My name is A. Russell Smith, and I am a co-facilitator of Th!rd Act Florida and team lead for our Uplifting Democracy and Voter Empowerment working group. I hope you can give me just a few moments of your time.
First, I want to welcome those of you who have recently joined Th!rd Act and Th!rd Act Florida and to thank all of you for showing a commitment to working together to preserve a cleaner and more free and democratic world for our children and grandchildren. Senior Americans comprise the single largest demographic of people who regularly vote, and we control over 90% of the individually held financial assets in the US. If we work together to promote a progressive agenda, we can move the needle quite a lot. You can be as big a part of that as you want.
Th!rd Act Florida picked a heck of a time to launch! 2024 will be a pivotal year for both democracy and climate sustainability. Because we’re still growing and developing, we plan to partner with other organizations to maximize our impact, in addition to doing a few things on our own. I’d like to invite you to become an active part of what we plan to do, and we think we have something for everyone.
What follows is a brief summary of our plans. In the next few days, I’ll send detailed information about each, with easy-to-follow links to register. Just pick whatever interests you and jump right in. You will make a difference!
MAIL-IN VOTER REGISTRATION
In the last presidential and mid-term elections, mail-in voters voted Democratic by a substantial majority. The Florida Governor and Legislature responded by changing the law to terminate all mail-in voter registrations. Th!rd Act Florida is mounting a major email campaign to alert people that they need to re-register for a mail-in ballot.
MOTIVATING ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS TO VOTE
Surprisingly, a significant number of voters who self-identify as very concerned about the environment simply do not vote. Th!rd Act Florida is helping The Environmental Voter Project reach out to these already-registered and concerned voters, to persuade them that we need them to go to the polls. You can help by becoming part of our post card campaign or by helping us make telephone calls to these voters.
GRADUATION REGISTRATION
Th!rd Act Florida is reaching out to every high school in Florida, to encourage them to put a QR Code in Commencement and Baccalaureate programs, that will link high school seniors directly to the Florida Elections Voter Registration application. If you are connected in some way to a Florida high school or have family or friends who are, you can be instrumental in making this effort a success.
NEW VOTER REGISTRATION
Th!rd Act Florida is partnering with People Power for Florida to staff booths on college campuses and at community events, registering new voters. It’s fun and easy, and working with these motivated, enthusiastic young people will make you feel young again!
RECRUITING POLL WORKERS
Many veteran poll workers have retired or resigned. As a result, elections offices all over Florida do not have enough workers to staff polling places. Too few poll workers mean fewer polling places and longer lines. Th!rd Act Florida is partnering with Power the Polls, to recruit poll workers for the primary and general elections. You can help save democracy and make some holiday money at the same time, because most of these are paid positions.
ELECTION MONITORING
Th!rd Act Florida plans to join with the Florida Election Protection Coalition to recruit and train election monitors to visit polling places on election days, and make sure that poll workers are not improperly denying voters the opportunity to cast a regular ballot and to ensure that nobody is trying to bully or intimidate voters not to vote.
If you are interested in helping save Democracy in Florida contact me directly at TAFRussellSmith@gmail.com and I’ll get you connected with the right opportunity for you.
On behalf of everyone at Th!rd Act and Th!rd Act Florida, thank you for your interest!