Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried joined state lawmakers and pastors and faith leaders from across Florida for a press conference in opposition to Senate Bill 90, which would restrict vote-by-mail registration to just one election cycle and eliminate vote-by-mail ballot drop boxes. Fried is an independently-elected member of the Florida Cabinet and Clemency Board, which oversees the restoration of civil and voting rights in Florida. SB 90 has been widely criticized by local Florida supervisors of elections as expensive and unnecessary.
ENGLISH VIDEO: Commissioner Fried’s remarks can be viewed and downloaded here in English.
Below are Commissioner Fried’s remarks as delivered:
Good morning everyone. I’m Nikki Fried, Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
As a past Public Defender, I saw first-hand the injustice of the criminal justice system. And now, as a member of the Florida Cabinet and the Florida Clemency Board, I’ve spent the last two-plus years fighting to expand access to the ballot box. To make sure that we’re bringing back individuals who have been left out of society back into the fold.
What this bill does is silence those voices. This bill does nothing good but harm and silence the people who need a voice at the table. We must stand together united to fight voter suppression. Too many people in our history have marched, have fought, and have lost their lives to give us the right to vote today.
And now, this Legislature is doing everything they can to suppress those votes and to turn back time – to a time and place when people didn’t have the right to vote, didn’t have access to the ballot box, and we must stand united to fight this. This is voter suppression, because they don’t want to hear from the people. And we see this time and time again in the [Capitol] building behind us – that when the people vote, they don’t even listen.
So we now need to stand together to expand voting access, to make sure more and more people have that right to vote – because this is fundamental of our democracy. To hear from the people, and to make sure that they are electing the people that represent them.
We as elected officials are their proxy, and I take that very seriously. And so, on behalf of the citizens of our state, the people want to vote.
We’ve got to make sure that we are fighting this, and that we are standing up – and as the Reverend said, if they don’t listen, then we vote them out. Thank you.
