Wanna vote in the March presidential primary? Tuesday is last day to register

If you want to partake in the March presidential primary, you’ve got one day left to register to vote.

Tuesday is the last day to register for the first time or change parties for the March 17 primary election in Florida. And because Monday is President’s Day, and the Miami-Dade Elections Department is closed, that just leaves Tuesday.

Elections Spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said the Doral office, 2700 NW 87th Ave., will be open from 8 a.m. until midnight to accommodate in-person registration and changes. The downtown satellite office at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St., will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Trutie said residents can register online and registered voters can also change their party affiliation at registertovoteflorida.gov.

Both Democrat and Republican groups have been having registration drives to bring up their numbers — but it seems that the Democratic Party has had more of a push, naturally, since there is a lot of interest in the Democratic primary now that people have voted in Iowa and New Hampshire.

And yes, there is a Republican primary, even though there really doesn’t have to be.

President Donald Trump has been challenged by Roque “Rocky” de la Fuente, Joe Walsh (the conservative radio host, not the guitarist from The Eagles) and Bill Weld. Don’t feel bad, nobody else knows who they are.

Some people in Florida have already gotten their absentee ballots in the mail.

Democrat groups and clubs across the state have held events. The Miami-Dade Democrats registered voters Feb. 8 at the Trayvon Martin Peace Walk in Ives Estate Park and at Miami Marathon at Bayfront Park on Feb. 9.

Juan Peñalosa, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, said efforts have added thousands of blue voters to the rolls. In June of last year, Democrats were registering an average of 28 voters a day. Earlier this month, the average was 321 new voters registered per day, Peñalosa said. “And the rate of growth is increasing each month.”

Registation drives will go on even after Tuesday to register voters for the August primary and November general. The goal is to get 200,000 new blue voters by August 1, Peñalosa said.

Democrats already rule Miami-Dade, with 587,938 of the 1.38 million voters who voted in 2016, according to the county elections office. Another 402,620 are NPA (no party affiliation), which tend to vote Democrat more than GOP. Republicans account for 373,186 voters. The rest go to little parties, like the Libertarians and the Green Party and the Reform Party. There’s a whole 12 people in the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Which proves there is no “socialist” movement.

But statewide, both parties have been growing steadily since the 2016 election and one could characterize Florida as one of 12 perennial swing states because the presidential contests are so close here and could go either way. The others are Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. That’s why every four years, these become the most important states to win.

Across Florida, and as of Dec. 31 according to the Florida Division of Elections, there are almost 5 million Democrats and 4.8 million Republicans and 3.6 mil NPAs, many of whom want a chance to vote in open primaries, and might be able to soon. Then Ladra, who changed from NPA to Dem two years ago to vote in the primary, can go back to being my true deep purple self.

The Florida Open Primaries Initiative has been able to get an amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot that would establish an open primary system for state and federal elections in Florida. In an open primary election, a voter either does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary or can declare his or her affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.

And we can thank Jeffrey “Doc” Solomon, who has been a Democrat candidate for state rep a few times, because he was instrumental in getting the initiative on this year’s ballot.

But you can’t vote if you don’t register as something.

Wanna vote in the March presidential primary? Tuesday is last day to register added by Ladra on February 15, 2020
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