The next meeting of the Florida State Table will be in June, 2005. For more information, contact Bob Schaeffer.

This is a very important meeting: we will begin planning for the 2005-2006 electoral cycles assisted by senior staff from Grassroots Solutions, a consulting firm with offices in Minneapolis, Washington and Portland, that has been engaged by the Center for Civic Participation to help state tables with research and constituency targeting.

Here's a tentative agenda:

• Brief updates on current Civic Engagement work in Florida by participating groups

• Planning for 2006 and beyond - Research Needs discussion with Grassroots Solutions -- questions to answer and assumptions to test - 2005 Florida Local Races -- Tests and Models - Relationship with Likely 2006 Ballot Campaigns (e.g. Redistricting, Constitutional Amendment Supermajority, and Gay Marriage Ban) - Preparing for 2006 State Legislative Session - Voter Registration Expectations - Missing Pieces/Next Steps - Tasks and Timelines

• Future Table Meetings - Date(s)/Location(s) - Agenda Topics - Potential Additional Participants

More than three dozen national and statewide c3 organizations engaged in non-partisan voter registration, voter education and Get Out the Vote campaigns in Florida began working together in 2004 through National Voice’s civic engagement “Table.” Their collaboration is expanding in 2005-2006 under the auspices of the Center for Civic Participation (CCP).

Despite four devastating hurricanes, floods and widespread power blackouts, the staff and volunteers from participating “Table” groups registered more than 524,000 new voters in Florida in 2004. A series of precinct prioritization meetings then identified the lead groups responsible for GOTV efforts in the 1100 precincts with more than 50% African American or Hispanic population. Overlapping efforts focused on turnout in the state’s reproductive rights, student, environmental and gay communities. An aggressive “November 2” public education campaign in the month leading up to Election Day, included radio ads, billboards, and bus posters as well as thousands of tee-shirts and bumper strips. All these efforts were meshed with Election/Ballot Protection campaigns led by American Families United and the People for the American Way Foundation.

With the 2006 electoral cycle featuring top-of-the-ticket races in Florida for Governor, U.S. Senator, Attorney General and state Chief Financial Officer, as well as controversial ballot questions on redistricting, same-sex marriage and term limits, the groups have already begun planning meetings. The “Table” agenda includes analyzing and evaluating 2004 activities to identify lessons learned and best practices, researching demographic and turnout trends to better target resources, developing training packages, designing collaborative campaigns around issues that will shape the 2006 ballot, and raising funds. An active list serve and periodic conference calls are used to communicate information among more than 120 organizational leaders.


Among the groups participating in the Florida “Table” are: ACORN, Advancement Project, American Families United, Clean Water Fund, Earth Day Network, Equality Florida, Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Florida Conservation Alliance Institute, Florida Consumer Action Network Foundation, Florida Public Interest Research Group, Mi Familia Vota, NAACP Florida State Conference, NAACP National Voter Fund, People for the American Way Foundation, Power ON! Campaign, Sanctify Seven, Sierra Club Foundation, South Asian American Voting Youth, Southwest Voter Registration Project, and Voting is Power.