Only registered parties are allowed to vote for the candidate within the party. If we had open primaries, then I would consider this.
Another big issue we had during the 2010 election cycle that got Scott elected was many Democratic voters NOT receiving their mail in ballots. There has been a big push by the county I live in, at least, to sign up for mail in ballots. This way older voters don't have to worry about a ride to the polls and people who work, won't have to wait in long lines at voting time. Our "independent" supervisor of elections has taken away early voting stations and had limited times enacted for "budget" purposes as it is.
Every time I had gone to vote, they would ask if I would like to sign up for a mail in ballot option. My husband and I finally signed up for it this last time in 2010 since I normally volunteer to make calls and help out with the GOTV... Anyway, it just made sense to go ahead and get my ballot through the mail, send it in, and have done with it so I could focus all my energy on GOTV. Scott scared the ever living shit out of me and still does now that he's in the office.
What we noticed was happening in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Orange County was that many of our Democratic "mail in ballot" people on our call lists had not received their mail in ballots. Too many to be a coincidence I believe. AND many of our older voters who receive the mail in ballot were still waiting on their ballot on election day. At that point we had to do everything we could to mobilize and get them to their polling site. Many thought that they would still be able to "vote" when they got their ballot.
It will be interesting to see again how many people end up "missing" their mail in ballots again. It was, of course, never investigated because republicans rule the state, so they certainly do not care if Democratic party members didn't get their mail in ballots to vote.
I do worry about it this time around between the "purge" of voters and with the 2010 election of what seemed to me to be purposeful neglect of getting mail in ballots out to the voters... And the Obama campaign really pushes people to do the mail in or early voting to make sure that their vote is counted and that on election day something doesn't keep them from making their way to vote. I'm not sure if the Obama people are even aware of the shenanigans that occurred during the 2010 elections since the Senatorial race was so messed up with a 3-way race... Had either the Democrat or Crist stepped aside, I believe we wouldn't have had a Rubio and I believe more people would have come out to support the Governor selection.... The Senate race that year put a lot of people off, the tea baggers were in full force, and the Obama people kept their hands and support well away from Florida because of the Senate debacle and that whole fiasco were it was rumored that Bill Clinton and Obama had asked the Democratic candidate to drop out for Crist to have a chance to beat Rubio... The commercials were out of control.. Outside pac groups were lying all over the place. It was a nightmare.
Its going to be a nightmare of a Presidential election. The ads are already starting down here. Pac ads. Lies. People are going to be very tired of it and it generally puts people off and creates apathy where people in FL just don't bother to vote. Too many people are apathetic as it is. Florida has such a transient and diverse population. And because surviving is so tough (thanks to Republicans truly making a rich ruling class and a class of people who are working crazy hours and multiple jobs at minimum wage often) that there is very little time for them to even realize who represents them and what the reps are doing to them.. I'd say, the "middle class" is nearly and extinct species in Florida. The corruption is off the charts. Its no wonder we seem to have a number of national headlines that highlight Duh in Flori-DUH. And really, most of the people who live here or have moved into the area are more progressive and liberal than the party that ends up in power. So many of these people who move in never even register to vote. AND then they wonder why the schools suck and their jobs have limited benefits and pay....
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