Internal letter claims Biden campaign is 'suppressing the Hispanic vote' in Florida

More than 90 field organizers working for the Florida Democratic Party signed a letter on Friday, alleging that, among other things, the Biden campaign is "suppressing the Hispanic vote" in Central Florida. 

The letter, obtained originally by the Miami Herald, includes allegations and accusations from Democratic field organizers about the lack of a coherent infrastructure within the campaign pertaining to its voter-outreach efforts. 

With just about 100 days to go until the November election, the letter alleged that inside the Biden campaign in Florida, "there is no functional targeted field outreach and organizing of the Hispanic/Spanish-speaking, Brazilian/Portuguese-speaking, and Haitian/Creole-speaking communities in our state. There are no targets, scripts, data infrastructure, community outreach, or phone banks established for this." 

“The [Coordinated Campaign of Florida] is suppressing the Hispanic vote by removing Spanish-speaking organizers from Central Florida without explanation, which fails to confront a system of white-dominated politics we are supposed to be working against as organizers of a progressive party,” the letter also reads. 

The letter also requests an apology for the "treatment of field staff," as the campaign has made adjustments, including the relocation of some staffers, while undergoing the transition from in-person to remote organizing. 

Florida continues to be a battleground state in the presidential election. Typically won by slim margins, President Trump won the sunshine state in 2016, though current polls show Joe Biden leading by nearly 8 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics's poll average. 

Voting enthusiasm among the Hispanic community is down, in light of the coronavirus pandemic and downtrodden economy. The Biden campaign is now working with Latino Decisions, a high-powered Hispanic polling firm, to work on outreach toward the evidently unenthused voting group.