Florida Democrats criticize voter registration drives at Chick-fil-A

Democrats are criticizing the decision made by Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark to hold voter registration drives at nine local Chick-fil-A restaurants in Florida.

Fast food restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, has become the target of liberal activists angry at the chain after CEO Dan Cathy answered a question about gay marriage indicating that he personally believed marriage was a union between one man and one woman. Cathy has commented that Chick-fil-A itself has no political stance on the gay marriage debate, and will serve every customer with the same dignity and respect, however, that has done little to quell activists.

Susan McGrath, leader of Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County, appeared to claim that Chick-fil-A was hub for Republican voters, and likened Clark's decision to a Democratic supervisor holding the event at Planned Parenthood. She stated that the group supports the registration drive but she criticized the move to hold the drive at Chick-fil-A as partisan, Tampa Bay Times reports.

McGrath suggested that it might be more transparent to use the Republican Party headquarters for the event. She asserted that Clark may be targeting Republican voters by holding the drive at the restaurant chain.

"While some Democrats may occasionally dine at Chick-fil-A (and perhaps even members of the LGBT community), the coordination of Pinellas voter registration activities with this right-leaning business very clearly conveys that your office is targeting Republican-leaning voters," McGrath wrote to Clark.

McGrath also pointed out that Clark previously objected to the opening of a satellite office for early voting in certain neighborhoods in St. Petersburg known to be predominantly populated by African-Americans.

Other food establishments are also holding voter registration drives in other parts of the United States. Thomas Hull, a Houston designer, has teamed up with the non-partisan group Mi Familia Vota, to put voter registration forms on Taco trucks in Houston.

Hull started the campaign after the Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez suggested that the U.S. will be overwhelmed by Mexican culture if it does not secure its borders.

"You're going to have taco trucks on every corner," Gutierrez remarked to MSNBC. 

Arizona Democratic Party officials have also coordinated with 150 taco trucks to encourage Hispanic and non-Hispanics to register and vote. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is also urging taco trucks all over the U.S. to register voters. Mi Familia Vota is also hoping to make use of taco trucks in Las Vegas when early voting begins in the state of Nevada.