The United Faculty of Miami-Dade Community College, AFT Local 4253, has launched a project called the Voters Action Network (VAN) aimed at protecting voters’ rights, educating the electorate and instituting accountability for political leaders.  VAN sends professors into the community in a van to register voters, recruit poll workers, issue "political report cards" on governmental leaders and help citizens learn how to use new voting equipment. 

"There is so much that we can do with this project," says Ana Ciereszko, vice president of UFMDCC.  Even though Miami is Florida's major city, Tallahassee, the state capital, is where the political action is.  "We are channeling the project in different directions all the time.  Tallahassee is more than 400 miles from Miami and covered very little in the news.  We are doing what we can to increase awareness."

The electoral problems of the 2000 presidential election were the driving force behind the creation of VAN, according to Ciereszko.  She notes that even after spending millions of dollars on new voting machines for the 2002 primaries, there continued to be problems. Among other things, VAN was formed to help alleviate confusion at the polls.

The most recent VAN initiative was the purchase of cellular telephones voters can use at the van to call legislators to make their views known on issues.  For now, the calls are primarily targeted at members of the state Legislature’s Education Committee and the Appropriations Committee. 

The VAN project has received support from several Florida politicians, including Gov. Jeb Bush who commended the UFMDCC for its "efforts to educate and mobilize voters." [Brooke Boeglin]

[April 21, 2003]