Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Let’s make good trouble’
‘Votercade’ drives through Broward County to raise awareness of voting restrictions
A motorcade of voters drove from the Supervisor of Elections office in Broward County to a park in Pompano Beach on Saturday afternoon to bring awareness to voting restrictions not only in South Florida, but throughout the rest of the country.
Organized by various activists and local leaders in Broward County, the caravan took to the streets from US 441 in Lauderhill, through Coconut Creek, and finally culminating in a celebration at Hunters Manors Park in Pompano Beach.
“So much has been sacrificed for people to just walk in and pick who they want to vote for,” said Joshua Simmons, vice mayor of Coral Springs. “We are fighting for the people who can’t be here right now.”
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act “Votercade” event, one of many taking place across the country in honor of late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, was aimed at protecting people’s ability to vote, as Florida and other states in the country put more restrictions in place on voting.
It’s a timely issue for local South Floridians who came out to the event, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into effect a voting law that would make it harder for Floridians to vote in what the governor said was an attempt to crack down on election fraud.
Under the new law, there are more restrictions on drop boxes, people are prevented from returning more than two mail ballots in any election unless it’s from a family member and mail-in ballot requests expire faster.
Two federal lawsuits have already been filed against the law.
“This is going to affect the
senior citizens, the people who work late hours. Seniors won’t be driving their ballots; they need helpers,” said Karen Fortman, of Florida’s new voting law, and a participant at the event.
The Broward County event kicked off with speeches from local politicians like State Senator Shevrin Jones from District 35, Lauderhill Mayor Ken Thurston and Coral Springs Commissioner Nancy Metayer.
Organizers also had booths open to register people to vote while speakers encouraged those in attendance to make “good trouble.”
About 40 cars were in attendance, many of which were decked out in sparkly red, white and blue banners, American flags and pictures of Lewis.
For organizers, the event is an important way to raise awareness of bills in the United States Congress aimed at protecting the right to vote, through HR4 The
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement, which would restore full protection of the Voting Rights Act, and at getting rid of the filibuster.
Attendees were also concerned about the delay with filling in the vacant seat of Rep. Alcee Hastings. DeSantis set the date for the election to fill the empty seat in January 2022, making the seat empty for nine months.
“We are going to have no representatives,” Patty, an attendee at the rally, said. “This will do damage to all of us.”