Organization provides shuttles to early polling sites
Oracle Photo/Jackie Benitez
The organization For Florida’s Future is launching its “Shuttle Together, Stronger Together” initiative Monday, which is geared toward encouraging students to vote.
The program will run shuttles from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. between the USF campus and the nearest polling location — The Temple Terrace Public Library — during early voting weekdays.
“We live in Florida, which is the biggest swing state in the country,” Melissa Baldwin, Tampa Bay regional press secretary of For Florida’s Future, said. “We actually live in the I-4 corridor, which has the power to swing this election.
“So we’ve been working to make sure that students are able to register to vote and that they have the opportunity to get to the polls and participate in democracy.”
For the first day of the initiative, shuttles won’t start until after the launch party, which will take place outside of the Marshall Student Center at 12:30 p.m.
As part of the kickoff, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn will be delivering a speech.
The organization’s goal is to shuttle around 600 students to the polls during early voting, which will last from Oct. 24 – Nov. 6.
“(For Florida’s Future has) been working very hard to register new voters,” Baldwin said. “We’ve registered over 800 students in the time that we’ve been working there, and we want to make absolutely sure that each and every student has the opportunity to exercise their voice in this election, to really get out there and make a difference.”
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