Latest news with #voterEngagement
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Miami's city commission gave themselves an extra year in office without voters' permission
Candidates for local office in Miami have been prepping mailers, gathering volunteers, raising money and hitting the street for the last year, with voters expecting to see a robust campaign to replace the city's term-limited, scandal-chased mayor. Last week, Miami's city commission told those voters they'll have to wait an extra year. In a 3-2 vote, the commission changed the city's election bylaws to push the municipal races back to 2026. Commissioners said they made the change in the name of cost savings and increased voter engagement when higher-profile races for Congress or the presidency may be on the ballot. But they gave themselves an extra year in office without asking voters for permission first. And in a moment when the underpinnings of democracy appear to be cracking in America, a cavalier attitude toward an election seems ominous to some Miami residents. 'What worries people about this is, we don't want to give the guy in the White House any ideas,' said John Jackson, a Miami resident and former political operative. There's no real mechanism to try something like this at the federal level, he said, 'but it still kind of makes people a little worried. I don't know anyone on any side of the aisle – Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal – who just thinks that this was a good thing'. Florida attorney general James Uthmeier sent Miami's mayor a warning letter on 26 June, telling the city that the proposal to change election dates without asking permission from voters first violates the city and county's charter and the state constitution. Miami is home 'to thousands of patriotic Cuban Americans who know better than most about regimes that cavalierly delay elections and prolong their terms in power', Uthmeier wrote. 'The City of Miami owes to its citizens what the law requires.' City leaders could have avoided this problem by placing the question on the ballot and accepting a shorter term if voters chose to hold future elections on even-numbered years, said Michael Hepburn, a Miami mayoral candidate. 'The city of Miami is actually still scheduled to have a election this year for other ballot referendums,' Hepburn said. 'So what they're doing is actually just stupid, because you literally still gonna have people come out this year on November 4 and vote for, like, three other questions on the ballot.' By structuring the change this way, however, it permits the city commissioner, Joe Carollo, and the Miami mayor, Francis Suarez – both term-limited – to remain in office for an additional year. Hepburn said he thinks Juarez wants to use the extra year to his advantage. 'He's started thinking about how he could stay in office and use his current office to parlay that into his next office. He may be running for governor next year. He may be running for US Congress. Who knows? But he'll be able to do it from the office of mayor, which just helps him.' Hepburn and other candidates have either filed lawsuits or are awaiting the actions of the attorney general in response to the ordinance change. 'The decision by city leaders to arbitrarily extend their terms by a full year without voter approval is exactly why so many are up in arms by the chaos and dysfunction of our city government,' said Eileen Higgins, a Miami-Dade county commissioner running to become the city's next mayor. Instead of extending current elected terms, Higgins said she would support shortening a new mayor's term by one year and moving the election to 2028 to achieve optimal voter participation. 'That's why I believe moving forward with the planned elections this November should have been the only decision. More troubling, a run-off in December 2026 will only cost taxpayers more money and result in lower turnout than this year's planned election.' The mayor's office did not respond to requests for comment. 'I support and encourage participation in the electoral process,' said city of Miami commissioner Christine King. 'Voting is the single most important act one can do for their country and in this instance our community. In the city of Miami, voter turnout is historically low for odd numbered year elections. My vote in support of moving our elections to even numbered years was a vote for democracy.' The argument for on-cycle elections makes sense to students of civic participation. Suarez defeated his challenger 21,479 to 3,166 in the 2021 off-year election. In a Miami referendum about residency requirements for the Miami mayor in 2024, with Donald Trump facing Kamala Harris as the marquee matchup at the top of the ballot, 127,460 people cast a vote, more than five times as many voters. 'The upshot is that on-cycle elections … are generally viewed as a win for democracy,' said Matthew Nelsen, an assistant political science professor at the University of Miami. 'On-cycle elections ensure that the media attention and campaigning that comes along with a national midterm or presidential election will also trickle down into local races.' Commissioner Damian Pardo, the author of the election change, argued that holding municipal elections on off years is a form of voter suppression. 'The reason behind this is to boost voter participation,' he told local media. 'When we realized we actually had potentially three votes to get this done, we moved forward. When we can take reform, we take it.' Nonetheless, the commission chose not to let voters make this change. 'Ideally, the voters would have had the ability to vote on this,' Pardo said. 'However, given the situation in this context, where we had the opportunity to pass it … in order to give the voters what they want, you might actually undermine them by putting it to a vote, because by the time that time lapses, you may no longer have those three votes.' Two of the three commissioners who voted for the change – Pardo and King – are Democrats. 'If they can move it, why not the president?' said Marion Brown, a candidate challenging King in the election that the commission postponed. 'Let the president move it, let the governor move it, let everyone in the election do the same thing.' The third commissioner, Ralph Rosado, is a Republican, as is the mayor. Municipal elections are technically nonpartisan in Miami. 'Our county mayor is Democratic. Miami's mayor is Republican. But none of that really matters, because politics is just weird here,' Jackson said. 'To me, it was just entrenched politicians who said 'well, gonna save money and we're gonna raise turnout'. But the reality is, they're term-limited, and now they get an extra term.' Politics in Miami tends to protect a group of four or five politically-powerful families at the expense of the public interest, said Marisol Zenteno, president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade. 'People are very irritated. They don't trust in the system. They feel that it's the same people manipulating it and that it's pretty much the same people winning all the time,' she said. 'Voters are just disillusioned.'
BBC News
01-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Guernsey general election 'meet the candidates' events scheduled
The States of Guernsey has organised two 'meet the candidate' drop-in events in the lead up to the general the sessions voters will be given the chance to engage with candidates and discuss what matters to them, a States spokesperson first event will take place on 7 and 8 June at Beau Sejour, in the Sir John Loveridge Hall, between 10:00 and 16:00 BST on both second will be at Les Beaucamps High School on 11 June, between 17:30 and 20:30. 'Organic discussions' At Beau Sejour, candidates will be seated with their own space throughout the hall to give them an area for them to talk directly to the Les Beaucamps event has been designed to be informal, which according to the States will allow for "more organic discussions to take place".All candidates have been invited to attend both Falla, registrar general of electors, said: "It has been very positive to see the number of independent events that have been set up by candidates to engage directly with the electorate, however we still wanted to ensure there were some tentpole 'meet the candidate' events organised by the States of Guernsey."She added: "We hope the community find both of these events useful when making their decisions ahead of polling day."The general election has been scheduled to take place on 18 June.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Exactly Why We're Not Winning': Dem Strategist Nails 1 Of Party's Biggest Problems
Democratic strategist Basil Smikle called out his party on Monday for failing to reach voters with a message they can relate to even as President Donald Trump's approval rating plunges. Appearing on MSNBC, Smikle was asked about a New York Times report that party insiders were spending millions on meetings in luxury hotels and programs on how to reach young men, including studying the 'syntax, language and content' of viral media. 'I really have no understanding what that is because honestly, if somebody needed to come talk to me, just come talk to me. Actually go find me and come and talk to me. Don't do it in a hotel. Don't study me like this is some academic exercise,' he said. 'That is exactly why we're not winning: because we Democrats have been accused of looking and sounding too elitist. That's a problem.' MSNBC's Chris Jansing said focus groups show many voters souring on Trump ― but those same voters don't like anything about the Democrats, either. Smikle said the party's current fixation on former President Joe Biden and his reported declining health during his term in office are a perfect case in point of why they aren't connecting with those voters. 'There's been a lot of conversation about what people knew about Joe Biden and when did they know,' he said. 'If you actually go into communities and talk to voters, they're not asking about Joe Biden. They're asking what do we do now. And if Democrats don't have an answer for that question, they're going to continue to lose support.' He urged Democratic insiders to get out of the hotels and into the communities instead. See more of his conversation with Jansing and Meghan Hays, a former special assistant to Biden, below:
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Exactly Why We're Not Winning': Dem Strategist Nails 1 Of Party's Biggest Problems
Democratic strategist Basil Smikle called out his party on Monday for failing to reach voters with a message they can relate to even as President Donald Trump's approval rating plunges. Appearing on MSNBC, Smikle was asked about a New York Times report that party insiders were spending millions on meetings in luxury hotels and programs on how to reach young men, including studying the 'syntax, language and content' of viral media. 'I really have no understanding what that is because honestly, if somebody needed to come talk to me, just come talk to me. Actually go find me and come and talk to me. Don't do it in a hotel. Don't study me like this is some academic exercise,' he said. 'That is exactly why we're not winning: because we Democrats have been accused of looking and sounding too elitist. That's a problem.' MSNBC's Chris Jansing said focus groups show many voters souring on Trump ― but those same voters don't like anything about the Democrats, either. Smikle said the party's current fixation on former President Joe Biden and his reported declining health during his term in office are a perfect case in point of why they aren't connecting with those voters. 'There's been a lot of conversation about what people knew about Joe Biden and when did they know,' he said. 'If you actually go into communities and talk to voters, they're not asking about Joe Biden. They're asking what do we do now. And if Democrats don't have an answer for that question, they're going to continue to lose support.' He urged Democratic insiders to get out of the hotels and into the communities instead. See more of his conversation with Jansing and Meghan Hays, a former special assistant to Biden, below:
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats ditch woke jargon to win back Trump voters
Democrats are ditching woke jargon to win back voters who defected to the right and elected Donald Trump. Prominent party figures warned that said phrases beloved by its activist base like 'Latinx' had isolated ordinary voters and fuelled shattering losses in the last year's elections. They also fear the party's emphasis on issues such as pronouns exhausted the electorate. Kamala Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Mr Trump, was criticised during her brief campaign for nonsensical 'word salad' responses she gave during interviews. 'Some words are just too Ivy League-tested terms,' Ruben Gallego, the Arizona senator, told The Washington Post. 'I'm going to p--- some people off by saying this, but 'social equity' – why do we say that? Why don't we say, 'We want you to have an even chance'?' Mr Gallego, who defeated Kari Lake, a candidate endorsed by Mr Trump, in his senate race, said he had once been instructed to describe his background as 'economically disadvantaged' rather than 'poor'. 'Not every person we meet is going to have the latest update on what the proper terms are,' he continued. 'It doesn't make them sexist or homophobic or racist. Maybe they are a little outdated, but they have a good heart.' He said the term 'Latinx', which avoids gendering Latinos or Latinas, is 'stupid' and claimed that few Hispanics actually use it. Joe Biden, the former US president, has previously claimed it was 'hard to get Latinx vaccinated' because they were scared of being deported. Policy papers produced by Mr Biden's administration also refer to 'justice-involved populations' rather than prisoners, and 'previously-incarcerated individuals' instead of ex-convicts. Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor who won two terms in the red-leaning state, said Democrats had fallen into using phrases like 'substance abuse disorder' instead of addiction. 'I believe that over time, and probably for well-meaning reasons, Democrats have begun to speak like professors and started using advocacy-speak that was meant to reduce stigma, but also removed the meaning and emotion behind words,' he said. 'It makes Democrats or candidates using this speech sound like they're not normal… It sounds simple, but what the Democratic Party needs to do is be normal and sound normal.' 'Democrats trip over themselves in an attempt to say exactly the right thing,' said Allison Prasch, an associate professor of rhetoric, politics and culture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. 'Republicans maybe aren't so concerned about saying exactly the right thing, so it may appear more authentic to some voters.' Elissa Slotkin, the Michigan senator, said she had once won over a group of sceptical Teamster union members by calling them 'motherf---ers'. 'They love it…. That is a different way to enter the room,' she said. She has previously criticised progressive politicians, like Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, for railing against the 'oligarchy', claiming the term means little to ordinary voters. In March, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman urged his party to talk 'like regular people', adding: 'Most people are not sure what an oligarch is.' During last year's election campaign, the Trump campaign and Republicans sought to paint Democrats as out-of-touch and beholden to a radical activist wing. Ms Harris was frequently mocked for her 'word salad' responses to interview questions. One New York Times commentator complained she relied heavily on 'jargon' and 'rehearsed turns of phrase' while she 'winds her way slowly toward an answer'. In a town hall event a fortnight before election day, Ms Harris appeared to address the issue, conceding she struggled to answer questions, was 'kind of a nerd', and was not always 'quick on her feet'. Several commentators said her lack of clarity meant she ended up on the wrong side of the culture war. One of Mr Trump's most effective attack adverts ended with the tagline: 'Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.' In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor who is considered a potential contender for the Democratic nomination, urged his party to focus on issues like education over gender identity. 'I'm empathetic and sympathetic to a child trying to figure out their pronoun, but it doesn't trump the fact that the rest of the class doesn't know what a pronoun is,' he said.
