A troubling primary flip-flop by the League of Women Voters of Florida

The League of Women Voters of Florida owes the public a full accounting for why and howit suddenly pulled its support for a proposed state constitutional amendment thatwould have allowed all voters to vote in primary elections.

In making this abrupt about-face, the League’s top leaders upended a two-year deliberative process that had built consensus in the ranks for Amendment 3, one of themost important questions Florida voters faced in 2020. The amendment would have created a top-two primary system open to all voters, regardless of party, in which the top two vote-getters face offin the general election.

The amendment won support from57% of state voters, short of the60% needed for passage. Its defeat means 3.6 million voters who identify with neither major political party still cannot vote in key primary races where they might have a moderating influence.

To allow this action to stand without serious review counters the narrative of an organization that says it’s free of partisan influence and committed to a consensus-driven approach to protecting voting rights and expanding turnout.

The League’s stunning reversal came on Sept. 4, during the height of a tense self-examination of racial justice in America. It followed the fatal beating of a Black man, George Floyd, by white police officers in Minneapolis.

“The current political climate has shed a light on the prevalence of systemic racism and the continued silencing of minority voices,” the League said in announcing its decision. “It has become clear we cannot support a change to our state constitution thatwould likely further silence the minority communities or candidates within these districts.”

The League’s statement included a link to a controversial analysis that said Amendment 3would “bleach” legislative districts andmake it harder for Black candidates to win. The analysis was done for People Over Profits, a group headed by Sean Shaw, a former Black legislator from Tampa who was the Democratic candidate for state attorney general in 2018.

League President Patricia Brigham told the Sun Sentinel editorial board that reversing course was difficult, but the right call. Thegroup still favors the concept of open primaries, but the top-two model was bad for Florida. “Our initial vote was a mistake,” she said.“We owned up to it. I stand by it.”

Shocked by the change of heart, fellow board member Michele Levy of Orlando, who directed the two-year study, resigned in protest. Asecond boardmember, Lisa Hall of Tallahassee, also quit, though cited other reasons. Hall told us she still believes the original study was sound. “I couldn’t take the angst anymore.”

The issue blew up last week when a third League officer, Brenda Carr of Key Largo, resigned in a very public manner. She penned op-ed columns for The Orlando Sentinel and Miami Herald, along with an open letter to League members.

Carr maintains that:

The executive committee threw out years of research and changed the League’s position based on oneweek of closed-door discussions. She says therewas no substantive chapter or membership input and no transparency on who, if anyone, was consulted.

The committee reversed the League’s position after receiving Shaw’s report, which alleged that open primaries would hurt candidates of color. The Florida Supreme Court had reviewed similar findings before rejecting a last-minute attempt by the Democratic and Republican parties to keep Amendment 3 offthe ballot.

The committee said the League favors open primaries, but not top-two. However, in the League’s evaluation of the five types of open primaries, top-two got the highest ratings. The study also found substantial evidence that top-two primaries improved minority representation, Carr wrote. Eight years after the system was adopted in California, “the Black Caucus in the Legislature increased by 50%, the Hispanic Caucus increased by25% and voter approval of the Legislature increased from14% to 42%.”

The committee failed to follow League norms in making its decision, failed to provide evidence to support its reversal and “did not consider all the work League members did in helping create the All Voters Vote effort and helping get 1.2 million signatures on a petition to put this issue before Florida voters.”

“Thiswas a partisan decision,” Carr told us. “We studied this for two years and the decisionwas overturned in aweek by the executive board with no input fromthe members.”

Carr makes a powerful case, one that deserves the kind of dispassionate review for which the League is famous. Such a review should also consider that in Florida, Black legislators have been elected from majority white districts and have won countywide races in large urban areas. Also, two years ago Andrew Gillum came with in 30,000 votes of being elected governor.

Andin 2008 and 2012, Florida threwits electoral votes behind Ba rack O ba ma for president.

It’s unlikely such a review will happen, unfortunately. Asked to comment on the blow-up, Dr. Deborah Turner, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, said she had the “utmost confidence” in the Florida league’s leadership.

“We are proud of the Florida League for engaging on this issue with partner organizations that represent voters of color, as well as listening to members of color within our own organization. The League of Women Voters has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the policies we support. Sometimes leaders have tomake difficult decisions to ensure that they serve voters fairly and effectively. The League of Women Voters of Florida’s decision is what true leadership looks like.”

Thanks in part to the League’s political miscalculation, Florida remains one of nine states with a closed primary system— one that excludes nearly 4 million voters, including 1.2 million minority voters.

What’s distressing about the League’s self-inflicted wound is that it adds credence to the criticism that it is aligned with the Democratic Party and its operatives. Florida needs an independent League, one that fights for voters, not political parties.

If today’s leaders refuse to stand up for the League’s noble traditions, they should all be voted out.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.