There’s no such thing as a normal election in Florida. But the 2022 contest has been weird, even by Sunshine State standards. It started at the top of the ticket, where a past governor who wants to be a future governor is challenging the present governor, who often seemed to be running for a different office entirely. The strangeness filtered down: We had some candidates who wouldn’t campaign, and many voters who aren’t voting.
And one unregistered, unwelcome player named Nicole, who could make a big difference in races that look close.
At the end of a long and tumultuous season, however, it’s important to recognize all the people who worked themselves close to exhaustion, and all those who treated this exercise in democracy with the respect, reverence and passion it deserves:
To the candidates with the courage to present themselves to voters, knowing the mere act of stepping forward could expose them to deeply personal attacks and outright lies. To the staff who spent months away from their families. To the dedicated campaign volunteers who worked tirelessly on behalf of a candidate or cause they believed in. Some knew they faced nearly impossible odds. Others are still reeling from a victory or defeat they didn’t anticipate. But every one of them should be honored for the choice they offered voters.
To Florida’s 67 county elections supervisors and their professional staff, who faced unprecedented — and undeserved — attacks on their integrity even as they went above and beyond to ensure that every ballot was treated with the reverence it deserved. (One standout: Seminole County’s chief administrative officer Charlene Pike, who might be wrapping up 25 years of service with this as her last election.) To the thousands of pollworkers in Central Florida counties who went through training and showed up, particularly on Election Day, to perform an often-thankless job.
To the organizations who advocated on behalf of voters and did their best to provide them with trustworthy information on local and state races — including those in partisan organizations who approached this campaign season with the same integrity and passion they’ve always shown.
And finally, to the voters who researched the candidates and then took the time to ensure that their voices were heard and took the time to know the candidates and issues. They devoured the Sentinel’s nuts-and-bolts election coverage, making it some of the most viewed on our site with hundreds of thousands of hits.
Elections stories often focus on the bad actors: The people who cheat, lie and trick their way into victory, who stage vicious attacks, misrepresent their opponents, play on voters’ worst impulses and fears.
But there are so many more who do this for the right reasons and refuse to compromise their principles.These are the people who understand that democracy is often hard work. Who refuse to stand on the sidelines. Who believe in the core values that this nation’s founders sacrificed to bring to life, and are willing to fight for them in the way those founders intended.
To borrow a phrase: They are righteous and they are patriots. We thank them. Win or lose, they are part of what keeps this nation great — year after year.
Shelter voters from the storm
As Nicole approaches Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis must make it clear that he’s not going to allow partisanship to overwhelm his duty to protect Floridians’ votes, along with Floridians themselves.
That includes communicating clear guidelines to elections officials. The most immediate need: Extend deadlines for the “cure” affidavits that many voters have been asked to provide after their ballots were challenged, or irregularities were detected. By law, those affidavits must be in local supervisors’ hands by 5 p.m. Thursday. It appears that those affidavits can be submitted via email, but the process can be technically challenging. Certainly, DeSantis doesn’t want voters out driving in gale-force winds to ensure their ballots are counted.
Some advocates have already asked DeSantis to push voters’ deadline to to Sunday night. That makes sense; voters were promised the chance to fix their ballots if they ran afoul of the myriad complexities of new voting laws. They shouldn’t have to choose between protecting their lives and protecting their votes.
The same goes for the canvassing boards, elections-office workers and pollwatchers who will be monitoring the post-election process to certify the vote. Most local supervisors we contacted say they’re not worried about that aspect — at least, not yet. They have 10 days before they must certify vote totals; officials in counties that are hardest hit can put those meetings on hold until after storm winds die down.
But state elections officials should be sending out a plan now so that local officials know what contingencies to prepare for. We have been told that no such plan has been communicated; all local officials can do now is say: “That’s up to the state.”
That’s puzzling and concerning. Filling that gap should be a priority for DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
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