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Advocacy Groups Offer Free Rides to the Polls on Election Day to Boost Voter Turnout in Florida

Uber and Lyft are offering free and discounted rides to voters on Election Day. Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Voto Latino and other voting rights groups are partnering with Lyft to provide free rides to the polls. It's one of the ways they’re trying to increase Latino voter turnout.

Jessica Reeves is with Voto Latino, a non-profit that registers Latino voters throughout the state. She says Latinos already face a number of barriers to voting including voter ID laws. That’s why she doesn’t want them to worry about transportation, especially as Latino voters could be crucial in this election.

“In 2016, Florida was decided by around 200,000 votes. And there have been more than 200,000 new voters coming in from Puerto Rico alone. That doesn’t even consider people living here who turned 18.”

The Pew Research Center found the number of registered Latino voters in the state had increased by 16 percent since 2016.

Pastor Mike McBride with the grassroots group Faith in Action says a lack of a transportation is just another form of voter disenfranchisement that affects many underrepresented groups throughout the state.

“Civic participation is a sacred act and to have barriers like transportation or closing polling places or confusing voters are all forms of voter suppression. We’re excited to partner with a service that will break down one of those barriers.”

Pew Research Center estimates almost 3 percent of registered voters didn’t vote in the 2016 election because they couldn’t get to their assigned polling location. The Uber and Lyft apps will also offer discounted rides that day.

Floridians can text VOTEVL to 73179 or register on Live Free's website to get a promo code for a ride.
If you'd like to listen to the full story, please click on the clip above. 

Danielle Prieur is WMFE's education reporter.