Miami Beach mayor says early voting extension unrelated to turkey drive ‘conspiracy’
The proposed expansion of early voting in Miami Beach has ruffled the feathers of some City Commission candidates concerned about City Hall’s influence on the election.
A resolution filed Monday by Mayor Dan Gelber would push up the first day of early voting ahead of three commission runoff elections to Friday, the same day as a city-sponsored turkey giveaway that may be attended by an incumbent commissioner running for reelection.
“‘I’m not going to tell anyone to go vote for me,” said Ricky Arriola, whose opponent for the commission has criticized his ethics. He sponsored Gelber’s resolution. “I’m going to do my job, which is participate in events that the city hosts.”
That doesn’t reassure candidate Raquel Pacheco, who has accused Arriola of leveraging his status as an incumbent to campaign at city-sponsored events.
“Now they’re doing this food giveaway and adding an extra day of early voting,” Pacheco said. “The tactics are absurd.”
Gelber endorsed Arriola in the November election. The resolution will come up for a vote before the commission on Tuesday morning. If passed, it would add an extra day, Friday, to the previously approved early voting period of Saturday to Sunday.
City leaders in tandem with nonprofit and corporate partners will hand out 700 turkeys and Thanksgiving food at the North Beach Bandshell, about two blocks from one of the city’s two early voting sites at the North Shore Branch Library. The food distribution is planned to take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., during early voting hours.
Gelber said adding an additional day of early voting would help boost turnout among voters deciding on three runoff elections, which historically see lower participation. An extra day would also give observant Jewish voters an opportunity to vote on Friday or Sunday, he said.
“I’m sort of aghast that anybody would object to enlarging the ability to vote for everybody,” Gelber said. “For some communities, like the Orthodox [Jewish] community, they get one day of early voting.”
Gelber said his resolution was not part of a “conspiracy” to benefit any one candidate, but to give the entire community more of a chance to participate in the runoff, which is expected to attract low turnout.
“I have no idea what this turkey thing is all about,” he said.
The Commission unanimously voted to approve the Saturday-to-Sunday voting period in July as part of a resolution calling for a general election and establishing procedures for a possible runoff.
Pacheco, who is running against Arriola for his Group V seat, said she supports increasing voter turnout but Gelber’s timing is “suspect” because it coincides with the Thanksgiving food giveaway.
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a former city commissioner running for her old Group IV seat, said the resolution did not pass the “smell test.” She questioned why Gelber waited until a week before the runoffs to introduce the proposal.
“It’s an 11th-hour rule change that adds a day, and the polling station is conveniently two blocks away from where City Hall is giving away 700 turkeys to seniors,” she said in a statement. “Why didn’t the commission or mayor bring this up when they voted on the early voting and Election Day schedule?”
She is facing Steven Meiner, an observant Jew, in the Group IV runoff. Observant Jews participate in the Sabbath from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. The third runoff, in Group VI, is between candidates David Richardson and Adrian Gonzalez.
Meiner, who earned a spot in the Group IV runoff after defeating Michael Barrineau by two votes in a recount, said he thought the resolution was a good idea.
Even if the resolution passes, he said he will likely vote on Sunday. He is open to hearing residents’ issues with the resolution, he said.
Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán, who is not seeking reelection, endorsed Arriola and mentioned his name in a Facebook post advertising the turkey giveaway on Facebook. She also “tagged,” or mentioned by name, the other members of the commission and Mayor Gelber.
If Gelber’s resolution is approved, early voting would be made available at the library and City Hall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Arriola said he may attend the turkey giveaway, but he would not pressure residents to vote for him.
He said there was “nothing to” the complaints about the turkey giveaway. He said it was a “gross oversight” for the city to make one of the two early-voting days on a Saturday.
“It just seems unfair to penalize an important segment of our community that cannot vote on a Saturday when we have our early elections,” he said. “As I understand it, other parts of the county will be open on Friday for early voting.”
Co-sponsoring the resolution was not about appealing to Jewish supporters, Arriola said.
“It’s not about that, but I certainly hope that they support me as I do with all sectors of our community,” he said.
Gelber said the commission didn’t forecast a three-race runoff, and he felt giving voters more opportunity to cast early ballots was the “right thing to do.”
“We certainly want to promote turnout,” he said.
Early voting lasted two weeks ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5. Three runoffs were called because no candidate received more than 50% of the votes cast in their races. About 21% of registered voters cast ballots in the general election.
Arriola received 45% of the vote, nearly doubling Pacheco’s mark of 24%. Rosen Gonzalez was the top recipient of votes in Group IV, receiving 38% to about 24% for Meiner. In Group VI, Richardson received 48% to Gonzalez’s 38%.
Early voting on Saturday and Sunday will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Shore Branch Library and City Hall.
Election Day voters must report to a designated precinct. The Miami-Dade County Elections Department mailed out absentee ballots last weekend. Voters can mail their ballots to the Supervisor of Elections office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 8:25 PM.
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