Florida needs help!
🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
As someone who has called Florida home for over 30 years, I want you to know one thing: Florida needs help!
It is as dysfunctional a family as you will ever find. DeSantis and his cronies in Tallahassee are working overtime in stripping people who call Florida home their rights and freedoms. Authoritarianism is on the rise. On the other side, Democrats have squandered twenty-plus years of local power-building and continue losing voters as they continue to justify their old model of organizing "just vote."
I know folks are pretty excited by the recent ruling made by the Florida Supreme Court allowing the issue of abortion to be presented to voters as a citizen initiative (YES on Amendment 4). I am hopeful for our citizens but also want to acknowledge that several initiatives have passed in Florida, only to be stymied by the conservative lawmakers in Tallahassee. Medical Marijuana was passed as a citizen initiative and was held up for years in rule-making committees. And let us remember the fight for rights restoration and the nightmare lawmakers created after it was passed as a citizen initiative. Again, lawmakers' rules around rights restoration did nothing to help returning citizens. I would submit that they created a trap that DeSantis used to arrest several people who believed (and were told they could) they could register to vote.
I don't say this lightly; Florida needs help. People who call Florida home can not fix the mess that DeSantis, conservative lawmakers in Tallahassee, or old-guard democrats have made-they need help from the outside. One way to help Florida is to learn about and identify the threats and ensure that citizens know what is happening.
Did you know?
A group of MAGA extremists and Constitutional sheriffs are meeting today in Florida. 1
They believe election fraud happened and think they serve as the ultimate authority in the Constitution. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which was formally founded about a decade ago by Mr. Mack, is dedicated to the theory that sheriffs are beholden only to the Constitution and serve as the ultimate authority in a county — above local, state and federal officials and statutes. The group, whose leaders have promoted Christian ideology in government, has been active in supporting fights against gun control laws, immigration laws and federal land management.
Florida has 9 Patriot movement aligned counties
The Patriot/militia movement's Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) courts sheriffs who uphold patriot movement values, solidify relationships between sheriffs and militia and celebrate sheriff defiance of state or federal laws such as state gun laws.2
Florida also has 3 Second Amendment Sanctuary counties
These counties have resolutions declare that sheriffs have the power in their local jurisdictions to not enforce state gun laws they deem unconstitutional.
Possible threats to election administration that could impact our November elections includes:
Unwarranted investigations
Baseless statements
An increased presence of sheriffs where ballots are cast, counted or transported
Possible deputizing of volunteers
Increased surveillance
Possible seizure of voting machines or threats of such
Issue search warrants
Threats of arrest for poll workers and administrators
What types of protections do Floridians have against these Yahoo Sheriffs?
In a number of other states, including Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, officers at the polls must obey orders from election officials. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 102.031(2) (West 2019); N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 163–48 (West 2020); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3501.33 (West 2020); and Wis. Stat. Ann. § 7.37(2) (West 2020).
And under no circumstances may state or local police intimidate voters, prevent people from voting or target particular racial or ethnic groups. These are all violations of federal law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983; 18 U.S.C. § 594.
People power. Citizens must engage in election protection and mitigate the threats against election administration on an ongoing basis.
Here are some actions we can take to push back against extremists trying to subvert the elections:
Like, share, and comment on this post to help get the word out.
Encourage your friends and family in Florida to volunteer as poll workers and watchers.
Stay connected; we will be following up on this issue closely.
Upcoming Events
Progressive Issues Activism
Next Wednesday - April 10th at 8pm eastern - 7pm central - 6pm mountain - 5pm pacific is our monthly virtual meetup, signup here to join our People Power United Progressive Issues Activism
Letters and Postcards to Voters
Next Wednesday - April 10th at 6:30 pm eastern - 5:30 pm central - 4:30 pm mountain - 3:30pm pacific is our monthly virtual meetup, signup here to join our People Power United Letters and Postcards to Voters
People Power United Updates
Our group is growing by leaps and bounds! Folks understand that with love in our hearts and hard work, we will reclaim our nation from cruelty, chaos, and confusion. We are having fun making impactful changes in our community! In case you missed it, this past week was busy:
People Power United signs on to an Amici to the Supreme Court in support of Emergency Abortion Care
People Power United joined coalition efforts to urge Senators to nominate Adeel Mangi and denounce the Islamophobic attacks on Mr. Mangi and on all Muslims
Our members took over 100,000 actions this past month!
People Power United joined other local, state, and national groups to issue a statement on Trump’s Election Interference Case In Manhattan.
Can you help our People Power United efforts?
Can you recommend People Power United on Substack? Head to your Substack Settings page and click Publication Details in the left navigation bar. Next to "Recommend other publications on Substack," select "Start recommending."
The number one way you can help us is to engage. Please like, comment, and share our posts on whatever forum you are on. Big shout out to everyone who has stepped up to engage with us!
Can you give us a review on Google why you are a member and how we are impacting our community with People Power? 5 stars are appreciated.
Updates can be found here.
Did you know?
People Power United is a group of community members that champions progressive values and Power for the people. The 2024 election depends on us, and we are attempting to persuade people to vote for Freedom over Fascism. If you wish to support our efforts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Everyone deserves to vote and thrive,
Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests
People Power United | Subscribe to our Substack Newsletter
People Power United - In this community, we will always speak out against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, ageism, ableism, sizeism, elitism, and bigotry!
People Power United is a group of community members that champions progressive values and power for the people. The 2024 election depends on us, and we are attempting to persuade people to vote for Freedom over Fascism. If you wish to support our efforts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Data disclosure: People Power United does not share information. You are always able to opt-out of any action alerts or event reminders we send. We champion progressive values and are a grassroots group committed to increasing voter registration and participation. We are paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/save-america-conference-tickets-871352858857
https://politicalresearch.org/sheriffs-map/
You are unbelievably brave, in my opinion, just to live in Florida! Nothing could get me to go there now. I’m at the opposite corner of the country (Washington), where the climate is less fabulous but everything else is much nicer. I admire you for your courage and daring, and hope you stay safe. Don’t lose faith. It may look like the U.S. is going somewhere fast in the proverbial handbasket, led headlong by Florida, but I think we will get things turned around. The pendulum is due to swing our way soon.