UPDATED: Surprise, surprise. The cancellation of the American Airlines Arena as an early voting location was most likely done at the behest Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a suddenly-Republican congressional candidate who would gain from suppressing the blue vote there.
According to a story by the Miami Herald published late Friday, the Miami Heat had pretty much negotiated use of the arena with the county elections department. It was even on a draft list of the early voting sites. The NBA had offered the space in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police to ensure the BLM vote near downtown had a convenient place to vote.
But that wasn’t convenient for Gimenez.
After the deal was cut, according to the documents in the Herald story, Gimenez sent Elections Supervisor Christina White a text message with a link to a Reuters story, headlined “NBA to resume games after player protest, turn stadiums into voting sites.” The next text was “Need to talk about this.”
That was just after 7 a.m. on Aug. 29. A Saturday.
Days later, and without communicating this to the Heat people, the county changed the site from the AAA to the Frost Science Museum, even though elections staffers had earlier deemed too small to accommodate the same number of voting machines as the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center, the regular area early voting site, which was not available this year.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer Moon made excuses for the boss, of course.
“Polling places are supposed to be apolitical,” Moon was quoted as saying in the Herald. “That was part of the discussion. Would it be an apolitical site?… I think we couldn’t conclude it would be completely apolitical. We don’t have control over the entire building.”
Read related: Early voting starts Monday with more days and hours — but wear a mask
Um, what? Are you kidding me? Has she driven by the Westchester or JFK libraries during early voting? Those ain’t apolitical sites, either.
More likely, Gimenez abused his power yet again to suppress votes that wouldn’t help him in his congressional race or his buddy, Commissioner Esteban “Stevie” Bovo in the race for Miami-Dade mayor. Grimenez is so used to getting away with it, he doesn’t even think it’s wrong anymore. He feels entitled.
And untouchable. He has become emboldened with every single abuse he gets away with. Remember how the elections office stayed open til 11 p.m. on the last day of qualifying in 2016 so he could come back with a good check after having submitted a bad one? And how many times he has used his office and county employees to campaign for him? How many times will Corrupt Carlos get a pass on these shenanigans?
Read related: Carlos Gimenez should resign to run for Congress, not abuse office to campaign
Friday night, Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who Gimenez is trying to unseat, released a statement:
“Carlos Gimenez’s abuse of his power will clearly continue until the voters fire him, once and for all. Gimenez used his power as Mayor to reject the Miami Heat’s offer to use their arena to promote early voting,” DMP said.
“This is a clear attempt to suppress voter participation and bolster his own run for Congress. It’s a blatant abuse of power that reminds too many Miamians of the worst behavior of Donald Trump. To ensure a fair process, he must immediately recuse himself from all election decision-making.”
It’s too late for that. Gimenez really ought to resign from the race that he has obviously helped to manipulate. But Mucarsel-Powell was right: he won’t stop until the voters stop him.
Let’s hope that’s what they do on Nov. 3. Or he is going to be even more emboldened.
Corrupt Carlos Gimenez suppressed early voting by nixing arena polling site added by Ladra on
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Carlos Gimenez and his plethora of crooked relatives ALL need to go.
Dear Hector and Truth, it’s hard to figure out if you are blind or working for Gimenez or just hyper partisan.
County elections officials had already determined the Frost was too small, compared to the performing arts center, and would not accommodate as many machines. The decision to do it at the AAA was not political. It was logistical. It is also easily accessible by public transit, but it also has tons of parking.
It wasn’t until AFTER Gimenez saw that story about the NBA wanting to use stadiums for voting linked to the BLM movement and sent the text message on a Saturday morning to make sure it didn’t happen. Wouldn’t THAT be desperation?
It’s ridiculous that you wouldn’t see this as news or voter suppression.
Love, Ladra
” “I know nothing I see nothing”—get used to it cause that is what we best be known for all over the region and the nation”
Lol yes all over Florida we are known as the Banana Republic because WE ARE and people here , especially Cubans of which I am get angry at the messenger instead of these parasitic Cuban politicos .
My parents came to visit before the virus and they commented on how the tree’s were over grown hanging over wires thus not trimmed for a hurricane and most of the divider lines on the streets are so faded you can barely see them yet all these mega million dollar projects going but basic city maintenance is neglected .
Since then I was able to get the immediate street right outside the community I live in painted but they must have diluted the white paint 4 times over minimum .
In my own opinion EVERYTHING here as far as city contracts is to steal , poorly done at best with zero accountability from the city agency which is supposed to over see projects .
mularkey baloney BS and hogwash it is is Miami and Miami Dade scooters so its the behind closed doors capitol of the political world be it Miami City Hall or County Hall right in the middle of Downtown Miami…you do your BS and &^%$%^&^% now and dodge questions later and act like “I know nothing I see nothing”—get used to it cause that is what we best be known for all over the region and the nation/
Gimenez is as much of a Republican as NY Governor Cuomo .
In fact NY unlike Miami no longer has a curfew . Gimenez has been a disaster for business in Miami as he only lines his own pocket .
EVERYONE regardless of party loses with this guy so why reward this disaster with higher office .
if I ran the Florida Rep party I would have sued him for running as a Republican ( truth is party letter does not mean much in Miami but this guy is the worse )
Mickey Arison has a financially abuse the taxpayers of Dade County for decades now he wants us to placate NBA players’ contract demands and drive traffic into AAA to help market his franchise all at taxpayer expense?
And how was moving a polling stite a couple of blocks disenfranchise African-American Democrats? Are you racist employing some stereotype about basketball? implying somehow Democratics are geographically challenged and unable to locate the county’s science museum in the same park?
The county and Gimenez made this an issue because they refused to hand over documents following a public records request by Grant Stern. It was only after Stern engaged Coral Gables attorney George David to sue the county and Gimenez for the records, that the records were actually provided.
Corrupt Carlos Giménez and his town bicycle Deputy Mayor came into power by screwing every County employee and then every county resident. From his fraudulent 2012 election where he benefitted from absentee ballot fraud by his campaign manager Al Lorenzo to the layoffs and forced firings of professional county employees, to the steering of county contracts to friends, the FIU bridge and his trips to Paris, Maggot Gimenez has enriched himself and his family by sacking our county coffers. The day he leaves county government, all county employees will raise a glass and join in a loud scream by telling Gimenez “don’t let the door hit you on your white nalgas”.
Ladra, there’s an Early Voting location at the new science museum 1/4 mile away with easy to reach parking off of the highway.
It’s ridiculous that this non-story keeps getting any attention. But then again, Debbie Murcasel has been doing soooo poorly in polling that her election is seen as already lost by national dems and pollsters, so the desperation is understandable.
I think it’s a huge exaggeration to say that picking a different site for an early voting location is suppression. We in Miami-Dade are very lucky to have so many options to vote. Vote by mail, early voting at any of 33 early voting locations, or on November 3rd at our assigned precinct. Those who didn’t choose to Vote by Mail and want to vote early have this wonderful tool offered by the county elections department that tells the current wait times at each of the early voting sites (which are open this weekend by the way, most with no wait). There may be many things to complain about Carlos Gimenez, but voter suppression regarding AAA is silly. Anyone in the county who wants to vote has a lot of good options. https://www.miamidade.gov/elections/earlyvoting/wait-times.asp
As a retired Miami-Dade County employee, I have to say that I would vote for Attila the Hun before I’d vote for Corrupt Carlos or any of his family or friends. I wouldn’t trust Carlos to look after a pet cockroach.
The use of the American Airlines Arena as a polling place is the NBA’s attempt to accommodate their most valuable asset, the NBA players. The NBA and it’s players, the Miami Heat, professional athletes, Hollywood, etc. have no business in politicizing sports and entertainment. The non-use of American Airlines Arena is not voter suppression. The AAA has never been a polling place. This is why the American people no longer trust the media. Facts are twisted and rumor and opinions are reporting as facts. The media is no longer respected as a source of information. Carlos Gimenez is indeed a cocky corrupt politician, but that he is suppressing the right to vote is a stretch.
Carlos Gimenez has been corrupt for many years. Decades? At the City of Miami Gimenez schemed to
increase pay and benefits to himself and to his buddies. Taxpayers were always sheep to be screwed. (Cue visual image.)
Gimenez is not corrupt. Vote Gimenez!