Florida Ballots Begin as Candidates Make Final Push Before Nov. 3
Vote-by-mail is underway in Florida while candidates for a redrawn congressional seat and a school board seat prepare their closing arguments.
By Harper Laurent ·
Early ballots are being cast in Florida ahead of the Nov. 3 election, with campaigns making their final arguments to voters this week. Two candidates appearing on WMNF's Community Speaks this week are Kimberly Overman, running for the U.S. House 12th congressional district, and Kimberly Coward, a candidate for Pasco County school board district 1.
The 12th district was redrawn after a federal court fight. A lower court struck down an earlier version of the map, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida later upheld a new one. Florida's governor then signed the revised map into law. In the Pasco school board race, elections are held on a staggered schedule, so three of the five seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail over the weekend and spoke in Michigan. His appearances have centered on a message he has repeated to crowds: "Are you fired up? Ready to vote?" He is campaigning for Democratic candidates. News and Public Affairs Director Sean Kinane has invited candidates to deliver their campaign pitches to voters through the Community Speaks program.
The broader political backdrop includes election results abroad. In Brazil, President Inacio Lula da Silva was retained in office. Youth-led movements have also altered leadership in Serbia and Hungary, and a youth movement in India has emerged as a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the program is devoting time to the technology behind anonymous browsing. The U.S. government developed TOR, short for The Onion Router, initially for military use before releasing it to the public. The system was designed to let users move through online information without being detected. Geoff White's documentary "The Birth of the Dark Web" examines how that tool became widely used, including by drug dealers and human traffickers.
WMNF will carry election results and analysis on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
