With voter registration closed for the 2020 election in Florida, it’s clear a trend has continued of voters moving away from the major parties. The number of Florida voters registered with no party affiliation or with third parties jumped by more than 10% since the 2016 election. By comparison, Democratic registration went up around 6% and Republicans bumped their numbers up by almost 10%.

That’s despite the fact Florida’s closed primary system simply doesn’t reward such independent thought. Honestly, even those who register with a party often lose out on the chance to influence election outcomes if they live in a jurisdiction where they remain outnumbered.

So it’s probably inevitable that at some point voters who feel disenfranchised will someday overthrow the election system as we know it. It could happen in a few weeks if voters pass Amendment 3, dubbed “All Voters Vote.” Yet, I’m not certain the resulting jungle primary would produce better results, especially for casual voters who pay little attention to politics until the build-up to the general election.

Before getting into doubts on the measure, let’s acknowledge abuses of the current primary system than frustrate voters today. One in particular, the write-in loophole, provides a free mechanism for partisan hacks to freeze thousands of voters out of elections frequently. For a local example, check out the race for an open Manatee County Commission seat this year. More than 112,000 registered Republicans had the chance in the primary to decide if George Kruse or Ed Hunzeker should be the GOP nominee, though only around 37,000 bothered to vote in August; they chose Kruse.

But nearly 149,000 Manatee County voters registered as anything but Republicans don’t vote until this November, when they will see Kruse’s name on the ballot beside a blank line. They could write something there, but unless they vote for qualified write-in Thomas Dell, their votes will be tossed. Kruse effectively won the seat six weeks ago. I don’t raise this to criticize Kruse, the beneficiary of a broken system, but that simply isn’t how democracy should work. Dell closing the primary exploits an oversight in Florida’s existing open primary law, which but for the candidacy would at least have allowed all voters to participate in the August race, the way all Sarasota County voters could weigh in on Sheriff when only Republicans filed. That’s just one reason voters hunger for a system allows all voters to vote in August regardless.

Yet, it doesn’t account for problems seen with top two systems in other states.

Amendment 3 would replace Florida’s closed primaries with a system where all candidates would appear one a single ballot, at least for state offices from Governor through the Legislature. Democrats, Republicans and whoever else could vote in August, and only two candidates would advance to a November runoff. That sounds great, but it’s actually led to many new tactical tricks in other states. Consider a U.S. Senate race in Georgia right now where two candidates in November will advance to a runoff. It should be one of the hottest battleground races in the nation, but polls show the Republican incumbent and another GOP candidate advancing.

That can happen anytime more serious contenders emerge in one party than the other. It’s been noted in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race, the two-candidate GOP primary resulted in Adam Putnam get more votes than top Democrat Andrew Gillum received in a primary field of five major campaigns. I doubt voters would have been happy seeing just Putnam and now-Gov. Ron DeSantis on the November ballot.

Florida’s current system provides to many ways to disenfranchise voters in the minority within the jurisdiction where they live. It needs to be fixed. But a jungle primary system replaces one set of problems with another, and likely won’t leave anyone happier with the election outcomes.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ MEDIA. 

As our local minority communities continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, New College students and faculty are working alongside the Multicultural Action Team (MAT) to help. The MAT initiative—funded by a $342,000 grant to Tidewell Hospice through the Manatee County CARES Act—focuses on serving at-risk residents through prevention, education and research. Nine interns/scholars and three professors from New College are currently collaborating with Sarasota’s Multicultural Health Institute (MHI) on the effort.

“This is a way that I can give back when the community is struggling and suffering,” says Alia Quadir, a New College thesis student who has interned with the MHI since the summer and is continuing to work with the MAT this semester. “It gives this whole pandemic and the series of crises right now a kind of purpose.”

The MHI, founded in 1995 by Dr. Lisa Merritt (an adjunct professor at New College), has helped more than 10,000 people receive direct pandemic-related assistance since March. The organization has also distributed over 13,000 masks locally and nationally.

“It has been our honor and privilege to care for and educate the community on health equity issues while also developing future healthcare leadership,” Merritt says. “We are excited at the opportunity to solidify longstanding collaborations into the MAT, which will continue to improve awareness of health and wellness issues while preventing spread and complications from COVID-19 amongst vulnerable populations.”

Some of the MHI’s community services include educating individuals on best practices in multiple languages; testing and connecting people to health resources while tracking results; and developing long-term solutions to problems within social institutions and the healthcare system.

“Over the summer with the MHI, I was working on a podcast, interviewing people who had COVID-19, to amplify their voices in the community and provide a cultural, historical context for the pandemic,” Quadir says. “I also tried to find people who needed food, health or rent assistance and connect them to local resources.”

MHI interns helped track the weekly COVID-19 case data provided by the Florida Department of Health, and maintained a Google map that identified cases by zip code in Sarasota and Manatee counties. They were part of a team that compiled pediatric case data and advised local school boards about stricter protocols for reopening campuses. New College has been involved with the MHI for years, but the interns currently helping with this work are Quadir, Olympia Fulcher, Charlotte Leavengood, Austin Mason, Perry Spike, Megan Galeski, Erika Calle, Cyriac Versini and Ryan May (an alum).

The New College faculty members leading the project are Uzi Baram, professor of Anthropology and Heritage Studies; Queen Zabriskie, assistant professor of Sociology; and Kristopher Fennie, assistant professor of Epidemiology. The professors are hosting weekly meetings to mentor the interns, as well as providing various perspectives on the pandemic and the significance of community outreach. And students like Quadir are working with the MHI and the MAT while taking a remote course this fall at New College entitled "COVID-19: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Pandemic."

“New College attracts people who want to work on changing the world and increasing social justice,” Baram says. “These students are willing to go beyond their own personal struggles and challenges to make a difference for marginalized groups.”

Our socially-conscious students—guided by their supportive professors—are truly making us proud.

Dr. Donal O’Shea is president of New College of Florida. 

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Sarasota’s City Commission races are nonpartisan, but in each of the three districts, candidates can be easily distinguished by those whose donations are overwhelmingly from pro-development sources and those whose donors are primarily residents fighting to have a say in how the city develops. But in addition to that age-old issue, I implore our city voters to consider their candidate’s record of accomplishment and civic engagement before they mark their ballots. Perhaps more than ever before, intelligence, experience, ethics and ability matter this November.

Ask yourself the following simple — yet telling — questions: Does my candidate have an actual stake in the community? Has my candidate contributed to the city in any notable way? Has my candidate been a member of at least one city or county advisory board? Does my candidate vote regularly? Does my candidate attend any neighborhood association meetings?

Did my candidate perform well at all the candidate debates? Does my candidate have the financial skill to handle decisions affecting the City’s $225 million budget? On a personal level, does my candidate have a stable employment record and has he/she conducted his/her personal finances responsibly? If you are voting for someone simply because of one issue of importance to you, please remember that your district commissioner will need the wisdom to vote on all city issues for the next four years. And the next four years promise to be challenging.

I have asked and answered these questions myself and the result is that I am supporting: Willie Shaw in District 1; Terry Turner in District 2; and Eric Arroyo in District 3.

Eileen Walsh Normile is a former Sarasota City Commissioner and former chair of the Sarasota City Planning Board.