Pembroke Pines, FL - Haitian American elected officials and community leaders from across South Florida gathered Tuesday at Kasa Champet in Pembroke Pines to urge Haitian Floridians to verify their voter registration before the October 5 deadline and make a plan to vote in the November 3 election.
From left to right: Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas, community leader and Haitian-American advocate; Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien; State Representative Wallace Aristide; State Representative Marie Woodson; North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme; and Aude M.L. Sicard, Recording Secretary of the Broward Democratic Executive Committee. Speakers included State Representative Marie Woodson, State Representative Wallace Aristide, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien, North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, and Broward Democratic Executive Committee Recording Secretary Aude M.L. Sicard.
The leaders encouraged voters to take advantage of early voting and vote-by-mail options, and spoke about the issues weighing on Haitian families across the state, including Temporary Protected Status, family unity, and the rising cost of housing, insurance, and groceries.
"Behind every policy is a person, a mother, a father, a child, a worker, a neighbor. When one of us is threatened, we all hurt," said State Representative Marie Woodson, the Florida Democratic Party's Vice Chair for Haitian American Voter Engagement. "This moment demands more than concern; it demands action. We are calling on every United States senator to support Senate Bill 4814, legislation to designate temporary protected status for Haitians until April 2029."
"The people that came here were people that came to make a difference. The people that came here came not just for a better future for themselves. They talk about their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren. They came to make the country better," said State Representative Wallace Aristide. "We see what's happening in Haiti. We cannot send people to get their lives taken. We cannot put people in desperate situations. We need to go ahead and pass the Senate bill so these people here could remain."
"Whatever you are dealing with, I'm telling you now, not voting is not the answer. Those of you that are elderly living on fixed incomes, those of you who have to take two or even three different buses to get to work, those of you who are being crushed under the weight of increasing rents, you have to know that voting still remains one of the most powerful uses of your voices in our society," said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien. "Those of you who are angry, turn this anger into fuel that will move you to bring 5, 10, 100 people to the polls in November. This is the most consequential election in our lifetime."
"Mayors are on the front line across this country, dealing with this crisis that we are dealing with all over. Everything is on the ballot this November. Affordability is on the ballot. Immigration, transportation, Section 8, and the list goes on and on, so not voting is not an option," said North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme. "Those who may think that voting may not be an option…I want to remind them that it will be worse if you don't. The same lines we saw in 2008, in 2012, we want the same lines on November 3rd."
"We must fight against this broken system. We've witnessed how millionaires are turning into billionaires and trillionaires, while the vast 99 percent is living day to day, paycheck to paycheck. From the ballot box to the bargaining table, now is the time to fight to end the war on working people," said Aude M.L. Sicard, Recording Secretary of the Broward Democratic Executive Committee. "This coming election, we ask you to please go and vote, change the system, vote your interest."
The deadline to register for the November 3 general election is Monday, October 5.
