>>As the election nears, NewsNight is on the roa for a conversation in Kissimmee.

>>We should aspire to actually invest in getting more people to participate in our elections, rather than wasting money and creating mechanisms of suppression of things that don't even exist.

>>Everybody should have a vote, but we've got to make sure that that is their vote in but one vote so that the outcome is fair and true.

>>We'll discuss the issues, the changes to election laws and efforts to turn out the vote.

NewsNight Conversations starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort and welcome to the second of two special edition of NewsNight Conversations.

Tonight the second of two discussions held on October 2nd in front of a live audience at the BEV Event Center in Kissimmee to talk about the upcoming election.

We'll be talking abou Floridians access to the polls following recent changes to state laws on voting and some of the issues motivating people ahead of November 5th.

But first, Krystel Knowles talks with two county election supervisors.

>>I will faithfully execute... >>The office of president of the United States.

>>Office of President of the United States.

>>Before you can have this, you must have this.

Whether you are a seasoned voter or heading to the polls for the first time, there are a few ke things you need to know before casting your ballot in Florida this election.

A 2021 change to the law means vote by mail ballots expire after each general election or every two years.

Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glenn Gilzean explains what happens when someone votes by mail.

>>As you sign up to get your vote by mail.

You're also signing up for ballot tracks and then you get a small little alert on your phone.

And they'll let you know when it's been counte or when it's been and when your ballot has arrived.

>>For those who prefer casting their ballot in person early voting is another option.

Osceola, Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Harrington says check your local office for dates and hours.

>>You can vote early at any of our nine early voting sites that are locate throughout the county.

We're going to be ope 12 hours a day for 14 days.

That's the maximum we can be, open by law.

We have on our website that you can check to see if there are lines at the location you want to go to.

The number one reason for not returning your mail ballot is you don't have a stamp.

We've taken care of that.

>>Recent changes to voting in Florida also mean secure ballot intake stations or drop boxes must be continuously monitored by an employee from the supervisor's office and are only available during specified hours.

Meanwhile, it's now a felony in Florida for organizations to collect and turn in voters completed mail in ballots in bulk, a practice critic describe as ballot harvesting.

The Orange and Osceola County supervisor say they've not seen any recent cases.

>>I've never seen anyone bring in an arm full of ballots.

So, I mean, I see people bring in moms and dads and grandmothers, but, you know, that's, you know, you can only turn in two ballots other than yours.

And your family's.

>>Ballot harvesting in the state of Florida is now deemed illegal.

You the law does dictate that you plus two ballots, is allowable, bu anything beyond that is illegal.

>>Felon voting rights also remain a live issue this election.

In 2018, voters passed a constitutional amendment restoring the rights of most former felons.

But confusion in 202 led to some returning citizens receiving voter registratio cards despite being ineligible, triggering legal repercussions.

>>We have a dedicated staff member to actually sit down with them and and review over their paperwork and make sure that, they're in compliance of the law.

>>The new change in law became effective on April 1st of this year, which led the Orange County Supervisor of Elections to make the designated staff availability as a service to the community.

>>Being tha I'm the former Urban League CEO, I still have my roots here and just working in the community hearing the concerns and a lot of the decisions and change I'm making is all community led.

These are not Glen Gilzean led.

>>Currently, there's no singl platform available for returning citizens to easily chec their voter eligibility status.

>>There is no central clearinghouse in Florida where I can go in and say, you know, this is my name and my Social Security number and I paid all my restitution.

We don't have that.

Usually we direct voter to go to the clerk of the court in the county in which they were convicted.

And often the clerk of the court has records.

But, you know, each county is different.

>>Krystel Knowles reporting on just some of Florida's more recent laws impacting the way Floridians can vote this election.

Well, to discuss this and other issues, I was joine at the Event Center in Kissimmee by Cecile Scoon, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

Carolina Wassmer, Florid State program director of Poder Latinx, a nonpartisan voter engagement organization.

Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which advocate on voting and criminal justice reform issues includin voting rights for former felons.

And John Newstreet, president and CEO of the Osceola Chamber of Commerce.

Let's start with a question for for all of you, pretty broad brush strokes, and I'll start with you, Desmond, on what you think th big issues are in this election.

>>That's a great question, Steve, for leave it to me.

I'll tell yo that the biggest issue is how we're, humanizing.

You know, how we treating people wit previous felony convictions.

I do believe that every major issue, that the public is concerned about in this country can be directly connected to how we engage with people who've been impacte by the criminal justice system.

>>Carolina, what do you think?

>>Yes, I think the economy is definitely an issue that our community is looking at and also immigration.

We know that it has been a top conversation on, you know, the benefits that immigrant bring to our community and strengthen our communit in the work, in the labor force with the diversity that they bring.

It's not only blue collar jobs, but people are coming from countries that are highly educated.

And so I think tha they're really looking at like what the candidates have to offer them.

>>Immigratio does seem to be a big priority in this election for many voters.

What do you think, John?

>>I agree.

Economy's, top of min for small business owners, for, the workforce.

And so, that's going to be I, you know, the old Le Atwater quote, I won't I'll let you subhead it into the article, but it's the economy.

And I think that's going to be a heavy motivator for voters.

>>Cecile, what are you hearing?

>>I'm hearing the concerns about a woman's right to have access to all of her health care choices with her, medical provider withou governmental intervention.

That is top of line that I'm hearing.

>>And I do want to get to that in a moment when we when we tal about the amendments.

Let me just stick with th the economy a moment because I feel like every election we talk about one of the big issues, and it always seems to come down to when you talk to voters themselves it's the economy all the time.

Why do you think voters, John, feel that the economy is not working for them, when what we actually see is a pretty good economy?

What do you think?

>>I'm not sure if we see a pretty good economy.

You know, my my wif and I go to the grocery store, and we have to be mindful about the groceries we buy and where we buy them from.

And, I fill up my gas tank.

And so, you know, those are real numbers that at the end of the week, impact my take home pa and my ability to to do things with my family.

So, so the macro numbers may look good.

And certainly when you look at, you know, geographic differences, there's, there's good stories and bad stories, but, you know, from an individual basis and looking at, you know, the too much ren at the end of the month, it's, that's that's you can throw you can put any indicator out there.

At the end of the day, it's what people are left with, with their hard earned money.

>>The affordability issues.

>>Amen, that's well said.

>>What do you think, Cecile?

I mean, i the is the affordability issue something which is driving voters in this election?

>>I think people are stil thawing out of the deep freeze from Covid.

And I think people are just taking their time to not really sure.

Hey, the gas was $2.69.

That's way under what it was.

And that's more money in your pocket, but I don't think it's going to stay there.

There's just this hesitancy to fully accep some of the good economy news.

>>I mean, underserved communities seem to be particularly hard hit by the economic factors that that John was talking about.

What do you hear when you talk to people, Desmond?

I mean, do you think the economy is the is that is the biggest issue in this election?

>>I think it's huge.

I mean, come on, even elections prior to this, I mean, we go all the way back to the Reagan era, you know, people always concerned about inflation.

They're always concerned about taxes.

Right.

And I get excited when I se this level of concern about it because I'm like, guys, look around.

The answer is right here.

You know, just sticking with Florida.

Florida over the pas ten years, Florida has lost over $300 billion of lost earning potentials because the barriers that they placed in front of people who served their time, right.

They've also los almost half $1 trillion, right.

That could have been pumped into the economy through home sales.

But then you hav someone like me with accolades that just because I have a history, jus because I've had a conviction, I find it hard to rent or even own a home.

And because I can't buy a home that prevents me from actually contributing over $122,000 that will be poured into the local economy if I were be able to do so.

>>We talked a lot about this in the previous panel, but I want to get your guys take on this as well, which is the economic issue of affordable housing.

That's obviously affordable housing is such a big issue, particularly in places like Osceola County.

And I wonder how much of an issue do you think that is in the election and whether it is driving voters to the polls?

John.

>>I think it's important.

I hope it drives voters to the poll and I hope they're informed.

We're growing so fast.

It's tough to find a home.

And if you find one, can you afford it?

>>Yeah.

>>And because we're growing so fast to build the infrastructure to support our population, we need to capture some of those fees.

So one of those waves here is mobility fees.

And that's on new development.

And so Osceola County and Saint Cloud both have raised their mobility fees going forward.

And already some of the highest in the state.

I can tell you that the most recent raise before you start construction on a house in Osceola County, prior to the fees and stuff, just to get to construction, we're about $31,000 per home now.

They've gone to over 40,000.

At one point they were over 50,000.

We were able to work with the government to to lower those, but think about $45,000 going into a house.

It's passed on to the consumer.

That then has to be amortized in a mortgage 30 years you're talking $100,000 in sunk costs.

There's no value on that.

And so that's on top of being able to get into a home and build your future.

>>You deal a lot with the Latino community but also young people as well.

Do you find that affordability, the affordable housing issue, to be an issue that concerns them or many of them just not in the market?

>>Definitely.

I mean, they might not be in the market right now, but they're definitely looking long term.

And we still see a lot of multigenerationa housing as well, where students are staying longer in the house to try to be able to, you know, pay rent and make sure they can be in the university.

>>What about the immigration issue writ large is that do you find something that you're being told, when you go around to, to to the community, is that an issue this election, do you think?

We certainly hear a lot about it, particularly on the Republican side.

>>Well, I feel that our community, you know, brings a lot of value when it comes to immigration.

We have a variety of status, that our immigrant community are.

And they just feel like they want to be valued.

They come here for the American dream to work hard and to pursue, you know, success.

And so what they're feeling is just making sure, like, you know, we're coming here to contribute to the economy, not to be a burden in the economy.

And so that's kind of ho the Latino community feels about what's going on.

>>I d want to talk a little bit about, sort of people's access to the polls.

And that's sort of something, I think that you have been, focused on a lot.

I would say, Desmond, there've been several changes to the to the voting laws in Florida in recent years that that could have, an impact on the electio this time, changes to voter ID rules, for example, dropboxes the collection of ballots by outside groups, for example, what opponents would call ballot harvesting.

And I wonde what each of you thinks would be or will be the the impact of these changes on elections.

I guess we had the midterms last time to to to get an idea of that.

What do we think it's going to mean for voting this time?

Let's start with you, Desmond.

>>So there are a lot of conversations about election integrity, but we believe it start and stop with the state, right?

That at the end of the day, it's it's the burden is on the stat to ensure that before they issue anyon the voter identification card, that they're eligible to vote.

And we know since Bush v Gore, right, tha the election system was broken and the state, in spite of the resources that had never really invested in elections as they should have.

And because of that, what we've seen over the last couple of years have been arrests being made of people.

And every single one, have one thing in common.

Even the individuals in, in Tennessee or or in Texas that was arrested for voting illegally.

The one thing in common that they held that they were all issued a vote identification card by their respective states.

Right.

And the question is if you cannot rely on the state to determine voter eligibility, then who the hell can you rely on?

When anyone see that on television on the news right now they're having second thoughts about whether or not it's worth them even registering to vote or if they're registered, whether it's worth them even going and exercising their right to vote.

And that is a huge problem in this state and across this country.

>>You're talking about those arrest after the 2022 midterm elections where people were th some former felons were issued voter ID cards, and then what they went ahead and voted and then it was found that tha they were not eligible to vote.

Has the state done enough in your mind since then to make it easier for people to figure out whether they can vote or not?

>>Well, I think right now, as we speak, tha the state is making some efforts right now to change at least some of its policies because one of the, the, the frustrating, situations that we had to deal with with the after we passed amendment four, the state inserted itself into the process and insisted that they have implementing legislation and their legislation that required the payment of outstanding legal financial obligations before a perso could actually register to vote.

The problem at the time was, was that even though they made that requirement when someone went to the state, say, okay, how much I owe, the state couldn't tell them, right?

And so I think now what they're doing is, is really taking legitimate steps to ensure that if anyone has a question about their eligibility, that the state will impose, have a self-imposed timeline to actually giv that person a definite answer.

And if they cannot, if they cannot, they would not and should not stand in the way of that perso participating in our democracy.

>>I do want to talk a little bit about the voter laws here in the state, particularly on voter ID and drop boxes, collection of ballots and so forth.

Do you think they will have do you think they had a measurable effect in 2022, and do you think they will do in November?

>>We know that it's impacting, people's ability to vote.

When you take away drop boxe that used to be available 24/7 now with people who work more multiple jobs have intergenerational responsibilities at home.

They have blue collar jobs.

They don't get an hour and a half off for lunch.

They get 30 minutes.

They got to be back on the line.

Those people, they are the ones being targeted.

And unfortunately, because of our histor in this nation and in the state, many African American are disproportionately impacted.

People with disabilities.

They could be in their car and drop it in literally drop it in the drop box.

Now everybody has to be there doing regular business hours.

Whatever the superviso of elections business hours are, you have to get out of your car, walk, walk, walk.

But it has to be don during regular business hours.

That one thing has been very impactful.

>>These are laws that the legislature passed with the idea that it would make the elections more secure.

That was certainly the the stated goal.

I wonder what you hear from from the constituents that you talk to.

>>Well, we're also worried that on Election Day you have to bring that ballot to the Supervisor of Elections office.

You can't just drop it off a any drop off location anymore.

So that's also creating, you know, either they would get a preliminary ballot on that if they decide to switch their ballot.

So we're kind of seeing that in our community.

We're asking to vote early.

Like, you know we get ten days to vote early.

So there's three ways to vote.

Vote early, vote on Election Day or vote by mail.

So we're just trying to encourage to use the other variety of ways to vote.

As mentioned, you know, if our community has 2 or 3 jobs, it's not always easy for them to take time t to complete the ballot at home and make sure it gets in the post box, but maybe they could stop by after work and, you know, go into a supervisor of elections office and complete it, or into one of the local libraries or community centers that you can go.

>>But what difference does it make to an organization like yours?

For example, you can't now take in a whole batch of ballots and drop them off for people.

How does it change the calculus in how you operate as a, as a sort of get out the vote organization?

>>Definitely.

Well, we do a lot more of advocacy work just on letting the community know we can't collect it anymore.

You have to make sure it's in, make sure it's in on time, making sure that with what's going on in the USPS Postal Service, that it makes it on time, that it needs to be in by Election Day, it can be postmarked.

So we're just making sure that our community's educated on making sure that they know when it needs to be in by and that they know where they can turn it into.

And we just we can't turn it in for you, but we can give you all the information you need to make sure that it makes it in on time.

>>And if I may, if I go back to my days in the American Legion, and this might be a little out of whack with the rest of the panel.

But, you know, there's a saying in the veteran community about some gave all, all gave some.

And so to think about the sacrifice some of our soldiers, men an women have have given for that, that the power of democracy and the right to vote.

I ran for state House here in Florida in 2017.

It was a special election.

So it was a very short window.

And I lost by 99 votes, I think, which was 1% in the outcome.

The next day at the post office, over 800 ballots arrived.

So, so we don't know who they were.

We didn't open them.

I could have won.

I could have lost.

But, but that's an important lesson to making sure people know.

I mean, yeah there's some new laws in place, but when I, when I think about the sacrifice of those veterans, when I think about the fact that I, who am a dedicated, civic minded citizen, have but one vote, then I sure hope they get it right.

And I sure hope that one vote doesn't cancel mine out because my effort, my vision is wasted for that.

And and so when you loo at the delay of overseas ballots for our veterans who take a little longer to vote in that process and the 90 day election and impacted my outcome, and I'm not complaining.

It was probably a blessing I lost.

I met my wife, and so, but- >>But those but those voter laws are not necessaril a bad thing in your mind.

If we're strengthening the the the confidence in the in the outcome.

>>So to Desmon is, yeah, everybody should have and everybody should have a vote.

Yeah.

But we've got to make sure that that is their vote.

And but one vote so that the outcome is fair and true.

>>If I may jump in, everybody said including the governor and the then, Secretary of State, Secretary Lee, at the time in 2020, it was national news that Florida was way ahead.

They had made some changes to streamlined counting the votes and early voting.

And everybody was like, this is great.

We have the answer.

And watch Florida three months later people were saying, same people.

Well we don't have any known problem, but we want to spend millions of dollars to squash a bug that doesn't even exist.

>>I think that we should aspire to actually invest in getting more people to participate in our elections, rather than wasting money and creating mechanisms of suppression of things that don't even exist.

>>I think it's supporters of the new laws would say, well, that we may not have had a problem, but there's nothing wron with getting ahead of the issue.

I think that's what's, what they would say.

I do want to talk a little bit about, some of the amendments, that are on the ballot because some of these are pretty consequential.

And I wonder what what you guys think are going to be the the issues to watc when it comes to the amendments this time.

I'll start with you, Desmond.

>>You know, naturally, I' going to talk about, amendment three, you know-- >>That's the marijuana legalization.

>>Yes.

And that's legalizing.

And it speaks to the over criminalization of especially poor folks.

And I think that all of that really speaks to how we, as a country of the community need to rethink our criminal justice system need to rethink how we are approachin people who've been impacted by the criminal justice system.

You know, it's not just about legalizing marijuana.

It's really about opening our eyes to the things that we've done in the past that made no sense, serve no purpose, but to harm communities and harm economies and public safety.

>>Carolina what do you hear?

>>Well, at Poder Latinx you know, we are talking to the community about the importance of amendment four and being able for women-- >>Abortion.

>>Yes, being able for women to have the right to choose, being able to have those conversations 1 to 1 with their doctors, you know, the women that come from Latin America and their families, they se the American healthcare system as something, you know, very very organized and that they feel that they should be abl to have the right to speak with their doctors on the health care that they need.

It's not always like this in Latin America, where they can receive the help that they need on a timely manner.

So we really, you know, talk to our community about the importance of making sure that they understand that even though, you know, it's a personal choice that, you know, we should be able to have those choices in those conversation with our health care providers.

What do you think in terms of the amendments?

What catches your eye?

>>Amendment three, marijuana.

I'm currently the chair, the volunteer role for the year with the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals.

So we aren't, FHCP isn't the Osceola Chamber is not taking a stand, but there's a lot packed into that amendment.

And what we've seen, occur in other communities with similar, laws.

And so I'm just going to make sure that they are educated as they go to the polls on that one in particular.

>>I mean, there is concern that maybe it hands too much power to just a handful of large operators.

On the other hand, it frees up a lot of economic resources for the state.

>>There's yes and yes, but there's a cost, I think, on the latter.

And so, just understanding you know, what your vote is and its impact to both your business, your community.

Again, our our aim is just to inform, not to persuade at this time.

>>Sure.

What about you Cecile?

What what stands out to you as an important issue on th on the amendment side of things?

>>We are very focuse on amendment four because we believe tha a woman's right to her health care and in terms of the siz of her family or no family, directly impacts her ability to be civically involved, to have the time to read, to run for office, for education and employment.

It's so intrinsically connected to, in our belief, the right to vote that we're very, very strong in support of amendment four.

We'r also very concerned about that.

I believe it's amendment six with, public funds for statewide candidate campaign financing because if we don't have that, you're only going to have billionaires and millionaires or people close to millionaires and billionaires running for state office.

It's not possible for the average person.

And good ideas come from a lot of different people with economic a different economic experiences and abilities.

And so it's kind of something people don't realize, but you don't want only one voice.

You want a myriad of voices and a myriad of experiences at the statehouse to provide remedies, ideas, and excitement for everybody.

>>The second of our discussions, held recently in Kissimmee.

>>Meanwhile, WUCF has teamed u with our public media partners around the state to create a voter guide to help you navigate the candidates and where they stand on the issues this election.

You can find this important resource at wucf.org/vote.

Next week, NewsNight will return with our final episode before the election.

Be sure to join us for that next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

In the meantime, from all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.