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?

1. A group of MAGA extremists and Constitutional sheriffs are meeting today in Florida. ¹

   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.

2. Florida has 9 Patriot movement aligned counties

   1. 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

3. Florida also has 3 Second Amendment Sanctuary counties

   1. These counties have resolutions declare that sheriffs have the power in their local jurisdictions to not enforce state gun laws they deem unconstitutional.

4. 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?

1. 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).

2. 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.

3. 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.

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Everyone deserves to vote and thrive,

Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests

Laurie doing civil disobedience in front of the Supreme Court and meeting her hero Tarana Burke (founder of the MeToo movement)

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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.

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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.

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1. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/save-america-conference-tickets-871352858857

2. https://politicalresearch.org/sheriffs-map/