Euro asking here: While it isn't nice to do, but this has no influence on the elections right? You don't automatic vote for the party you are registered for right?
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Florida is what's known as a Closed Primary state. You MUST be a registered member of a party to participate in that party's primary election that will choose the party's nominee for the general election.

If you had your party affiliation switched without your knowledge you would be turned away at the polls on primary day when you tried to participate in your former party's election.
 
Thordinson

Thordinson

Member
Aug 1, 2018
19,585
Angelus Errare said:
Never. Sadly it's still not clear to people that there really are no mechanisms in place when one of only two parties no longer cares about the law. Can't really apply the law when it requires both parties to be on board with the process
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There are plenty of mechanisms to hold people accountable, but the problem is the mechanism, law enforcement, is a racist fascist institution in this country. The lack of enforcement of laws is an institutional problem, not a party one. Both parties have no problem applying the law when it comes to low-income minority communities. Filling out a provisional ballot that was never counted got Crystal Mason 5 years in jail in Texas, they conveniently found the mechanism there.
 

Deleted member 3208

Oct 25, 2017
11,934
Actually party of cheaters and scum.
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
66,185
This is what happens when Republicans aren't punished. Trump opened the floodgates.
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,546
The GOP literally cannot win an election without cheating its just like impossible for them to not do some voter fraud/voter suppression
 
pizoxuat

pizoxuat

Member
Jan 12, 2018
1,460
vrietje said:
Euro asking here: While it isn't nice to do, but this has no influence on the elections right? You don't automatic vote for the party you are registered for right?
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There is a slight bias towards whoever is perceived as winning. There's a number of folks who will be swayed to vote for whoever they believe will win because they, subconsciously or consciously, want to be on the winning side. So being able to blast the news with headlines like "Republican voter registration is outpacing Democratic registration!" is a way to try to sway that cohort of voters.
 
jeelybeans

jeelybeans

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,064
I have a question - why bother to do this? I'm in TX, and you have to vote in the primary of the party you are registered to, so there's that. But when it comes to the general election it doesn't matter if I'm registered Republican or Democrat, I can vote for who I want and will vote Dem.
 
Futureman

Futureman

Member
Oct 26, 2017
10,133
Planx said:
Florida is what's known as a Closed Primary state. You MUST be a registered member of a party to participate in that party's primary election that will choose the party's nominee for the general election.

If you had your party affiliation switched without your knowledge you would be turned away at the polls on primary day when you tried to participate in your former party's election.
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this made me think... I might actually change to Repub to vote against Trump in the 2024 primary ha. I guess it would be pretty pointless unless there was a big movement to do so.
 
Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,856
jeelybeans said:
I have a question - why bother to do this? I'm in TX, and you have to vote in the primary of the party you are registered to, so there's that. But when it comes to the general election it doesn't matter if I'm registered Republican or Democrat, I can vote for who I want and will vote Dem.
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Manipulating the primaries of the opposing party would still give you a lot of control over local level elections.
 
Poeton

Poeton

Member
Oct 25, 2017
828
Austin, TX
jeelybeans said:
I have a question - why bother to do this? I'm in TX, and you have to vote in the primary of the party you are registered to, so there's that. But when it comes to the general election it doesn't matter if I'm registered Republican or Democrat, I can vote for who I want and will vote Dem.
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There is no party registration in Texas. For a primary in Texas you select either Republican or Democrat and are then barred from voting in the other party's primary.
 
Shiloh

Shiloh

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,719
jeelybeans said:
I have a question - why bother to do this? I'm in TX, and you have to vote in the primary of the party you are registered to, so there's that. But when it comes to the general election it doesn't matter if I'm registered Republican or Democrat, I can vote for who I want and will vote Dem.
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Desantis recently publicly bragged about Florida now having more registered Republicans than Democratics. Optics and momentum thing I believe.
 
jeelybeans

jeelybeans

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,064
Poeton said:
There is no party registration in Texas. For a primary in Texas you select either Republican or Democrat and are then barred from voting in the other party's primary.
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Ah right, thanks for pointing that out. Was misinformed there. Still, what stands is that what is the practical effect of this on a voter who had their party switched? Some temporary confusion before they vote Democrat anyway?
 
Poeton

Poeton

Member
Oct 25, 2017
828
Austin, TX
jeelybeans said:
Ah right, thanks for pointing that out. Was misinformed there. Still, what stands is that what is the practical effect of this on a voter who had their party switched? Some temporary confusion before they vote Democrat anyway?
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Right, it is kind of a weird thing to do.
But I think what others have said:
  • Percieved Republican momentum
  • A percieved weeker i.e. less popular Dem candidate wins the primary
  • Perhaps local Republicans get more funding from the RNC if they have a boost in registered Republicans
 
Zombegoast

Zombegoast

Member
Oct 30, 2017
14,979
Nothing will happen. This is how the GOP are stealing elections in Florida. Also Gaetz is tied in all of this
 
Ze_Shoopuf

Ze_Shoopuf

Member
Jun 12, 2018
4,227
So tired of Repubs never being held accountable for their obvious cheating and lying and stealing.

They've been emboldened, there is no limit anymore to the tactics they will use, due to no consequences and stacked judges everywhere.
 
Version 3.0

Version 3.0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,477
Don Fluffles said:
JUST

make their lives a living hell. Make them too scared to go outside or even stay in their homes.
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I hate to break it to you, but this is their plan. And they're way better at it than we'll ever be. Probably because we're not rage-filled racist shitbags with nothing better to do than issue death threats to election workers, school district employees, politicians, etc.
 
Hrodulf

Hrodulf

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,558
Sounds like something the Republican Party would do. They cater so much to the desires of the few even when compared to many Democrats that they wouldn't be able to win shit if they didn't change things enough to shift the odds in their favor.

Luckily for them, they've had plenty of opportunities to gerrymander the shit out of numerous regions and essentially get off scot-free anytime they threaten, coerce, or just outright make it harder to vote (like limiting the number of places to vote in non-white populated areas).
 
onyx

onyx

Member
Dec 25, 2017
2,703
They should be punished for this. Even if it's just fines and lawsuits. Would rather people get fraud charges though.

Version 3.0 said:
I hate to break it to you, but this is their plan. And they're way better at it than we'll ever be. Probably because we're not rage-filled racist shitbags with nothing better to do than issue death threats to election workers, school district employees, politicians, etc.
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They're better at it because they're organized. They have funding coming in, a media apparatus , local/state/national coordination, and social media coordination. The left tends to turn their nose up at getting more organized to combat this.

Meanwhile the GOP destroys community organization groups like Acorn so they can freely do stuff like this.
 
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