This week, the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are partnering to launch a massive texting campaign to encourage Floridians to register to vote-by-mail. Hundreds of volunteers will text over one million Florida voters asking them to vote-by-mail in the upcoming election. Florida Democrats have long invested in boosting vote-by-mail turnout among unlikely voters, and this method of remote voting is increasingly important in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The DNC and FDP built a strong campaign infrastructure early and are quickly adapting it to function digitally. For example,in late January, the DNC bought tens of millions of cell phone numbers across the country, including Florida, to improve voter contact. FDP’s team has already registered 54,000 voters this cycle and completed 45,000 volunteer shifts. These types of early investments are paying dividends as Democrats continue to campaign under new circumstances and work to modernize our elections to protect voters.
In 2018, the Florida Democratic Party executed a one million dollar program to increase vote-by-mail participation and helped sign up more than 578,000 new Democrats to vote remotely. Record vote-by-mail turnout is the reason why more Democrats voted in the 2020 Florida primary compared to 2016, despite lower in-person turnout on election day. Vote-by-mail is a reliable and safe method for Floridians to vote during this time of uncertainty.
“We need to modernize our voting systems to protect voters, and our partnership with the DNC to enroll Floridians in vote-by-mail does just that. If Trump and DeSantis won’t act to protect the vote from a global pandemic, we will.”
“The DNC is proud to partner with the Florida Democratic Party and state parties across the country to implement innovative tactics like this one that allow us to continue communicating with voters during this time. Some of our methods have changed, but our work to defeat Trump and help Democrats win at every level is advancing strongly.”