I have been a Florida resident my whole life and at this point, I didn’t think Florida politicians could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. On February 28th, Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia filed a bill called “The Ultimate Cancel Act” that would eliminate the Democratic Party in Florida. If this bill is passed, it would force the Florida Division of Elections to cancel the filings of any political party with a platform that had “previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.”
This bill would lead to any voters that are registered to a canceled party being notified that their party no longer exists. The canceled parties would be allowed to re-register, but each party would have to create a new name that is entirely different from any other party that has been registered in the past. While the bill does not state a specific party, it is clear that it is targeting the Florida Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party, around the time of the Civil War and decades after it, was in favor of slavery. However, the views and platform of the party have changed drastically. “The party underwent a major realignment in the 19th century […] support for such policies has been absent from its platform or general discourse for many years.” The bill that was proposed is trying to eliminate the entire Florida Democratic Party by holding the party’s previous platform from almost 200 years ago against it.
The Florida Democratic Party said in a statement that the bill would “disenfranchise 5 million voters” and declared it unconstitutional. The Party also stated that “Senator Ingoglia is using his office to push bills that are nothing more than publicity stunts instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to Floridians.” This bill seems to be irrelevant to the people of Florida. There are many pressing issues that voters are more concerned about, for example, the current lack of affordable housing in Florida and the increase in rents across the state. The proposal of “The Ultimate Cancel Act” appears to be only in favor of the Republican Party, an attempt to get the Democratic Party out of its way entirely.
Senator Ingoglia stated that his bill was created with the intent to target Democrats. In a news release, Ingoglia claimed this bill would get back at Democrats and leftists who had “been trying to ‘cancel’ people and companies for things they have said or done in the past.” To Senator Ingoglia, the ‘canceling’ of people based on previous problematic actions is an equivalent to eliminating an entire political party on the basis of its’ platform from almost 200 years ago. These situations are incomparable.
People who have been ‘canceled’ are typically influential figures who have said or done offensive and problematic things in the past. Cancel culture itself is unhealthy, it lacks the opportunity for people to learn from their past mistakes. However, some who have been ‘canceled’ arguably deserved it. The Democratic Party is not a person, it is a political party that was founded in 1834 and has since changed its platform. The Florida Democratic Party no longer supports slavery and hasn’t in a very long time. Senator Ingoglia even tried to equate the removal of statues and memorials, that glorified people who fought for slavery and the division of the United States, to the elimination of the Democratic Party. These monuments and statues that were removed represented the fight for slavery and the division of the United States. The Democratic Party of Florida does not represent racist beliefs or the support of slavery, therefore it does not need to be eliminated. Senator Ingoglia’s attempts to equate monument and statue removals, as well as holding public figures accountable for their past actions, to eliminating an entire political party is absolutely absurd.
This bill is essentially a publicity stunt and a petty attempt to outdo Cancel Culture. Senator Ingoglia claiming that the Democratic Party should be ‘canceled’ based on its platform from almost 200 years ago, that has long since been changed, is ridiculous. It is not the same as ‘canceling’ one public figure for recent past actions, nor is it the same as removing statues of people who represent slavery and a prejudiced way of thinking. The original beliefs of the Democratic Party are not relevant to its’ current platform and policies, it does not support or represent slavery. If this bill gets passed, it would be disenfranchising millions of voters and would force them to register with a different party. This is an overreactive and radical response to cancel culture and it is completely unnecessary. Florida Senators should be focusing on issues that are important to Florida residents and voters, not trying to eliminate an entire political party as payback or to make things easier for the Republican Party. Petty and radical actions like this bill are only furthering the divide between parties in the United States. The intense polarity between the two major parties is only making it harder for anything to get done. The U.S. will never be able to progress and evolve as a country if lawmakers are too busy fighting each other to actually do their jobs.