(Correction: Earlier versions of this editorial, including in Sunday\u2019s Sentinel newspaper, had an incorrect date for next month\u2019s primary election. Election Day is Aug. 18.)<\/p>\n
Thursday night, President Donald Trump leveled bombshell allegations<\/a> against a wide array of nations, groups and people he claims are conspiring to undermine the integrity of American elections.<\/p>\n Many of those claims dissolved almost immediately as fact-checkers got to work. But what remained was clear: The factions doing the most to undermine federal, state and local elections are Trump himself and the hyperpartisan state leaders who rushed to redraw congressional district lines and undermine laws meant to protect the sacred principle of one person, one vote.<\/p>\n Editorial: When leaders shift blame, be wary<\/a><\/p>\n Most notably, a handful of states focused on redrawing congressional maps to gain partisan advantage, with GOP lawmakers scheming in Florida and Texas, and Democrats pushing through new partisan lines in California.<\/p>\n Democracy\u2019s defenders<\/p>\n But heroes in both parties are protesting: When Trump asked Georgia\u2019s Republican Secretary of State to \u201cfind 11,780 votes\u201d in 2020 to keep him in power, Brad Raffensperger said no. Some of Florida\u2019s most respected Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Dan Webster (who has represnted Central Florida for decades) protested the GOP\u2019s nakedly aggressive new lines.<\/p>\n The real defenders are close to home. Floridians can be proud of the way the state\u2019s 67 county elections supervisors have locked arms in defense of elections security and voter access \u2014 a solidarity that was on splendid display last week as elections leaders from Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties roundtable hosted by the News Collaborative of Central Florida.<\/p>\n Four are Republicans and two are Democrats. Each has a track record of putting vote integrity above partisanship.<\/p>\n Floridians need that defense. Because they\u2019ve seen too much evidence that people in power who fear the judgment of voters will do almost anything to keep them from voting. That was on full display in Trump\u2019s Thursday night speech. The president\u2019s gusher of disinformation and conspiracy theories is designed to create support for voter suppression measures, including passing the SAVE America Act, which could keep millions<\/a> from casting ballots.<\/p>\n For now, voters in Florida are more likely to be tripped up by smaller hurdles. That includes driver license revisions<\/a> as well as precinct and district changes stemming from congressional redistricting.<\/p>\n In a continuing series of editorials, the Orlando Sentinel is joining the South Florida Sun Sentinel\u2019s editorial board to provide information on voting rights and risks, with advice on how to ensure your vote is counted.<\/p>\n Florida voters get it<\/p>\n Floridians understand the damage political gerrymandering can do. It\u2019s why, in 2010, 63% voted to amend the state constitution, barring gerrymandering<\/a> and requiring fair districts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that Gov. Ron DeSantis did not have fairness or the constitution<\/a> in mind when he made sure Fox News, not lawmakers or voters, saw Florida\u2019s new congressional maps first.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s four million Democrats represent 30% of state voters. But almost all the new congressional districts are heavily gerrymandered to ensure that Democrats lose as many as four seats in a state where the GOP already hold 20 of the state\u2019s 28 congressional districts. The new lines take a hatchet to common-sense representation.<\/p>\n Take the new Congressional District 9, which used to cover a compact area that included all of Osceola County and parts of Orange and Polk. Now it reaches from downtown Orlando all the way down to Glades County, creating a district that will be nearly impossible to represent effectively. It\u2019s clear, however, that nobody cares: The real aim was to unseat U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a popular, moderate Democrat. The new district \u00a0voted 58-41 for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and 53-46 for Trump in 2020. But the GOP almost immediately saw the unintended consequences of their decision: In this district, as well as others around the state, a multitude of Republicans are spending millions beating each other up.<\/p>\n And because those Republicans will compete in winner-take-all primaries in August, gerrymandering sidelines moderate Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. In fact, it seems likely to produce candidates who play to their pary\u2019s moxt extreme views..<\/p>\n But the immediate consequence of redistricting so close to the midterm elections is voter confusion.<\/p>\n Redistricting usually starts at the beginning of the decade, well ahead of elections. That gives local supervisors of elections time to prepare voters, and voters time to familiarize themselves with new districts and candidates.<\/p>\n The new Florida maps were so rushed, and make such dramatic changes, that voters may not know which congressional district they are in.<\/p>\n Local leadership<\/p>\n Orange County\u2019s congressional map was among the most mangled in the state, and Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel says her staff had to send out two rounds of updated voter ID cards, a total that topped 800,000, to let voters know which districts they were in, and where to cast their ballots. In-person voters must vote at their correct precinct, and some precinct polling places have changed. It\u2019s been a gargantuan task, she said Saturday. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to divert a lot of workload \u2026 people are working weekends, late nights, overtime,\u201d she said, but she also understands that many of the people who got new cards didn\u2019t realize information has changed.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why she and other county supervisors are urging voters to take time\u00a0 to identify their new districts and precincts. They can do that on supervisor\u2019s official websites or by calling local elections offices.<\/p>\n At the roundtable, local leaders were clear: Voting \u2014 by mail, at early voting sites and on Election Day \u2014 is safe and secure. But we agree with Seminole County Supervisor Amy Pennock, who worried that national controversy might undermine turnout in the August 24 primary and November general election. Pennock, along with Dentel, Brevard\u2019s Tim Bobanic, Lake\u2019s Alan Hays, Osceola\u2019s Mary Jane Arrington and Volusia\u2019s Lisa Lewis have all been staunch defenders of the sanctity of the vote. We hope Central Florida voters pay more attention to these local leaders, people who have proven themselves worthy of trust, than they do to the fake alarms being raised by Trump and state leaders.<\/p>\n Voting information<\/p>\n People who want to register to vote , or change their party affiliation for the August 18 primary have until Monday to make those changes.<\/p>\n Brevard www.votebrevard.gov<\/a> 321-290-8683; 800-579-4780 or 833-803-0613 (Spanish).<\/p>\n Lake www.lakevotes.gov<\/a> 352-343-9734<\/p>\n Orange www.voteorangefl.gov<\/a> (new address) \u00a0407-836-2070 or 407-836-8683 for questions about voting by mail.<\/p>\n Osceola www.voteosceola.gov<\/a> 407-742-6000<\/p>\n