About 45 people from multiple non-profit organizations drummed up early voting awareness with a demonstration at the U.S. Route 441/Central Avenue intersection in Apopka on Tuesday, November 1.
Early voting in Apopka has been taking place at the Apopka Community Center/VFW Building, 519 S. Central Ave., only some distance from the demonstration’s location.
Participating organizations were the Florida Immigrant Coalition, located in Miami; Hope CommUnity Center and the Farmworker Association of Florida, both of Apopka; and United Farm Workers, a national organization headquarted in Keene, Calif. All of these organizations advocate immigration rights. Many youth in the demonstration were from Hope CommUnity Center.
“We want people to vote early – we got the voting site here,” said United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez. “We want to really encourage folks to come out early and vote because we don’t want people to wait until the last day. Something comes up, they miss the opportunity to vote, and this election is so critical and so important because of the issues.”
With most participants holding up campaign signs of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, demonstrators cheered and whooped up reactions from passing-by motorists on U.S. 441.
This type of demonstration, which Rodriguez called a “human billboard,” is more interactive with the public and an inexpensive alternative to paid advertising.
The United Farm Workers invented the “human billboard” concept 40 years ago because “of the fact that we’re a poor organization, and the Farmworker Association out here as well,” said Rodriguez.
To Rodriguez, the pressing election topics are education, jobs for citizens, and immigration issues including immigrants obtaining legal status.
Rodriguez had traveled cross-country, from Nevada to Colorado to Florida, in order to help organizations raise public awareness about early voting and election issues.
According to Tirso Moreno, general manager of Farmworker Association of Florida, demonstrators have organized their human billboard on Sunday, October 30, in Miami-Dade County. They also planned to do the same on Wednesday, November 2, in Polk County.
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