“We should not have our political affiliations on there. That’s simply it,” voter Tina Brown said in the now viral video. “They can see who my political affiliation is, and I don’t like that.”
“It is very important that we take these and bring it to the voting places. And vote by person. Do not vote by mail,” she said.
“Please be cautious,” Brown said. “Do not send your vote, if you are Republican, by mail. Okay. There is no secret that I’m a Republican and there is no secret that my brother is a Democrat.”
Brown revealed in the video that her brother will now be voting Republican and encouraged people to vote in person.
According to WFLX-TV, Brown has received mostly positive feedback and her phone has been ringing off the hook:
She said her phone has been ringing off the hook since posting the video.
“Every single [call and email] has been positive with the exception of about three. And we’re talking about thousands,” Brown said.
Vicki Davis, the Supervisor of Elections in Martin County said she saw the video, too, and has received calls about it.
She said the labeling makes sure voters get their proper primary election ballot, specific to their party affiliation. Florida is a closed primary state.
Davis said fraud as a result of the labeling would be highly unlikely.
“I don’t know that a postal worker would have time to go through ballots in their general workday and remove those ballots,” Davis said.
Brown would like to see a new way of labeling ballots, without an R and a D. Davis says there are no plans for changing the labels.
“This is not propaganda. This is just protecting the voter, whether you’re Democrat or Republican,” Brown said.
