State Sen. Joe Gruters recently wrote of his opposition to the proposed All Voters Vote Amendment. His column illustrates a number of misconceptions about the proposal, begging this response.
All Voters Vote is a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution designed to allow all qualified registered voters to vote in primaries for the Florida Legislature, governor and Cabinet, regardless of the political party affiliation of voters and candidates.
The All Voters Vote Amendment will not take away the political parties’ ability to freely associate nor their power to choose their own candidates.
In fact, the All Voters Vote amendment expressly acknowledges and respects the rights of political parties to choose their own candidates by declaring that “Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a political party from nominating a candidate to run for office under this subsection.”