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On National Voter Registration Day Andrew Gillum Celebrates By Invoking ‘Voter Suppression’

September 24, 2019 - 8:00am

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and of course Andrew Gillum, who has taken up the initiative to register a slew of new voters for the upcoming 2020 election, is excited. No, wait -- check that. He is “excitable.” Turns out, ahead of what is practically a national holiday for the former Tallahassee mayor and current CNN personality is instead a cause of concern.

Just before this joyous day could be properly celebrated, Gillum was instead resorting to that favorite pastime of the Democrats, charging that “voter suppression” was taking place. Something dire must have been discovered! Certainly some blatantly illegal and underhanded chicanery by the GOP has been exposed!

Oh ... K, then? At issue was the most unacceptable of occurrences, a website was not working correctly to the satisfaction of Andrew Gillum. The scare-quotes around “routine maintenance” was a nice touch. Now, of course, these are some serious charges, and some questions need to be answered! Starting with this one -- what vote was taking place that saw citizens having their rights denied?

Also, who exactly lost, or was denied the right to vote when a website was down on a Sunday morning for a matter of hours? Gillum’s hyperbolic tweet went out Sunday morning. The web page was back to being operational that afternoon. Democrats, though, saw some venal act in play. “Shuttering the online voter registration site, ‘for 'maintenance'” said Florida Democratic Party chairperson Terrie Rizzo, with all the bluster to match Gillum’s outrage, “is the latest act of voter suppression from a governor who has doubled down on voter suppression tactics during his short tenure."

Sure it does, Terrie. Or, it matches the timeline of a site going through a maintenance update, one that had been announced on the very same website ahead of Sunday’s disturbing shutdown. Sarah Revell, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, explained the site was being updated, and the charges of foul play were unfounded.

"RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov will be up and running this afternoon," Revell told The Hill on Sunday. "This maintenance window will help ensure the site is able to handle the anticipated increase in traffic on National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday." You mean they chose a slow traffic period in order to prepare for the anticipated rush today? Sounds less than ghastly. Especially, as Revell pointed out, they had announced the maintenance ahead of time, on the very same site.

Andrew Gillum
Andrew Gillum
The FDP in predictable fashion sent out a fundraising pitch about this supposed Republican plot to deny voters. That the website it complained about being nefariously shut down was up and running as they begged for cash to fight the oppression adds to the hilarity of the hysterics. The site was back to being operational at around 5 p.m. Sunday. Undeterred, the Dems are STILL incensed. “Shutting down the site just as Democrats ramp up their efforts to register voters smells like a politically motivated act by Governor DeSantis,” says Rizzo with comedic outrage.

Here's a question for which the Florida Dems and Terri Rizzo certainly cannot respond with a proper answer: If the website was down, how is it that this only managed to affect Democrats? Were Republicans somehow able to register in those dark hours, or did the closing for maintenance affect everyone? Rizzo, of course, would like it if you believe the former to be true. 

Let's try to imagine what the reaction would be had the state not taken the steps to update the site ahead of today's activities. If there were any indication of a problem, the caterwauling over voter suppression would only be louder ... and the fundraising off of it only more intense.

Brad Slager, a Fort Lauderdale freelance writer, wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News. He writes on politics and the industry and his stories appear in such publications as RedState and The Federalist.

Comments

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Emini S&P Trading Secret is so great they help me a lot in trading and making money, unlike the forex it disappoints me a lot. I will never trade back to forex again!

The Democrat party is the most dangerous terrorist organization to have ever threatened the United States.

Your article would have more credibility if it wasn't for the vast history of Republican voter suppression.

Like the Michigan Democrat found altering ballots this week? Or Broward County's infamous Brenda Sykes? Or the numerous other times Dems are found committing voter fraud and the media conveniently has no outrage?

Don't get me started on the vast history of Democrat ballot-box stuffing.

It would be interesting to see how many registrations there are on any typical Sunday. Probably very few. Internet is 24/7 so it makes little difference anyway, it's not like elections are imminent.

woah, that's kind of ironic to be down for maintenance on Nat'l Voter Registration Day. I'm not sure how much voter suppression went on, but that was a really dumb and questionable decision. I mean with your record on Gerrymandering, what is someone non-partisan to think about Floriduh having a fair election process, probably about as likely as Trump the Chump having a fair election process...baaahaaahaaa....

It was NOT shut down on National Voter Registration Day!.......Shame on you!

Did you even read the article? It was not down on registration day, it was on Sunday, for a short period. And if the site was down how does that only affect Dems, and help Reps? You are as hysterical as Gillum about a non-event.

Blarney. Every Democrat knows that the Republican party has ALWAYS engaged in voter suppression of one kind or another, sometimes in very petty, and often in very obvious, ways. DeSantis' action here is a really obvious example of that. The Democratic party has always led the Republicans in total voter registration ... and leads in this state by 300,000 or 400,000 registrations ... so ... to protect themselves as the minority party, the GOPs do everything in their power to prevent as many Democratic party voter registrations as possible. DeSantis' action here is just another one of those simple-minded moves ... even if it does, like gerrymandering, fly in the face of the most basic principle of democracy. Yale and Harvard aside, DeSantis is a partisan b**b.

Dear VoteDem2020: Please lay off that leftist KoolAid. Your nonsenseical blathering is not even playing to other leftist USA haters. Or anyone for that matter. OK here's your assignment: 1. Pretend you are not yourself but that you are a normal functional person with reasonable intelligence. 2. Then read your own post...see you are full of smelly brown like I've been telling you. Glad I could help you out there buddy. 3. Get professional help my friend while you still can.

VoteDem2020 has obviously drank heavily from the jug of leftist/fascist koolaid. He's probably part of the DNC class-action lawsuit against Iran where they're suing to be able to use the "death to America" slogan as the DNC 2020 election campaign slogan.

Got hate much? Sure looks that way.

This is were is draw the line. This is a great state to live in and if my name isn't Ben Dover then I swear I hope that douchebag does not get elected.

Hi Ben. I distinctly remember chatting with you at a Democrat party fund-raiser recently.

I 100% agree we just need Miami back from the Mexicans

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

Screw the Mexicans

All of us Floridians are so glad that this douchebag was mightily defeated in the election. What a complete piece of corrupt trash.

All hail Florida's political gadfly, Race Baiter In Chief, and Race Baiting Czar!!!! Florida: Thank you for not electing this sore loser.

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