John, More than 700,000 people were robbed of their right to vote in Florida this election. Many of them were Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). And most of them were likely to have voted for democrat candidates. Joe Biden is headed to the White House despite losing Florida, but the right-wing state lawmakers who disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of their BIPOC constituents are still in power thanks to the support of corporations like the Florida-based supermarket chain Publix. In November 2018, more than 64% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, which restored the voting rights to former felons. It was a beautiful day for democracy and the 1.2 million people who were finally able to vote again. But in May 2019, the republican-controlled state legislature approved a bill that went against the will of Florida voters and required former felons to pay all of their court fines and fees before they could vote. Governor DeSantis, also a republican, signed the bill into law a month later. Publix donated hundreds of thousands of dollars this election cycle to the Florida republicans responsible for this blatant act of voter suppression. And its billionaire founder’s daughter and grandchildren are major Trump supporters. It appears that despite claiming it “rejects racism and discrimination of any kind,” Publix has been more than happy to support right-wing lawmakers who sacrifice the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of BIPOC Floridians in order to protect their own political power. Let’s show them that this hypocrisy is not OK.  Thanks for all that you do, More information: Timeline: Effort to restore former felons voting rights in Florida Click Orlando, November 3rd 2020 |
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