This group helped more than 700 college students register to vote ahead of fall semester start

Volunteers with People Power for Florida helped Florida A&M University students register to vote on Aug. 21, 2024. (Picture courtesy of Allison Minnerly)

A voter registration group that Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani founded helped 728 students register to vote and update their addresses on eight college campuses across the state, surpassing its previous such efforts.

The presidential election combined with the proposed abortion-rights and recreational marijuana amendments that will be on the ballot in November fueled students’ interest in registering, said Allison Minnerly, communications director for People Power for Florida, in a phone interview with the Phoenix.

“It’s partially credited due to the presidential election. There’s a lot of people that have that on their mind, but it’s also because of these ballot amendments that are really specific to young people that are really of interest that we’re seeing such higher interest and engagement,” she said.

“We’re just really proud also to have had the volunteer capacity to reach all these students and have grown our movement enough that we could have enough people on the ground.”

Since 2021, People Power for Florida has been hosting voter registration drives on college campuses, called Dorm Storms, during the time students move in for new terms. This year, volunteers worked during the past two weeks at:

• Florida State University
• University of Florida
• Florida Atlantic University
• University of Central Florida
• University of North Florida
• Florida A&M University
• University of South Florida
• Florida International University

The group had the most success at UCF, where 176 students registered or updated their registrations. Eskamani represents part of Orange County and recently earned a PhD from that university. Minnerly cited the diverse student body and the group’s connections in Orlando for the number of people registered at UCF.

People Power for Florida held a Dorm Storm at UNF for the first time this year. They helped 47 students register to vote and update their registrations.

Adapting to new third-party voter registration group regulations

New voter registration rules threaten hefty fines, criminal penalties for groups

A 2023 Florida law levying hefty fines for third-party voter registration organizations that make certain errors meant that People Power for Florida had to have their volunteers sign declarations that they had not been convicted of felonies and were U.S. citizens.

However, the group still worked with paper forms, as opposed to having tablets for people to sign up directly on the Florida Division of Elections website, as the state has suggested they do to avoid the fines. Other groups, such as the League of Women Voters of Florida, use QR codes to direct potential voters to the online form from the state.

“A lot of these laws like SB 7050 don’t apply to the online voter registration. They apply to the paper forms,” Minnerly said. “We are still using the paper forms because we believe strongly that, when we are on the ground, pen and paper is the fastest and most accessible way for people to register to vote.”

Minnerly said the group chose the public university campuses because private universities tend to have more rules about who can table on campus, but Nicholas Biscardi, a first-time volunteer, said USF officials told the group not to set up a tent and to remain outside.

The 40-year-old from the Tampa Bay region helped students register to vote from Thursday to Saturday.

“The first day was pretty rainy, but we did a lot better than expected,” Biscardi told the Phoenix in a phone interview. During the three days at USF, 161 students registered to vote and updated their addresses.

Parents get involved

Students were not the only ones eager to register to vote; parents were also encouraging, FAMU junior Darchelle Pickett said. She decided to volunteer with People Power for Florida on Aug. 21 because she wanted to learn from the group as a member of the College Democrats. The Rattler team helped register 55 people.

“It was a great experience getting people registered to vote, especially with their families there,” she said. “Of course, the parents were super excited to see us there because a lot of parents were also wondering about if there was a precinct or if their kids would be able to vote on campus.”

People Power for Florida plans to host additional voter registration drives ahead of the Oct. 7 deadline to register for the general election. Next month, the group will host organizing boot camps with the sponsor of the abortion-rights amendment at five campuses.