Democrats invest $1 million to registering voters. Is that enough? Or just a start?

Stephany Matat, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read

Florida Democrats are touting that they will "take back Florida" in part by investing $1 million into voter-registration efforts as Democrats lag behind Florida Republicans by more than 542,000 voters' registrations.

The $1 million will be used to bring voter registration efforts in-house, instead of relying on third-party organizations to help get out of the vote, said Eden Giagnorio, a spokesperson for the state party.

The money also will help pay for the hiring of a new voter-registration director to lead a statewide plan, and provide grants to local Democratic executive committees who work to get out the vote in their communities, Giagnorio said.

"This is just the beginning. This funding is a commitment we've made just for the rest of 2023," she said. "This is the beginning of our very targeted focus on voter registration, and we won't stop until we get there."

To promote the voter registration campaign, Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried also announced Wednesday that she will travel across Florida in a statewide tour. Fried said she will join other state-elected Democrats and officials in visits to 18 counties.

Nikki Fried and her Florida Democratic Party will spend $1 million for voter registration efforts. Republicans had a voter registration edge of about 200,000 voters in Florida last year. Her Republican contemporary, GOP Party chair Christian Ziegler, said of the Democrats: "Money is not going to solve their problems."
Nikki Fried and her Florida Democratic Party will spend $1 million for voter registration efforts. Republicans had a voter registration edge of about 200,000 voters in Florida last year. Her Republican contemporary, GOP Party chair Christian Ziegler, said of the Democrats: "Money is not going to solve their problems."

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Florida Democrats are struggling to retain and gain additional voter registrations. In last year's midterm elections, they suffered from astronomically low turnout among Democratic voters as the GOP scored wins in statewide routs.

A year ago, Republicans had a voter registration edge of about 200,000 voters, a number that has continually grown as Florida ceases its battleground-state status and moves into solid red state territory, though some Florida Democratic leaders refuse to accept that will remain the case.

Florida Republican Party chair Christian Ziegler said of the rival Democrats that "money is not going to solve their problems."

Ziegler said demographic changes were a top contributor to dominant Republican registration results. He said many families moved here from other states during the pandemic after being attracted by Florida's businesses and schools staying open compared to the rest of the country.

Ziegler also said Gov. Ron DeSantis' appeal and conservative leadership in Florida make people see Florida as "the freedom state."

"I just don't see how that money really makes a dent," Ziegler said. "A million dollars is not going to go far."

Ziegler said that Democrats had a similar strategy in 2019, when former chair Terrie Rizzo said the party planned to spend $2 million with a goal of signing up 200,000 Democratic voters. Since then, Democrats have lost their voter registration edge, squandering 265,000 voters once registered with their party.

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Florida Democrats plan an 18-county tour throughout August

State Democrats are set to embark on their 18-county tour starting Aug. 2 in Orlando. Some of the counties they will be visiting include Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, St. Lucie, Collier, Hillsborough, Duval and Seminole.

Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Duval and Hillsborough were former blue counties that reddened during the midterm elections.

Giagnorio said that Palm Beach County's tour stop will be on Aug. 10, two days after the one-year anniversary of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate being searched by FBI agents regarding classified documents.

Another challenge for state Democrats ahead of the 2024 elections is to get their voters to re-register to vote by mail: A new elections law requires voters to renew their requests to vote by mail every two years.

The law could mean a major drop in voter turnout if voters are not aware they need to refile or miss deadlines. That could disproportionately affect Democrats, who had 1.9 million requesting vote-by-mail ballots in 2022 compared to 1.4 million Republicans.

In Palm Beach County, about 361,000 vote-by-mail requests expired at the end of December, and as of Thursday, the county holds about 103,000 vote-by-mail requests for 2024, said Alison Novoa, a spokesperson with the county's supervisor of elections office.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Democrats to investment $1 million to register voters