Florida Democratic Chair Fried blames voter suppression amid massive GOP registration lead
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried pointed to a lack of organization and voter suppression amid the party’s lack of strong statewide performances and registration trends.
The comments come just months from the 2024 presidential election and after news came out that Democrats are facing a historically steep registration deficit to state Republicans of more than 850,000, according to recent data.
“Florida is an under-organized, voter suppressed state,” Fried said. “When you have a Democratic Party who’s able to overcome all of those issues, which is what we are working on last year and this year, it puts Florida in play.”
The state party also declared on Monday, “We’re putting in the work to put Florida back into play in 2024.”
State law requires local supervisors of elections to clean out voter rolls of inactive voters.
Voters are given notice of this ahead of time, and voters are able to respond to notices to remain active, under state law.
Democrats have lost over half-a-million voters since 2022, much less than Republicans, who have remained much more steady, while still losing some until recently.
The Florida Department of State says that an inactive voter is someone who has not responded within 30 days to a notice of inactivity. The voter can be deemed inactive if they do not participate in two general elections. This “cleanout” cannot occur during the 90 days before a federal election.
‘Battleground’ no more? Florida Republicans approach general election with 850,000+ lead
In March, Republicans breached the 850,000 lead mark, a trend that hasn’t been slowing down for Republicans.
That leads contrasts from the last Division of Elections report earlier this year, which handed Republicans a lead of still under 800,000 as of late-2023.
“Our grassroots are keeping the pedal to the metal by registering more voters every day,” said Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power earlier this month. “Floridians continue to reject the radical left’s agenda and are helping us make Florida a more Republican state.”
