Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral Members & Friends,

We welcome you to this website for elections information and nonpartisan civic participation. This is a one-stop information shopping center that is designed to inform members regarding upcoming elections.

On the pages within this site, you can register to vote, apply for an absentee ballot, learn more about candidates and link to their individual websites, locate where you go to vote, contact your elected officials, and much more. Advocacy components have also been added to allow you to independently contact legislators on issues important to you.

As the results of the last few elections have shown, races can often be won or lost by only a few votes. Yet despite the competitiveness of these elections, voter registration and turnout have plummeted over the past 50 years and the United States now has the lowest average voter turnout among mature democracies. Despite changes in election law making it easier to register and vote, the turnout for the 1996 Presidential Election was 49% - the lowest turn out since 1924. During the heated 2000 campaign, turnout reached just 50% and while turnout was better in 2004, the simple fact is that many people continue not to register, and vote or enter the polling booth uninformed about the issues and/or the candidates.

When you are navigating this site, you will be asked to provide some personal information before entering the different components of the site. The information is used to properly match you to your elected officials and to assist you with registering to vote or requesting and absentee ballot.

We at the Chamber encourage you to do all you can to participate in the 2008 elections. Voting is a sacred right that many of us take for granted. Millions of people throughout the world cannot cast a meaningful ballot and many Americans have died for the right to do so... but we can and should. Be assured, your vote will make a difference.

The Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral is a proud member of the Florida Chamber which is the sponsoring organization of the resources offered by "Vote for Florida". Without your investment, we could not make the investment in the membership of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and thus could not provide you with this tool.

Thank you for your continued support and we encourage you to take advantage of this valuable tool.


Sincerely,

Mike "Q" Quaintance President