A Letter To Bill Nelson; Help Protect Our Most Fundamental Right?

Florida Political Press

Dear Senator Nelson:

I’m writing in reply to your e-mail shown below my message.

Wow, the US Senate must have really tightened up their act since the last time I looked. If you have the time to spend on an issue that concerns the FL State legislature you surely must have made some headway since just last Friday. I’m looking at the news now, but I don’t see where the US Senate has yet to pass a budget, or vote on any of the fifteen jobs bills passed out of the House of Representatives.

Surely, you must have performed your own job at a minimum and passed a budget or you would certainly not have the righteous indignation to be so vociferous about a State matter.

If however, this is not the case, I have a few comments of my own for YOUR consideration. First Senator, we live in a Federal Constitutional Republic, and not a Democracy. Thank God our founders put checks and balances in our system of Representative government to prevent the mob rule of a raw democracy. That said, you are correct to state that the right to vote for elected officials to aptly represent me is a key right of each individual. Florida’s law does nothing to curtail or disenfranchise any person’s individual right to cast a ballot. You say that “many believe a handful of super rich conservative activist are behind an orchestrated effort” to “keep” millions of Seniors, younger voters and minorities from casting ballots next year. Senator, your citing a “vast right wing conspiracy” is indicative that you suffer from severe paranoia, likely a result of drinking the kool-aid they must be serving you in the Senate Democrat caucus in Washington DC.

The last time I checked, we were a Nation of Laws, not men, so I don’t have the degree of sympathy for specific persons who may have violated the law that you seem to have. If that were not enough, your referral of this matter for investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Constitution and the Justice Department is a disingenuous and laughably despicable act designed to wedge the Federal government in to Florida’s business, and cost the State and it’s citizens to defend our 10th amendment rights because of your personal ideological position.

Further, your use of divisive class warfare to incite select groups of Florida citizens reveals you as both an opportunist and an unwelcome provocateur.

Your letterhead says “Bill Nelson – Representing Florida”. Senator, were you elected by the Florida legislature prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment that letterhead may have rung true, but not so in the present real world. You only Represent those voters that adopt your peculiar ideology, and not the best interest of the State of Florida.

Per the subject line on your e-mail, if you really wish to “help protect our most fundamental right”, then try representing Floridians as a whole rather than playing out your “divide and conquer” re-election strategy.

Now, get to work Senator. You have failed to do your job for far too long now and are clearly part of the problem in Washington DC, not part of the solution. Even if you don’t do your part, I promise to do mine – to vote in the 2012 elections and hold my elected officials accountable to represent me.

Sincerely,

Ed Riordan
Winter Springs, FL

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Dear Friends, The right to vote is, and always has been, at the foundation of our democracy. But this fundamental right is under serious attack right now, in Florida and more than a dozen other states. Many believe a handful of super-rich conservative activists are behind an orchestrated effort to keep millions of seniors, younger voters and minorities from casting ballots next year. Whether or not that’s true, a civics teacher at New Smyrna Beach High School in Florida was on the receiving end of just such an attack last month. The teacher, Jill Cicciarelli, ran afoul of Florida’s new election law while helping some of her students pre-register to vote. I have met with her and some of her students, and it’s no surprise they’re not happy with the state’s new voting law. Neither is their local supervisor of elections, who under the law was required to report them to state authorities. Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall says parts of the law are egregious and unenforceable. So, it’s not just me who thinks this law is aimed at suppressing the vote. Look at what informed editorial writers have also had to say: The Orlando Sentinel said the new law “amounts to… ripping apart election laws” and “weakening democracy.” The Tampa Tribune said this bill “isn’t fooling anybody. It’s not about clean elections.” And Florida Today called it an “assault on the most cherished of American rights.” In a nutshell, the Florida law reduces the number of days for early voting from 14 to eight and exposes people who register others to vote to harsh penalties even for innocent mistakes. That’s why the widely respected League of Women Voters has abandoned its voter registration drives in Florida after 72 years. Nelson, right, recently met with New Smyrna Beach High School civics teacher Jill Cicciarelli, left, who ran afoul of Florida’s election law when she helped register some of her students to vote I wrote Gov. Rick Scott a letter last month asking him to support a revamping or repeal of the law. I also wrote U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to ask that we conduct a congressional investigation to see if Florida’s law was part of a plan that led to similar voting law changes in more than a dozen other states this year. And I have asked the Justice Department to look into who’s behind these changes. Please share this note with all of your friends, family and colleagues. Regardless of your political party, I hope you’ll join me in trying to protect everybody’s right to vote. Thanks for getting involved,

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you want to send a message to Senator Nelson, please Click here to comment regarding this or any other issue.

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